Mo. boys found, but questions remain

[Herman Munster]

This is strange. It seems the boy had a lot of chances to escape or at least tell someone he was abducted? Why didn't he try to get away for 4 years?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070113/ap_on_re_us/boys_found

Neighbors in the two-story, brick apartment complex said Devlin, a burly, 300-pound man with wire-rimmed glasses and a beard, hardly appeared to be keeping secrets. He had lifelong ties to this middle-class suburb of 26,000, family in the area and apparently no criminal record beyond a pair of traffic fines. He was often seen coming and going from his jobs at a pizza parlor and a funeral home, and nothing seemed odd about a teenager seen hanging around his place.

The landlord at the apartment, Bill Romer, said he was in the apartment once to fix a plumbing problem and saw the teen, apparently Hornbeck, sleeping.

"As far as I knew, that was his son living with him," Romer said. "The kid's bedroom didn't even have curtains on the windows."

Rick Butler, 43, who lives across the street, said he saw no evidence that the boy was scared or trying to get away. He even saw Devlin and the teen pitch a tent outside in the complex, which sits near railroad tracks and Interstate 44 in a working-class section of well-to-do Kirkwood.

"I didn't see or hear anything odd or unusual from the apartment," Butler said. "I just figured them for father and son."

Last fall, Butler said he found a cell phone outside, called a number on it and the teen came outside to retrieve it.

"Thanks a lot for the phone," he recalled the boy saying.

[medeak]

1. the guy was a registered sex offender in Utah and TX

reported yesterday. There's no telling what he told this young man about his family ect.

And it's wonderful the young man did whatever he did to survive.

Let's not analyze his behavior and wait. Hope he turns out ok..certain it will takes years to straighten life out.

[etherealtruth]

3. I think "they" retracted that statement

My understanding is that this guy shares a name with a registered sex offender. I don't have links ... just going by what I heard on CNN (so, I could be wrong).

[medeak]

5. thanks

hadn't heard any updates...makes it even stranger. The funeral parlor thing is a bit creepy.

[onecent]

14. I heard that on the newscasts also etherealtruth. n/t

[Ayesha]

2. Stockholm Syndrome

It's a type of brainwashing where the victim comes to care about the kidnapper. Initially, they have to cooperate in order to survive, but then they sort of get used to it. It's basically the same thing that happens with women who stay in abusive relationships, etc. I agree, it makes no sense to those not in that situation, nor do I think all people are vulnerable to developing it. I believe that I would rather fight and die...but who knows, none of us can say for sure how we would react in that situation.

[Lex]

4. At 11 years old, he could easily been fooled into believing

his family was dead or some horrible tragedy had struck his family, or that this guy was his real dad, or any number of things to keep him in line and believing this was just his new situation in life.

I'm so glad both boys were found.



_________________

[magellan]

6. Remember this kid was 11 when he was abducted

That's very young, and we don't know what Devlin did to him or threatened him with to make him accept his fate.

It was mentioned that at one time during her captivity, Elizabeth Smart heard her name being called by searchers and ignored it.

[sandnsea]

7. Why do people ask stupid questions?

I don't know, they just do. No matter how many times the affects of abuse are explained.

[Bunny]

19. .

:spray:

:thumbsup:

[ronnykmarshall]

8. Did you see the press conference with Shawn and his family?

:cry:

Oh my god!

His step-father is one amazing man. So well spoken and you can just see the love in his eyes for his son.

[seabeyond]

15. i didnt see it. i heard about the father. how did the son look standing there?

lost? relieved? out of it? sad? happy?

[ronnykmarshall]

17. He's looks so happy and he's an adorable kid.

Look at some of these pics.




His mom is also a very articulate lady.



Shawn and his step-dad. Does anyone know what is the story about his father?





Mom's not letting go of her son for a LONG time.



Thank God this family has a happy ending to this nightmare.



This part was so sweet. His step-dad was saying that when they were taking him from from the police station (it was around 1am), Shawn said "can we stop at McDonalds?" ..... just like a kid, huh?



One of the many times his step-dad broke down during the press conference.



Isn't he just the cutest kid? I wonder what the story is behind the other ear and lip ring? The one photo when he was 11 showed one ear ring. I'm just curious what happend. I just pray that he or Ben were not abused by that mother fucker that took him. Just some random thoughts.




Another thing .... I was watching MSNBC and this ASSHOLE was bitching about the parents holding press conferences (both of the boys) .... I wanted to slap the fucking shit out of that asshole. Shawn's parents said that is was their SON'S choice to appear. PLUS he didn't want to speak and the press was very kind and respected that.



Mom and her son. Praise God for bringing them back together.




Ben Ownby, the other boy that was kidnapped



Ben w/ his family. His sister rocks with her black hair, huh?

[Bunny]

18. Thanks for all those pics ronnyk.

This is just an amazing story, isn't it? It's hard to look at these without crying tears of joy, isn't it?

[ronnykmarshall]

20. Thank god for a happy story, huh?

I mean we are all concerned with Iraq and fuckhead in the White House.

But to see this happen .... it just warms my heart and keeps my faith that things will be better.

[seabeyond]

21. i really appreciate the picture. he makes good eye contact. pictures are important

he is allowing closeness, he seems relaxed in the touch of both parents. he is able to smile. the pictures feel good. thank you. i havent been able to turn on the news and watch. just feels like feeding the animal that our media has become, but i wanted to see the kids face so i really appreciate. good pictures.

[sandnsea]

22. Thanks so much

Those are terrific pictures. I am so incredibly happy for these families. Child kidnappings has to be the worst thing in the world to endure, for everyone involved. I truly think I'd rather be in a war zone with my children, than in a mansion with them simply disappeared.

[medeak]

9. parents say son's life was threatened

http://www.ktre.com/Global/story.asp?S=5935072&nav=menu118_3

[rodeodance]

10. the boy needs a good psychologist at this time. NOT SPECULATION

[SmokingJacket]

16. Yes.

Why are kids who "could get away" constantly questioned? Probably the same reason kids as young as ten or eleven are treated as adults in the courts.

Kids are NOT the same as adults. They are POWERLESS and manipulable. Period.

[seabeyond]

23. ya... but it could simply be curiosity of what will allow this situation

to create itself. i could sit and listen to the boy tell his experience and what he felt from beginning to end. not out of speculation, or place blame, or need for gorey detail, but because human behavior for me is fascinating and the more one hears the more understanding that can be had.

[melody]

11. pedophiles are expert manipulators

There's no telling what that boy has been through. This kind of speculation always strikes me as being similar to people asking what a woman might have done to avoid rape. Until you're in the shark's mouth, you can't know what you'd do.

[malaise]

12. 100% correct n/t

[yardwork]

13. Thank you for making that excellent point!

We need to repeat the facts about sexual abuse (which always includes of emotional and psychological abuse)over and over again.

[tinfoilinfor2005]

24. I can never understand why the "news reports" seem to relish

putting little salacious spins on these stories. "No evidence the boy was scared or trying to get away." Yeah, an eleven year old secretly dreams about being torn away from his safe home by a three hundred pound greasy haired pervert who abuses him physically and mentally and threatens him daily with his life and/or the lives of his family.

I honestly wonder sometimes if the biggest sicko isn't the one writing the story.