Shawn Hornbeck, then 11 years old, vanished near Richwoods, Missouri, in
2002 while traveling by bicycle to see a friend.
Shawn, who had been abducted by Michael Devlin, a 41-year-old manager of a
nearby pizza parlor, lived in dread for four years as Devlin held him
hostage in his Kirkwood, Missouri, home. According to the Daily Mail, Devlin
kept Shawn chained up for a short time after taking him hostage. The small
child didn't flee even after Devlin released Shawn's chains because he was
afraid that Devlin may harm his family if he fled.
Devlin offered Shawn greater independence as he grew older, giving him a
cell phone and allowing him to meet up with pals. Devlin prevented the
youngster from attending school, which caused him to go missing and be held
captive for years, up to 2007.
Devlin took another youngster, Ben Ownby, from a bus stop in January of
that year. However, this time Devlin was seen, and someone alerted the
authorities that a white pickup had raced off from the crime site. 50 miles
from the location where Devlin abducted Shawn in 2002, that helped
authorities find Devlin's home in Kirkwood. Ben and Shawn, a 15-year-old,
were both located by police when they made their arrest.
When the news originally broke in 2007, the rescue was dubbed the "Missouri
Miracle" by the media, and Shawn told his tale on television alongside Oprah
Winfrey and other well-known guests.
Nearly 20 years after Shawn initially vanished, Devlin is still
incarcerated at the Crossroads Correctional Facility in Cameron, Missouri,
where he is currently serving 74 life terms.
When police called Craig Akers to tell him they had located his kid, he
said, "It is the phone call I will remember most for the rest of my
life."
"We've never had a better day than today. Even finding the right words to
describe the experience is challenging. We worry that we will wake up since
everything has seemed like a dream, Akers stated at the time.
Shawn attempted to contact his parents online throughout his four years of
imprisonment in the hopes that he might give them a hint or give them a bit
more hope.
"I had heard that you had visited a website to inquire about how long you
would be searching for your kid. How did that make you feel? Was that an
approach to engage with them? In 2007, Winfrey questioned Shawn.
Shawn said, "I was hoping that may offer some type of sign.
It appears that Shawn's cries for assistance weren't disregarded.
Shawn's father said to Winfrey, "I remember reading that. "I distinctly
recall thinking to myself that either that person with that name is here, or
someone is attempting to yank my chain."
"We had been stating all along that we would never stop seeking for our
son, so we thought the world already knew the answer to that. It was
peculiar.
You receive a ton of these mails. You receive a ton of strange,
off-the-wall communications every day.
Since 2007 when police reunited Shawn with his family, a number of updates
have been covered by the media.
Following the police' successful rescue of Michelle Knight, Amanda Berry,
and Georgina "Gina" DeJesus in a similar abduction case in Cleveland, Ohio,
in 2013, Shawn talked to media for the first time in years.
"It was clear from my feelings and thoughts that I was happy. It
demonstrates that miracles and hope still exist, and that people should
never lose up since hope never goes away. In response to the three women's
rescue, Shawn, 21, told a nearby Fox station that you can't go through life
without it.
"You never experience a moment like that, and I'm sure the ladies felt the
same emotion I did when they were reunited with their family," he continued.
"When I hear about individuals returning home, I immediately think about the
day I did and saw my parents for the first time.
When Shawn's father, Craig Akers, passed away in 2019, his tale made
headlines once more. Akers was remembered by his family and friends for his
generosity and commitment to assisting other families in finding their
missing loved ones.
Even in 2020, fresh information about Shawn's abduction kept coming to
light. Kevin Palmer came across Shawn's tale while reading web articles
regarding missing children that year. He shouted, "That's him!" as he saw
Devlin's picture.
Palmer said that in 1998, when he was returning from a video rental store,
Devlin attempted to abduct him.
Former Franklin County, Missouri, Sheriff Gary Toelke, who worked on
Shawn's case, stated, "During the investigation, we found out that he did go
seeking for other children, and he had approximately a 60 mile radius
surrounding the region where he resided."
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