CNN Breaking: 2 missing Missouri boys found alive (one missing since 2002)

[Shakespeare]

Incredible, very good news:

-- Two missing Missouri boys, one of them missing since 2002, have been found
alive, a law enforcement source confirms to CNN.

From an email breaking news alert; will post link when one's available.

[Fridays Child]

1. Here...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=3108912&mesg_id=3108971

[marshall]

39. He had priors

When is the sex offender registration going to be up and running enough so that animals like this can be identified and isolated from the rest of the community?

[etherealtruth]

2. Good news ...

What kind of animal does this?

My heart breaks for those boys and aches for their parents.

[jilln]

3. I understand your sentiment...

but these were people, not animals.

[etherealtruth]

4. I can't see humanity in any creature that would do this n/t

[hlthe2b]

8. Perhaps you give some Humans too much credit and other

non-human animals NOT ENOUGH. :shrug:

[customerserviceguy]

12. You're right

I'd put a troublesome animal to sleep, this sort of evil needs to be dealt with more severely. I'm an atheist, but the most vengeful version of any god ever thought up on this planet could not make a place in hell hot enough for a child rapist.

[hlthe2b]

6. NO, I repeat, NO NON-HUMAN animal DOES DO this!

Humans are the "beasts" in this case... Any other animal would do so only to avoid starvation--a basic survival instinct-- not to prey for sex or other bizarre motivations....

I repeat, ONLY HUMAN ANIMALS are such beasts...(The one genuine reason to avoid antropomorphizing other animals).

[etherealtruth]

13. You have a point

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

14. Not really.

Dolphins have been known to kidnap other dolphins and use them for sex.

[wildflowergardener]

5. boys

This is amazing.

I drive by that apartment complex all of the time.

I have been seeing the picture of the latest boy - and of course had heard of the other one - wonder that he has been found after 4 years.

Meg

[tekriter]

26. me too

I used to date a girl who lived in one of those buildings, and I know the owners of the complex.

The owners are good people, there's no way they had any knowledge of this.

[partylessinOhio]

7. Such good news for once:

...Police said a tip about a white truck led them to the Devlin's home.

Toelke said authorities were surprised to find Hornbeck, who identified himself when found at the home.

Toelke said authorities were still investigating the motive behind the abductions.

"There are a lot of things we don't know right now," Toelke said.

Hornbeck disappeared from his home in rural Washington County in October 2002, when he was 11. He went for a bike ride and never returned.

The sheriff said both boys appeared unharmed. Ownby has been reunited with his family, and the Hornbeck's parents were coming to meet their son in Union, the Franklin County seat, Toelke said.

Franklin County Prosecutor Robert Parks said more charges are likely to be filed.

http://wcco.com/national/topstories_story_012174017.htm

[nookiemonster]

9. This is absolutely fantastic!

I'm so glad to see them both reunited with their families. The local support was overwhelming, and it's good news to report from my own backyard.

:)

[Sequoia]

11. Thank goodness for that. The familes of those boys are surely happy.

[Tippy]

10. There is a fellow in the Nashville area who has attempted

to pick up 3 different children in the last few days so far he has been unsuccesful....Police say they believe the same man is responsible....he was described as an older man driving a blue pickup..I only hope they get him before he does manage to grab a child.....

[tanyev]

15. Now I can't stop thinking about Johnny Gosch.

I wonder if this is an isolated situation or if this is the tip of the iceberg of an organized ring? I hope these boys get all the counseling and help they need, especially the one who has been missing since 2002.

[janx]

16. Utah sex offender

http://www.cr.ex.state.ut.us/asp-bin/sexoffender.asp?offender=666&addrid=1674&jurs_flg=N&name_id=0

[janx]

27. Whoops--not the same guy.

n/t

[janx]

17. Texas sex offender:

https://records.txdps.state.tx.us/DPS_WEB/Sor/index.aspx?PageIndex=Display&SID=05557591

[janx]

28. mistake--not the same guy. n/t

[Contrary1]

18. Such wonderful news to end a lousy week on!!!

I was not too hopeful for a happy ending on this one. I work with an online group searching for the missing, and trying to put a name with the unidentified.

I had actually looked for the Hornbeck boy. I'm glad I didn't find him, as most of our cases do not end so well.

[deadparrot]

19. Here's a link. This is all over the news here in St. Louis.

It's crazy right now.

My dad works on the same road as the apartment where they were found.

There's even creepier reports coming out at the moment. Shawn's (the boy who's been missing for five years) parents had set up a website that included a guestbook. In December of 2005, someone named "Shawn Devlin" wrote a message asking "When are you going to stop looking for your son?"

Well, Shawn turns up. The kidnapper's name?

Michael Devlin. :scared:

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/missouristatenews/story/EED72841D131FE0A86257261001214F9?OpenDocument

[janx]

20. I grew up in Kirkwood--haven't been there in 15 years though.

The kidnapper probably wrote those messages. The guy is a registered sex offender in at least two other states.

Keep me posted, will ya? I haven't been around the telly today and missed this news. It's good news that they found the boys.

[deadparrot]

22. They said that Shawn was referring to the creep as "Dad."

Who knows what's gone on for the past four years? My heart aches for both of those boys, especially Shawn. His life will never be "normal" again.

[janx]

23. He's going to need some help.

That is certain. But he might pull through it. Let's hope.

[deadparrot]

25. I hope you're right.

Poor kids. I wish them the best. Hopefully the press lets up a little soon and gives them time to start the healing process.

[janx]

30. There's something I can't figure out.

The cable news channels are all over the rural communities like Jefferson County, etc....Union, MO...and congratulating a young kid who remembered what a truck looked like.

But WHO in Kirkwood tipped off local police? I watched a bit of FAUX this evening (they enjoy this to the hilt), and there was virtually nothing about what happened regarding the final apprehension of the kidnapper.

Has the local news there provided any details?

[deadparrot]

32. From what I understand,

the police were in the area to serve an arrest warrant to someone (not the suspect Devlin) and saw the truck (described by Ben's friend) in the apartment complex.

[wildflowergardener]

34. Tip

They were interviewing The person who alerted the police on channel 5 (Nbc). It was someone who in the apartment complex who noticed the truck, and was out there taking a second look at it because he started to wonder if it could be the one and was going to call the police, when he saw the police there who were there for that other reason and pointed out the truck and that they wondered if it could be the one on TV. At that time the police told him not to tell anyone, and blocked in the car - and apparently the (next day?) went into the apartment and found the boys.

If you lived in the area - it was on Holmes Avenue - If it is the one I am thinking of, I drive by there on the way to the St. Louis County Library (oak bend branch) - it's close to Big Bend near Quik Trip near the railroad tracks.

Maybe the man was at work.

Meg

[janx]

36. Thanks!

I can't remember the streets too well, but I have a general idea of where it is.

[MODemocrat]

29. My niece and husband has lived in Kirkwood for about 40 years

Haven't heard from her about this case as of yet. How did they locate this maniac? I think it's a
miracle they found this boy that's been missing for several years. I'm so thrilled they were found; and
I hope they haul off the kidnapper to rot in prison. :evilfrown: :evilfrown: :evilfrown: :evilfrown:

[wildflowergardener]

21. message

I wonder if Shawn could have written that message? The person on the TV who alerted the police to the car, said he was getting wireless internet from a neighbor's apartment - and that it had the name Michael Devlin on it - maybe he was trying to leave a clue for them.

[janx]

24. Someone from the apartment complex alerted the

police?

[nookiemonster]

33. From what I've gathered,

the Kirkwood police was serving a warrant in the same apartment building and a tenant recognized the truck. The authorities are being very tight lipped about it and I'm unsure of the timeline or the sequence of events.

Poor Shawn. The kid's gotta be a mess. :mad:

[janx]

35. Good for the tenant!

There are probably some details that can't come out just yet, but I was curious.

[tblue37]

31. Do any of you remember the story of Steven Stayner, who was kidnapped

in 1972 at age 7 and sexually abused (and often beaten as punishment for disobedience) for almost 8 years. It was made into a TV movie called I Know My First name Is Steven. Steven Stayner lived with his abuser as his "son" for years, but when the man kidnapped another little boy (because at age 14 Steven had gotten old enough to no longer fit the profile of the boys the man preyed on), the idea of another boy going through what he had gone through was so upsetting that it gave him the courage to take the other child to a police station.

He was reunited with his family, but he had been so traumatized by the experience that he was never entirely OK again, especially during the first few years after he rejoined his family. He remained troubled, especially because he had grown up smoking, drinking, and doing drugs with his abductor, and never really fit in with his family, though he ultimately ended up married and he and his wife had two children. (Parnell, the kidnapper, also had convinced him that his parents did not want him and had actually given him to Parnell because they wanted to be rid of him.)

He dealt with his trauma by talking to schoolchildren about being alert when approached by strangers. At age 22 he died in a motorcycle accident on his way home from work, only a few months after the film about him was first telecast in May of 1989.

Ten years later his older brother Cary (who was 11 at the time Steven was abducted) was convicted in the horrendous murders of a woman, her teenage daughter (whom he sexually assaulted for hours before killing her) and the daughter's teenaged Argentinian friend at Yosemite National Park, where Cary worked as a handyman for the lodge where the women stayed. He also confessed to having murdered another young woman not long after he committed those first three murders.

I just hope that Shawn Hornbeck gets counseling sufficient to help him deal with what he has gone through. I am not at all sure that there is enough counsseling in the world to mitigate such a long nightmare.

[Midlodemocrat]

38. I remember. It was incredibly sad what that poor boy went through

As a therapist, I am at a loss as to where to even start with a child who has been traumatized like that.

I hope Shawm is going to be okay.

[Giant Robot]

41. Being in the same field I can say that I would

refer them to someone much better than me. He deserves the best care and I hope the family can find it.

[Midlodemocrat]

43. Yup. But, I wouldn't even know where to start.

I have treated kids who were victims of sexual abuse (and, I am only assuming there was some in this case), but a kidnapped child is something I've never encountered.

I'm so happy for them that he was found, and I hope I am wrong about his state of mind.

[Gormy Cuss]

44. Parnell was living as a free man in the SF Bay Area until a few years ago

when he was convicted of trying to buy a young boy. Parnell was over age 70 at the time.

[ronnykmarshall]

46. That was so horrible.

[LisaL]

47. Yes, that's the first thing I thought of. Appears to be a similar story,

doesn't it? I hope this one has a happier ending.

[G Hawes]

37. That is wonderful news that they have been found

i fear that the boy who has been with that lowlife scumbag for the past four years, though, is going to require some serious help to deal with a myriad of issues. i cannot even begin to imagine the hell that his parents have been going through for all these years, and i am so happy for them that they have their son back alive.

[mvd]

40. I'm happy for the boys and the families

:bounce:

[ronnykmarshall]

42. I just watch the press conference with Shawn's family

Just seeing these pictures gets me crying all over again.



His step-father is an amazing and well spoken man.



Ya know his mom isn't going to let go of him for a while!





Shawn cracking up when his step-dad said "the first thing he asked for was food from McDonalds".



Such a handsome young man. I wonder what his parents think about the lip ring?

[Jawja]

45. A couple of family members

who are law enforcement in Missouri were on this case and were present when the boy was recovered.

We are all very proud of them and happy for the family. :thumbsup: