Kirkwood, Mo.
Two boys, one missing for four days and another for four years, were reunited with their parents last week after police discovered them in the home of a 41-year-old man. Police charged Michael Devlin, the manager of a local pizzeria, with the kidnapping of William Ben Ownby, 13, and Shawn Hornbeck, 15. Additional charges are expected. Police have not disclosed whether Devlin sexually abused his captives. Ownby disappeared last week from a St. Louis suburb. Hornbeck disappeared in 2002, when he was 11, near his home in Richwoods, Mo. Despite having access to a mobile phone and a computer, Hornbeck did not try to escape or alert people to his captivity, giving rise to speculation that he was under Devlin’s psychological control. Kirkwood police discovered the boys after noticing that Devlin’s white van matched the description of a van seen driving away from the block where Ownby was last seen. Neighbors said Devlin presented Hornbeck as his son, and they believed him.
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