Al Nothum of the Missouri Highway Patrol said the first thing police want to know is who took the photos. Shawn Hornbeck, his mother Pam Akers, left, and step-father Craig Akers, greet friends as they walk into the press conference Saturday, January 13, 2007 at Richwoods School. Market data provided by Factset. Thats my first clue. According to Palmer, while walking back from a video rental store, a man in a pickup pulled up and tried to get Palmer to accept a ride. However, Shawn eventually became too old for Devlin and the kidnapper was soon was back on the streets to find a new victim. After a dozen days later, Patty was spotted wielding an assault weapon on a bank surveillance camera during an SLA bank robbery. Washington. An 11-year-old went missing in rural Missouri while riding his bike in 2002. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. Theres hardly any place he can go that somebody doesnt recognize him and want to give him a hug, his mom said. He is currently serving 71 life sentences after being convicted of kidnapping and child sexual abuse atWestern Missouri Correctional Center in Cameron, Missouri. Once found, Natascha gave dozens of interviews, released two memoirs, and even had a film based on her ordeal. That night, Franklin County Sheriff Glen Toelke announced that both boys were found and alive. Cookies collect information about your preferences and your device and are used to make the site work as you expect it to, to understand how you interact with the site, and to show advertisements that are targeted to your interests. Shawn told no one about his situation, and nobody in Kirkwood suspected that he was the missing boy from Richmond - 50 miles away. Sherman said the Hornbecks were unaware of the photos until they were contacted by KTVI, but said that the family is prepared to deal with any trauma their son might have experienced during his time in captivity. He was sexually abused, with Devlin later telling FBI agents that as Shawn got older, he had begun looking for a younger boy to take. At 14, Elizabeth was kidnapped on her way home from school. ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform. Undergoing horrible ordeals as children, from kidnapping to abuse, they all managed to survive and tell their stories. On a daily basis you get so many weird, out there message.'. Willett was following a lead on Jan. 12, 2007, in the case of Ben Ownby, a 13-year-old who had gone missing days earlier. Click here to get breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases in the True Crime Newsletter. When then-FBI Special Agent Lynn Willett went to a pizza shop in Kirkwood, Missouri, 10 years ago, she did not expect to leave with a kidnapper in custody. A year after ordeal, kidnapped boy doing well. Is dumpster diving legal in Missouri and Illinois? Abducted from the street in 2002 when she was just six years old, Erica made national news when she managed to break free from her kidnappers by chewing through the duct tape that was bound around her wrists. Its their story to tell.. 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Shawn Hornbeck stays close to his mother, Pam Akers, during a press conference Saturday, Jan. 13, 2007, in Richwoods, the morning after he was found along with Ben Ownby in a Kirkwood apartment. FBI/GettyThis undated handout photo provided by the FBI shows Shawn Hornbeck as he was pictured on a missing person poster from 2002. Tortured and threatened with death, Hornbeck had allowed Devlin to present him as his son. On Jan. 8, 2007, Devlin abducted Ben Ownby at a bus stop in Beaufort, Missouri. Steven had a difficult life after his escape and died at age 24 in a . Though Ben was two years older than Shawn, he looked young for his age, and both. Since her ordeal made headlines in 2009, Jaycee, now 41, has published two memoirs and continues to speak publicly about her experience. Hornbeck and Ownby were discovered after police noticed Devlins white pickup truck in the apartment complex parking lot. "It's disturbing, but it's not unexpected that there are going to be things revealed from the course of Shawn's captivity that are going to be upsetting to the family," Hornbeck family lawyer Scott Sherman said. They had been kidnapped by Michael J. Devlin . That was more traumatizing than the original event itself, he said. She still stays in touch with her colleagues who helped solve the case. Mitchell Hults of Franklin County saw the truck near the scene of the crime, telling investigators. A white truck had been seen speeding away after Ownby had been snatched, and when police tracked down Devlin's cluttered one bedroom apartment home, they found Shawn Hornbeck toositting on the couch. Hornbeck was reported missing by his family on Oct. 5, 2002, after he didn't return home from school in Richwoods, Mo. That fall Devlin pleaded guilty to multiple counts of kidnapping and sexual assault and was sentenced to 74 life . He wont be eligible for parole until hes 100. She lives in Utah with her husband and two-year-old daughter. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. What They've Said, Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window). McNamara, who also led the investigation into the Golden State Killer, found many connections between the two boys. He said he plans to continue to seek justice and peace of mind. Both he and Ben Ownby still live in the St. Louis area. Copyright 2023 RiverBender.com.com All rights reserved. . Shes now 25 years old, has two sons and lives in Idaho. In fact, she came very close to solving the case of both boys on her true crime blog just a day before investigators would find them. He remains on death row as of July 2021, but there have been zero executions in the state of California since a 2006 court ruling on the flaws found in the management of capital punishment. After being attacked with an ice pick behind bars, Devlin was placed in protective custody to live out his sentence. Today, Devlin continues serving three life sentences at Crossroads. McNamara also correctly theorized that Devlin was drawn to the boys because they looked much younger than their actual ages. Legal Statement. Prosecutors in Franklin, Washington, and St. Louis counties hit Devlin with dozens of charges, including kidnapping, use of a deadly weapon, molestation, and production of child pornography. Hes into video production and has shown me some of his work.. ABC 17 News is committed to providing a forum for civil and constructive conversation. Today, Shawn Hornbeck and Ben Ownby have found some sense of normalcy, living peacefully with their families in St. Louis. Knowing what its like being on the other side and potentially what may have happened and what may have led up to her final moments and understanding probably a lot of what she was feeling, its heartbreaking.. Task force officials say the images are a top priority, but are not sure at this point how important they will be to their ongoing investigation. Murdaugh is heckled as he leaves court, Mom who lost both sons to fentanyl blasts laughing Biden, Moment teenager crashes into back of lorry after 100mph police race, Two Russian tanks annihilated with bombs by Ukrainian armed forces, Bizarre moments in Alex Murdaugh double murder trial so far, Stolen car crashes into another car causing building to collapse, Ukrainian soldier takes out five tanks with Javelin missiles. During the investigation we found out that he did go looking for other children and he had about a sixty-mile radius around the area where he lived going over into Illinois and into Missouri, said Toelke. She was 46. On October 6, 2002, Shawn, aged 11, was kidnapped by 41-year-old pizza shop boss Michael Devlin. When the boys were found Gary Toelke, the Franklin County sheriff at the time made the announcement outside his office at a press conference. In the same interview, Shawn said he spent his days sleeping and playing video games and was instructed to tell people he was being homeschooled. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, Devlin remains at the state prison in Cameron under protective custody. Have a tip? Shawn Hornbeck, left, the boy who was held captive for over four years and finally freed in January from the St. Louis area apartment of Michael Devlin, makes a putt as his dad Craig Akers watches . Legal Statement. Although he did not attend school during the time he was missing, Hornbeck was apparently allowed to leave the apartment unsupervised while Devlin worked as a manager at a local pizza parlor. Shawn would even reach out to his parents on a website they set up to receive tips on his disappearance. One year after Hornbecks release, his parents told PEOPLE he was making progress. That inmate, identified as Troy Fenton, wrote a letter to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and said he attacked Devlin because of the heinous nature of Devlins crimes. Most recently, Smart spoke out after Gabby Petitos missing person case took the nation by storm. When his 11-year-old son was kidnapped in October 2002, Craig became very dedicated in finding his boy. Just one day before the miraculous discovery, McNamara theorized Ownby was targeted because of his youthful appearance. Today, Jessica is now 35 years old and lives in Texas with her husband and two children. ', Shawn replied: 'I was hoping it might give some sort of hint. Craig was a dedicated family man. Shawns case had gone cold, and very little information about Ben was known. Shawn Hornbeck was an 11 year old boy who was kidnapped while riding his bike to a friend's house near Richwoods, Missouri. Driving his pickup, he knocked Hornbeck off his bike and kidnapped him. Shawn was 11 when he was kidnapped by Michael Devlin in 2002 near his home in Washington County, Mo. SALT LAKE CITY (AP) Teenage kidnapping survivor Elizabeth Smart has given birth to her third child. By Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. One of the most disturbing of the more than a dozen images obtained by KTVI appears to show Hornbeck with his face shrouded in a red bandana pointing a gun at the camera. You have to stay strong the whole time and you have to just have that strength and just know one day you will be reunited with your family.. Shawn planned to ride his bike to a . California. The discovery that Hornbeck was still alive after his abduction near Richwoods in 2003, was dubbed, "The Missouri Miracle". 1998 - 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. | All Rights Reserved. Writer Michelle McNamara died in her sleep on April 21, 2016. Willett and Richter joined other FBI agents and local police in going to Devlins apartment in the 400 block of S. Holmes Avenue. Today, St. Louis Talks spoke to then Franklin County sheriff Gary Toelke, who led much of the investigation after Ownby was taken four days earlier. Palmer said he remembers the face of the man who tried to abduct him 22 years ago, but it wasnt until recently he put the name of Michael Devlin, to that face. If you use a windshield cover, you can at least forget about scrapping the ice off your windshield to save some time and hassle.