What may look like a prime opportunity for escape to the outside world may look like anything but that to a captive child. Devlin pleaded guilty more then 70 times Tuesday to a litany of horrific crimes. Its believed Shawn met the girl when she and schoolmates were at a park near Devlins apartment in the St. Louis suburb of Kirkwood. Immediately, Pam and her husband, Craig, jumped in the car and scoured . The boys were named Charley and Walter Ross; they were 4 and 6 years old. respiratory therapist charged with 2nd patients, Freddys to open ballpark location at Busch Stadium, Aurora borealis possible to see in Missouri tonight, CJC supports Kim Gardner in downtown rally. But there's an added element to Hornbeck's case. Shawn and the girlfriend attended a dance on Dec. 9 at the St. Louis Priory School, an all-boys Catholic school. Soon after, while he was living with Shawn's older sisters (aged 7 and 6), Hornbeck was arrested and charged with a sex crime. The couple would not discuss the matter in an interview with The Post. Family members of 15-year-old Shawn Hornbeck said they believe he was molested during the four years he was missing and, at times, his captor woke him every 45 minutes in an apparent attempt to . Because if Shawn's parents were shot to death after Shawn ran to the cops hypothetically, Mike Devlin would literally be the only suspect. Willett said Devlin told her he was a bad person and admitted to having both Ben and Shawn. "The days . Bens abduction and Hults quick thinking would eventually turn out to be Shawns salvation. Even the friends he spent time with had no idea of his background. After four years, he was found alive. As details of his four years of captivity in Kirkwood, Mo., emerge, it seems that he had countless opportunities to escape. RICHWOODS, Mo. That night, Franklin County Sheriff Glen Toelke announced that both boys were found and alive. Hornbeck had been missing since October 2002. He was an 11-year old child when his victimization . His girlfriend, a freshman at all-girl Visitation Academy, was devastated to learn Shawn was the boy abducted four years ago and living with his alleged captor just two miles from her home, friends told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. McNamara also correctly theorized that Devlin was drawn to the boys because they looked much younger than their actual ages. And Devlin's work friends and acquaintances have said they didn't have a clue about any of his possible romantic attachments or sexual proclivities. My Spidey-senses were up, almost immediately.. We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back. ", Hornbeck's life suffered a severe schism when he was allegedly kidnapped at the age of 11. Hes into video production and has shown me some of his work.. TUESDAY 9 OCTOBER 2007 - Craig and Pam Akers, parents of Shawn Hornbeck, address the news media after Michael Devlin was sentenced to 18 terms of life in prison after pleading guilty in St. Louis . The white beat-up white truck that Mitchell described to police sat outside the apartment. In the series premiere, the HBO documentary on The Golden State Killer shines a brief light on the case that catapulted McNamara into the true crime genre. For example, [viewer], who lives in Courtland, Virginia, wrote: "Mr. O'Reilly, your comments regarding Shawn Hornbeck were way out of line. On this day in 2007, Shawn Hornbeck was finally reunited with his parents after he vanished without trace while riding his bike in Missouri four years earlier. Twelve years ago . Hults' testimony was instrumental in the rescue of Amanda's brother Ben and another kidnapped boy Shawn Hornbeck [2007] . Willett said Devlin broke after she told him that tire tracks could be crucial evidence in Ownbys disappearance. The agents asked for Devlins permission to search his truck, which he gave. On October 6, 2002, Shawn Hornbeck was abducted while riding his bike in Richwoods, Missouri. The search has ultimately gone unsolved, but as of 2019, Devlin continues to be a suspect in the case of five other missing boys. Shawn Hornbeck was an 11 year old boy who was kidnapped while riding his bike to a friend's house near Richwoods, Missouri.Shawn had taken this path many times before but this time, Shawn passed by Mike Devlin who bumped him with his truck. 1998 - 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. | All Rights Reserved. Shawn Hornbeck. on January 21, 2008, Parnell died of natural causes in the prison in Vacaville, California. As I'll Be Gone in the Dark says, McNamara accurately noted a major tip that suggested that the cases of Ownby (which dominated the news cycle at the time) and Hornbeck (which had all but fallen off the radar) were likely connected. Photo: AP Photo/Tom Gannam; AP Photo/Jeff Roberson, 24 Years After White Supremacists Lynched Her Dad, Daughter Speaks Out About Trauma and Journey to Peace, Daughter Sues Hospital for 'Assault, Battery, and False Imprisonment' of Kidney Patient Father, Retired Mo. At 1:59 a.m. on Dec. 1, 2005, someone using the name "Shawn Devlin" asked in a forum on the Shawn Hornbeck Foundation Web site: "How long are you planing (sic) to look for your son?" Dr. Frank Ochberg, one of the psychiatrists who helped coin the term, says he doesn't know enough about Hornbeck's case to say whether it falls into this category. Invisible Chains: Shawn Hornbeck and the Kidnapping Case that Shook the Nation: Sauerwein, Kristina: 9781599213446: Amazon.com: Books. Stockholm syndrome is also sometimes discussed in reference to other situations with similar tensions, such as . She escaped in May 2013 and was able to get help to rescue the other two victims, Michelle Knight and Gina DeJesus. But a court official said the reference number on Hornbecks criminal conviction indicated the charge involved an assault on a minor. From January 18, 2007: Shawn Hornbeck and his family (his mother and stepfather, Pam and Craig Akers, and his aunt, Shari Frazier) sit down with Oprah for their first interview since Shaun's safe return four years after he was allegedly kidnapped. He is serving 74 life sentences. I was looking at him saying, Youre safe. . And to ensure that it doesn't, the captor often reminds his victim what he's capable of. What happened to Ben Ownby and Shawn Hornbeck? We would talk about a lot of nonsignificant things, and then, once I would steer the conversation back, our focus was on Ben, Willett said. Craig Akers died July 15, 2019, from bladder cancer. What Shawn Went Through. I was listening to a podcast recently about Steven's brother, Cary Stayner. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated. Join me in my latest True Crime episode where I take. 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved, King Charles to evict Harry and Meghan from Frogmore Cottage and give to Andrew, 'Elvis' star Austin Butler was rushed to ER after 'body just started shutting down', Drug-resistant stomach bug spreading across US: 'Serious public health alert', Meghan Markle, Prince Harry have first night out since bombshell Spare released, Jordyn Woods supports Selena Gomez amid singers feud with Kylie Jenner, Hailey Bieber, RHONJ recap: Jennifer Aydin mocks Rachel Fudas terrible nose job, Heroic bus driver saves student from passing car, Savannah Guthrie Rushed Out Of Today After Testing Positive For COVID-19 During Live Broadcast, Meghan Markle, Prince Harry have first night out since bombshell 'Spare' released. The Shawn Hornbeck Foundation ceased operations in 2013. Whatever happened during Hornbeck's four years with Devlin, he undoubtedly faces a difficult road ahead. Their discovery would become known as the Missouri Miracle. Some thought they would never be found alive and their abductor was hiding in plain sight. 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On October 1, 1993, at the age of twelve, she was kidnapped at knife point during a slumber party at her mothers home in Petaluma, California, and was later strangled. Devlin said he did not have a plan for what to do after the abduction. An 11-year-old went missing in rural Missouri while riding his bike in 2002. So far, such allegations haven't surfaced. That was the last many people would see of Shawn . Jessica O'Connor is a public historian focusing on Deep South Black History with degrees from Winston-Salem State University and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. But what I wonder is that on the at least four occasions Shawn spoke to a police officer (I know of him going there over a missing bike and him being driven home by a cop after missing curfew. He said, I have Shawn [Hornbeck, missing since 2002]. I said, Take us to him. , Willett told the Post-Dispatch that Devlin took the agents to his ground-floor apartment nearby. ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. Akers kicked him out of the house when the boy was just 6 months old, and the couple divorced in 1992, about a year after Shawn was born. He is currently serving 74 life sentences plus 2,020 years at Western Missouri Correctional Center in Cameron, Missouri. Even after the arrest, McNamara continued to take note of further details that pointed to additional layers in the abduction. "No school, no friends, no parents and maybe all the stimulus was gone [His captor] had the power of all of this over him." Ownby was taken for five days in January 2007 and the search for him inadvertently solved both cases. (A lawyer for Devlin says his client plans to plead not guilty, but has had no other comment on the case.). These stories tear me up. Im not gonna lie there were times when it seemed like I was better off dead.. At the time, she was friends with Ariel Castros daughter, Arlene Castro. Press J to jump to the feed. He was told to go in first, so as to not raise any alarm with the boys. To be sure, Devlin hasn't been charged with kidnapping in Hornbeck's case, only in that of William "Ben" Ownby, 13, who was abducted four days before the boys' discovery. "Most teens are emancipating themselves from their families instead of reuniting with them," says Cooper, the forensic pediatrician. The van's driver rushed out, seeming to want to help him at first - then grabbed him and brought him into the van. Like the Swedish hostages, he may well have feared for his life. Though Ben was two years older than Shawn, he looked young for his age, and both boys . KIRKWOOD, Mo. Willett and Richter joined other FBI agents and local police in going to Devlins apartment in the 400 block of S. Holmes Avenue. At first, the family thought Shawn was simply late, but after 45 minutes, Pam says she had a gut feeling that something terrible had happened. He saved his life negotiating with him. Shawn always took the same route and his parents trusted him to ride alone. FILE Shawn Hornbeck and his parents, Pam and Craig Akers, in 2013. What happened to Shawn Hornbeck when he was kidnapped? He glanced up once and then he didnt look at all, she said. During the conversation, Willett cajoled a confession from Devlin. Thats my first clue. Shawn Hornbeck was alive and had been living with Devlin as a hostage for over four years. Inside, Willett said, Hornbeck and Ownby were playing video games., Ben just shot up and was in that fight-or-flight [mode], Willett said. McNamara's work on the Golden State Killer is her most prolific, but the journalist proved her incredible talent with investigative journalism way before I'll Be Gone in the Dark. Shawn and the girl, whose name was withheld, had been dating for months and were seen holding hands at the largest mall in the area, the West County Mall, friends said. Devlin remains at the state prison in Cameron under protective custody. Hornbeck may have developed a form of so-called "Stockholm Syndrome," a term that traces its origins to a 1970s bank heist in Sweden in which the hostages bonded with their captors. Devlin is slated to be arraigned in the Ownby case on Thursday. Michelle McNamara's I'll Be Gone in the Dark, published in 2018, serves as the inspiration for HBO's engrossing docuseries of the same name. "It's not over yet, that's for sure," says Cooper. On Jan. 8, 2007, Devlin abducted Ben Ownby at a bus stop in Beaufort, Missouri. The girls family refused to comment on the matter to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. But a chance encounter, the dedication of the boys parents, and the work of a now-famous true crime writer would lead to a remarkable rescue that became known as the Missouri Miracle.. Do Men Still Wear Button Holes At Weddings? On Oct. 6, 2002, 11-year-old Shawn Hornbeck straddled his lime green bike and headed to a friend's house near Richwoods, Missouri, a small town just outside of St. Louis. This dynamic may have played a role in Hornbeck's case. The second boy was Shawn Hornbeck, who had disappeared more than four years earlier from his own rural neighborhood of Washington County. According to a report in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, investigators say that Devlin kept Hornbeck in submission by threatening to kill the boy and his entire family. Devlin pled guilty to all counts and was sentenced to 72 life terms. But McNamara, a pioneer in true crime internet sleuthing, didn't get her start with a sudden interest in the murders that plagued California through the '70s and '80s. Shawns parents, Pam Akers and stepfather Craig Akers focused all of their time looking for their son. Looking at the side of his neck, I could see the pulse quicken, I could see a physiological change, when we would talk about the abduction.. However, fans and true crime aficionados took notice. Listening to an interview, she heard a victim's brother talk about family vacations on Lake Michigan. 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