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Nancy Grace
The Story of Shawn Hornbeck and Ben Ownby
Aired October 26, 2012 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I wish I had the answers, but I don`t. I -- this is totally out of, you know, ordinary for him. He`s never been late. He`s scared of the dark. That`s why when he didn`t come home last night, I knew it wasn`t right!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is something that is so bizarre that the normal individual cannot grasp what this then 11-year-old boy went through.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Help Shawn come home! Honk your horn!
SHAWN HORNBECK, KIDNAP VICTIM: I`m Shawn Hornbeck. When I was 11 years old, I was riding my bike near my home when I was kidnapped by a stranger.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There is no way that anybody who can project onto Shawn what he should have, could have, or would have done. Nobody knows. Nobody was in that situation.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, it really didn`t throw up a red flag.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When I read it, I thought, this is a classic question that a child asks the parent. How long will you keep looking for me, Mom and Dad? How long? How much do you love me?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And we would have kept going to the end of our lives. We would have never stopped looking for him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And he knows that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This boggles my mind that if you thought that this may -- there was even just the slightest chance this was Shawn Hornbeck, why didn`t you do something? I just -- it just blows me away!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Shawn was happy at home. He had a good home. I know he wanted to be at home.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shawn Hornbeck disappeared off this country road near his parents` home in Ridgewood (ph), Missouri, in October of 2002. A little more than four years later, he returned. His parents say not once did they lose hope.
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NANCY GRACE, HOST: When I hear the names Shawn Hornbeck and Ben Ownby, so many things come to mind. When the two boys were taken, it was before I had the twins. Now that I have the twins, my children, John David and Lucy, what I think of is entirely different.
But I remember at the time thinking, hope against hope, I had a feeling the boys were alive, although it was against all odds that they`d be alive. And I remember the night that Hornbeck and Ownby were found alive.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Two missing Missouri boys have been found. One has been missing for more than four years, the other just a few days. Franklin County officials said they were found alive in the same Kirkwood Apartments.
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GRACE: I was on a busy street at night, and I got down on my knees and thanked God that Ownby and Hornbeck had been found alive. And I remember it was drizzling rain and all these people were walking past me, and all I could think was they`re alive.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Shawn is a miracle here. We`re glad to have him home. I still feel like I`m in a dream, only this time, it`s a good dream.
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GRACE: I ran into somebody I knew and I yelled and I just -- I said, Ownby and Hornbeck are alive! And of course, they didn`t even know what I was talking about.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We`ve got a lot of catching up to do. He`s grown up on me, that`s for sure. And I just really want to thank everybody, everybody that has been out there to help search for Shawn, everybody that has been out there to help us search for other missing kids.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Young Shawn Hornbeck lived here, held captive by 41-year-old Michael Devlin, a hulking 300-pound pizza parlor manager. The living arrangement apparently raised no red flags among neighbors, many thought perhaps a single father raising an active 15-year-old.
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JEAN CASAREZ, "IN SESSION": When I hear of their names, I think of miracles, I think of strength, I think of what they went through.
GRACE: The MO was startlingly similar. And right there should have tipped police off that the same person took both boys. Both boys were out on a rural road. It was daylight hours when they should have been safe, minding their own business. They were both approached by a male in a vehicle and forced into the vehicle.
We now know that that male was pizza parlor manager 41-year-old Michael Devlin, who then held Shawn Hornbeck for over four years in captivity.
ELLIE JOSTAD, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Devlin knocked him off his bike with his vehicle, and you know, got out feigning sort of concern for him. However, you know, then he grabbed Shawn Hornbeck and abducted him, forced him into his vehicle. And what he told Shawn Hornbeck was, You were just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This remarkable story unfolded last night, when two police officers went to serve a warrant at an apartment complex.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: While they were at that location, they found the vehicle that fit the description of the truck that we were looking for.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That truck matched the one speeding away from the spot where 13-year-old Ownby went missing. Ownby, a Boy Scout and straight-A student, was last seen getting off a school bus just outside St. Louis.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When our agents entered the apartment, young Ben, as he was sitting there, he looked up at one of our agents, and said, Are you going to take me home? And the agent looked over at Shawn Hornbeck and asked Shawn to identify himself, to which Shawn said, Yes, I am Shawn Hornbeck. So after that, it was quite euphoric, obviously, and we`re very pleased at the outcome.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He just seemed to me just like an average euphoric child, you know, as, you know, young kids are, just going back and forth with, you know, their, you know, guardian or parent or relative or whoever. And he didn`t seem to display any type of social dysfunctions.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Experts on abducted children say the same coping mechanism that fooled neighbors could have kept Shawn alive all these years.
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RITA COSBY, INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER: Michael Devlin suddenly in 2002 told Shawn Hornbeck, I`m going to take you home, I`m going to bring you back to your parents. And Shawn Hornbeck, though, of course, that was good news. He gets in the truck with him, and instead, Michael Devlin then drives him out to a wooded area, where he tries to strangle and kill him.
And then at that point, Shawn Hornbeck begged for his life. He pleaded for his life and said, Look, I promise I`ll obey you, I won`t fight you, I will stay, I`ll be under your control. And from then on out, he was under Michael Devlin`s spell, too scared to say anything because he knew that this man was capable of killing him.
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JAKE WAGMAN, "ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH": He apparently got into a fight in his -- or something close to an altercation in the apartment complex over a parking space. And he called the police. So here he has the poster boy for missing children in Missouri, quite literally, and he had an altercation over a missing -- over a parking space, and he called the police.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It wasn`t just me that he fooled. He fooled his family. He fooled -- you know, police officers would come in and out of my restaurant every day. He talked to them like they were friends, you know? Every one of those officers that came by, I knew from -- I know from coming into the restaurant. And they -- Mike waited on them.
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GRACE: On one occasion, Devlin took the little boy out into a rural area and tried to strangle him to death. The little boy begged for his life and told Devlin he, the little boy, would do whatever Devlin wanted if he would just let him live.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shawn`s kind of in a whirlwind. I don`t think he really knows how to feel, although he is elated to be home. He`s very happy to be at home, reminiscing with friends, family, getting caught up, seeing new family members that have been born since his disappearance.
But as far as all of the attention, I think it actually frightens him. He doesn`t know what to say. He doesn`t know what to do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: For the longest time, Shawn Hornbeck, who again was just 11 years old at the time -- his captivity was akin to that of how some people treat animals. Michael Devlin would tie him up with rope and duct tape his mouth so he, Devlin, could leave to go to work at the pizza parlor. He would come home at lunchtime.
In fact, there were many nights when Michael Devlin would tie a rope around Hornbeck`s waist and tie the other end of the rope to his, Devlin`s, wrist so he would know if Hornbeck even tried to move during the night.
BETH KARAS, LEGAL CORRESPONDENT, "IN SESSION": Eventually, Shawn was allowed to watch TV, play video games at home and not be tied up and bound, as he was the first month while Devlin was at work. But even beyond his freedoms at home, he had access to the Internet, too.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is an eerie message on the Shawn Hornbeck message board. "How long are you planning to look for your son," written by Shawn Devlin. The next message, full of misspellings and apologies and an offer of poetry again from a Shawn Devlin in Perkwood (ph). Did Shawn Hornbeck post those messages, or did Michael Devlin?
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KARAS: And he got a cellphone. He made friends. He was allowed to have a sleepover with friends. He eventually had a girlfriend, somebody he met on line and would meet at the mall.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Neighbors with report seeing the little boy we all know as Shawn Hornbeck say he kept to himself most of the time. And in recent weeks, there was an addition to his circle of friends.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I had noticed a girl, blond hair, short hair. She was white. And I noticed her a few times in the apartment.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And he had a girlfriend. And the only reason I say that is because I think I saw them holding hands.
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KARAS: So he was out and about the neighborhood, and he never told any authorities about Devlin.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: From what I understand, some of Shawn`s friends in the area confronted him and actually said, You look like Shawn Hornbeck, and he sort of blew the whole thing off and got away with it.
And this apartment complex -- I own one building, but the buildings are close together and there are a lot of people out, especially in warmer weather. And apparently, this kid was in plain sight, Michael, you know, obviously not doing anything much to hide. In fact, you could see right into the back bedroom driving by some nights. It`s just kind of frustration over if I could have or should have done anything differently.
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KARAS: Well, his cover stories included that he was Devlin`s son, that he was being home schooled. One time, he said he was in private school. But you see, he wasn`t in the public school, and people were wondering why not after he started making friends. Now, there was a time when Devlin referred to Shawn as his friend`s son, that Devlin was friends with the father of Shawn. But most of the time, Devlin said that Shawn was his son.
GRACE: When the mother, Michael Devlin`s mother, heard the description of the kidnapper`s vehicle, she called Devlin and said, Wow, that sounds a lot like your car, Michael. You`re not going to get arrested, are you? Half joking.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Neighbors say they heard evidence of verbal and physical abuse coming from apartment D.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A lot of banging, a lot of banging constantly, yelling, vulgarity. And at one point, I even heard Devlin strike the boy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My roommate does remember -- did say he heard whimpering at one point.
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CASAREZ: Ben Ownby was taken in a very classic manner, as have many young victims been kidnapped. He was getting off the school bus. And it was in a rural area in Missouri -- Getting off the school bus, walking home. And at that point, Michael Devlin in 2007 abducted him. And who was sitting with Michael Devlin in the front seat of the truck, but it was Shawn Hornbeck. He had Shawn Hornbeck assist him to abduct another young boy.
GRACE: It has puzzled many crime sleuths that Shawn Hornbeck -- who, again, was only 11 years old when he was abducted -- that there were many, many chances where he could have escaped Michael Devlin.
But we have to remember this little boy came from a very sheltered existence. He lived in a rural area with his family. There had never been any trouble. He was a very happy little boy. He had no idea what was going on when he was kidnapped.
When he did attempt to run away on one occasion, Devlin took him out into a rural area and tried to strangle him to death and only let him live when the boy begged to live and promised he would do whatever Devlin wanted. So when the two went shopping or when the two went for pizza, he never spoke out.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As far as anybody at the restaurant knew, he lived completely alone.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So he never brought the boy to the pizzeria.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, no. And if Shawn had been at the restaurant, he surely made no contact with Mike Devlin.
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GRACE: When Ben Ownby was kidnapped a couple of years after Hornbeck -- and on TV reports, they would show Hornbeck with Ownby. Several people said, Wow, that looks like you. And he would say, Why are you saying that? Michael Devlin`s my father. That`s not me.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just because we`ve recovered our own son doesn`t mean that our work is done. And I don`t think that work will ever be done. But once again, just -- we`re just so thankful for everyone, for everything that`s been done.
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GRACE: A flyer was still up in a grocery store almost four years later, and someone identified Hornbeck and said, Wow, we saw a flyer that looks just like you. And the child became almost indignant, saying, No, that`s not me. That`s not me. Why? He knew he could be killed. And there were threats of death on his family. And in his own mind, I believe Shawn Hornbeck believed he was protecting his mother and father.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who is Michael Devlin? Co-workers at both his funeral home and pizza parlor jobs describe a quiet and efficient man, but we heard a different view from some of his neighbors. They say they often heard disturbing sounds coming from the floor below.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Abusive discipline, is what it sounded like.
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GRACE: I will never forget the eyewitness identification of Michael Devlin`s vehicle by a young teen, Mitch Holtz (ph). This young boy could identify from one quick glimpse Devlin`s vehicle and describe it down to a T. That led them to a pizza shop owner because when that vehicle description was disseminated, the owner of the pizza parlor at which Devlin worked recognized the vehicle description.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We got numerous calls on numerous vehicles.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The two officers who first confronted Devlin, leading to his arrest, say the public may still be able to help solve the puzzles of this case.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No question is a dumb question. Well, no, you know, gut feeling is probably a dumb gut feeling.
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GRACE: He also recalls, once his memory was jogged by the truck description, that Michael Devlin had called in sick for a couple of days after Ownby, 13-year-old Ben Ownby, goes missing. He recalled and recounted to police that the day Ownby was kidnapped, Devlin left early and that he didn`t look well at all. And he put two and two together.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I drove by his apartment on Tuesday, and I noticed his vehicle and it had gray lettering. And I said, Well, good. That`s a good thing. It doesn`t have the black lettering. But I did notice that on his fenders, there was road dust, and there shouldn`t have been road dust if he was ill for two days.
So I mulled it over. I said, I don`t know if I want to go to the police. If I`m wrong, I`ll create a big stir for nothing. But Thursday morning, I was -- I get in early Thursday, and I decided, You know, what is it going to hurt, I`ll go over and talk to the police.
I got over to the Kirkwood police station about 9:00 AM, talked to Captain Folio (ph), told him my concern. And I think -- I believe at that time, he checked his record, found that Michael had no previous record at all, other than a couple of traffic violations. Detective said that -- or, excuse me, Captain Folio said that he would contact the FBI task force. And the rest is what we have right now.
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GRACE: And police came out to Devlin. They saw the vehicle. They could look in the windows, and they could see a teen boy working at a computer. But they didn`t have legal authority to go in, and Devlin talked his way out of it. They came back and arrested Devlin. And miraculously, both boys, Shawn Hornbeck and Ben Ownby -- Hornbeck missing over four years -- were found alive.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let`s hear from Shawn himself. Here`s a portion of what aired on Thursday`s "Oprah Winfrey Show."
OPRAH WINFREY, TALK SHOW HOST: Can you tell me how you got through these past four years?
HORNBECK: Hope and praying.
WINFREY: Hope and praying. You said you would pray and cross yourself every night.
HORNBECK: Yes.
WINFREY: And what would the prayer be.
HORNBECK: That one day my parents would find me and I would be reunited with them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shawn Hornbeck disappeared off this country road near his parents` home in Ridgewood, Missouri, in October of 2002. A little more than four years later, he returned. His parents say not once did they lose hope.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shawn was abducted against his will, period, end of the story.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Investigators say they`ve spoken to Hornbeck several times and are impressed by how well he`s holding up.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shawn seems to be a very strong young man. He`s a very articulate young man.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: By late morning, a team of investigators had gathered in the parking lot of Devlin`s apartment complex. Several of the investigators were from the FBI. For the next three hours, they removed several things from the ground floor apartment, at one point using a hand truck to remove evidence.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: For people to speculate that he had every opportunity to get away, you know, I`d just like to remind them he`s the victim. He`s the child. He was 11 at the time. He wasn`t 15. He wasn`t an adult. Devlin was the adult and he should have done the right thing.
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GRACE: While Hornbeck was being held captive for those horrible four years, he actually went on line and contacted his mother and father twice. He went onto their Web site and asked, How much longer are you going to look for your son? And he did -- he used a fake name, so he did it anonymously. He later went back on the Web site and apologized for asking the question.
And as an adult, when you look at that, the poignant nature of him trying to reach out to his mother and father but being so afraid, all he could do is send them an anonymous e-mail, it`s just heart-breaking.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In my opinion, had it not been for the efforts of those two officers, we probably wouldn`t be standing here right now. My hat is off to those guys. They did a hell of a job. I`m so thankful. And one way or another, we`re going to find those guys and they`re going to get a big hug, whether they want it or not.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We walked up to this apartment to serve a warrant.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: On the top floor.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Exactly. And we couldn`t make contact. So we came down the stairs over to the left here. As we were coming down the stairs, we noticed a white in color truck sitting right about here where this van`s at. Well, just the fact that it was a Nissan pickup truck with a camper shell on it originally, and then me and Chris put our heads together and with the information given by the 15-year-old individual, we - - you know, there was a lot of variables that matched that vehicle.
We checked the vehicle for any kind of warrants and make sure it wasn`t wanted by any other department. And the registration checked out, at which time we did an area canvass. We did a canvass of the area, and they were the ones who actually told me that the truck belonged to Mr. Devlin.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And you knew Mr. Devlin, didn`t you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. From Emo`s (ph) Pizza, we had contacts with him in the past.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How did that strike you there? I mean...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was...
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... friendly, some people said not friendly, and...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just very quiet and laid back, a real polite guy. We came back -- after the canvass, we came back down here to the van. I met Chris back here. We exchanged information about what we found about the canvass, at which time, Mr. Devlin walked out here and walked to this dumpster.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right here. So he comes out with his garbage and you recognized him from the pizza place. What did you say?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, Gary approached him and introduced himself and told him, Hey, you know, do you know whose pickup truck this is? And he goes, yes, it`s mine. And from there, we started asking him questions that, you know, Have you seen the news, and you know, other things. After we talked to him for a little bit and they got real specific, he became just a different person.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What do you mean?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: His whole demeanor changed. He started clenching his fists. His posture changed. He wouldn`t make eye contact with us anymore.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And what did you think?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Immediately, it set red flags off to myself and Gary. You know, it was a different person that was standing there talking to us.
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JOSTAD: When the two boys were rescued, they were in pretty good condition. They were actually playing video games when the FBI and other agents came into the apartment. However, Ben Ownby, the first thing he said to the officers when they walked in is, he said, Are you going to take me home now, obviously terrified to have been held there.
And Shawn Hornbeck, too, once they assured him that he was safe, admitted who he was, said he was Shawn Hornbeck. And they realized, you know, in looking for one boy, they actually were able to save two boys.
GRACE: Michael Devlin chose to plead guilty rather than go to trial.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`ll be the best thing for my nephew. He won`t have to relive this thing in court, you know, have to go back and revisit all of the things that no child should have to be put through.
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GRACE: He pled guilty to an array of criminal offenses -- forcible sodomy, deviant sex intercourse, 71 counts, attempted first-degree murder, attempted forcible sodomy, attempted kidnapping, child kidnapping two counts, and armed criminal action two counts.
"The New York Post" managed to speak to Devlin behind bars, and they uncovered even more of his sick nature.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The citizens of the community, the state and the nation should be happy that this predator will not be able to prey on our children again.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Many people have asked how it feels to have Shawn with us for the holidays and for the legal procedures to be done right before Christmas. I think maybe the timing was no accident. It was meant to serve as a reminder to us to appreciate our children and to enjoy the family`s time we have with them. And maybe it is to remind us that miracles do happen.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shawn wasn`t sure how to act initially. He, you know, was kind of like a scared 11-year-old. He didn`t know how he was going to be perceived.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Praig (ph) says Shawn is fitting into his new school. He has a near perfect grade point average and has almost reached the appropriate grade level. His mom says he`s learning to be Shawn.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Now every once in a while when he goes out and he gets recognized, it doesn`t really bother him anymore. It used to bother him quote a bit, but not anymore because now he`s learned to realize how important his story was to everybody else.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He`s 6-foot-4, weighs 300 pounds, not the kind of man you`d think of as timid and scared. Michael Devlin says that his time in jail is difficult. He can`t sleep, he says, and he`s isolated. "They keep me away from everyone because they think I`m dangerous." He insists he`s not.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: To think that two boys were exposed to him for so long is just heart-wrenching.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He pointed to this sign over here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Late last summer, Rob Burshell (ph) says he got into a loud argument with a neighbor over a parking space.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He wanted this space, and I was kind of in the middle of these two.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That neighbor was an irate Michael Devlin.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So he was getting that angry at you just that quick.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When he pulled up, he was angry. When he saw my car here, he was already angry. It was, I mean, just like, Boom.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Were you intimidated?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A little bit. I mean...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you think there was going to be a fight?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. I mean, my first instinct is that I`m about to get in a fight with this guy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There wasn`t a fight. At the time, Burshell says Devlin was accompanied by the abducted Shawn Hornbeck. But in a move that no one today can understand, Burshell says Devlin himself called the police.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was almost an ideal tenant. He paid his rent on time. He was always very pleasant and nice to me, very kind of soft- spoken, low-key. Nothing out of the ordinary at all.
I was in there about a year-and-a-half ago working on a plumbing problem in another unit. And I did notice a teenage boy sleeping on the couch. He had his back to me. I didn`t thing anything of it at the time. And in fact, I think Mike told me that it was his son. In fact, on a recent lease that he renewed with me, he wrote in Shawn Devlin as another occupant in the unit.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: What "The Post" recounts him saying is that he didn`t know what to tell his parents. So he`s worried about what his parents are going to think about him? That`s his concern?
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Still, Michael Devlin says that he`s afraid to confront his mother and father now that he`s been arrested. In two separate 15-minute interviews, the Missouri pizza shop manager accused of kidnapping two boys tells "The New York Post," "I don`t know how I`m going to explain myself to my parents. It`s much easier talking to a stranger about these things than your own parents."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: He also goes on to talk about himself. Somehow, he`s the victim, that he felt alone, that he never had interest in romantic relationships and that when he was diagnosed with diabetes, his life took a turn for the worst, that all of his friends were getting married and having children. That explains the kidnap and sodomy of two little boys?
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Devlin worked here during the times that each of the two boys was reported missing, but his boss says he never saw any signs of any suspicious behavior. In fact, the day before he was arrested, Devlin was in this very restaurant, having a friendly conversation with a police officer.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What was his demeanor during this conversation?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Like you and I are talking right now. Just not -- his voice probably wasn`t shaking as much as mine is, you know? He was just -- just cool as could be.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Trying to figure out what I -- exactly I would do differently. You know, if I run a background check on Devlin, I would have got a traffic violation come up. (INAUDIBLE) seemed happy, and actually, you see him at that news conference and he looked smiling and healthy. I know he had friends in the area that he hung out with, and you know, went to the park and had pizza with. And everything seemed fine. So no indication at all.
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JOSTAD: Ben Ownby -- this is a kid who was a Boy Scout, straight-A student, very responsible. He was dropped off at 3:30, got off his bus stop then. His dad got home at 3:45 and immediately started looking for him. Just that 15-minute window of time, you know, was enough.
His dad knew if Ben got off the bus when he was supposed to, he would be home. So his father immediately started looking for him, and within a half an hour, actually even less than an hour since the bus drop-off was supposed to happen, Ben`s parents had already called police and they were already doing an active search for him. They knew immediately that when Ben got off that bus and didn`t get home, something was very wrong.
COSBY: The reaction by Shawn Hornbeck`s parents was just utter joy and shock. Their son had been gone for four-and-a-half years. They never lost hope. Although authorities said, Look, it`s highly unlikely, after such a long period of time your son`s been missing, no traces or him -- but just tears of joy. And as soon as they saw their son, even though it has been four-and-a-half years, they knew it was their son as soon as they looked at him. And he remembered his parents right away. It was this beautiful bond that had never been broken.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Their kids can come home. It may be years later, may be days later, may be weeks later, but they can come home safe. And just always keep that faith and hope. Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, there really weren`t any words at that point. It was just -- there`s a split second of shock. You know, the last time we saw him he was yea tall and 11 years old.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KARAS: Shawn Hornbeck had not been schooled during the time he was a captive, yet he ended up graduating early from high school. He`s a bright young man and he went on to college.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, it kind of throws you for just a second. But then, you know, once I saw the face, it`s, like, Oh, my God, that`s my son. And it was just a big group hug, kisses. We told him we loved him and that he`s home now. And that was pretty much where we were for about the first five minutes.
There really weren`t too many words spoken other than a lot of "I love yous," hugs, kisses, and, We`re so glad that you`re home, and him expressing how glad that he was to finally be home.
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GRACE: Shawn Hornbeck`s family says that he is readjusting, that their life is as normal as it can be expected. He`s very into motocross. He`s made new friends and reestablished connections with his old friendships. And he`s very into sports.
I don`t know how you mentally and emotionally get beyond what Hornbeck went through, but I do believe that this young man, Shawn Hornbeck, can do it. He can be happy.
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, my read here is that it is a tremendously happy ending. And you know, such a surprise, and I`m sure the entire nation is grateful for this result. There`s a long journey ahead.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shawn got a little nap this morning, not much. I got a little nap (INAUDIBLE) got a little nap. And we`re really afraid to go to sleep. You know, you`re afraid you`re going to wake up and this was all just a dream. And to just express how much that we appreciate everything that everyone has done for us -- to meet with them, make sure it was Shawn -- I think that`s the longest drive I`ve ever had to do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Many, many other cases were looked at by a task force in connection with Michael Devlin. Bianca Piper (ph), just 14. When Bianca goes missing, last seen walking on a gravel road near her home. There was Scott Kleschel (ph), just 9. He disappeared from St. Charles. Angie Houseman (ph) disappeared after a school bus dropped her off near her home. Her body was later found. Dalton Masarjik (ph) last seen in his own front yard, his body found the very next day by a fisherman. Jacob Wetterling (ph) -- he went missing, St. Joseph`s. He went missing there in St. Joseph back in October of `89.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`ll begin with Michael Devlin. Mr. Devlin, can you hear me, sir?
MICHAEL DEVLIN: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. Mr. Devlin, my name is Judge Tobin (ph). You`re here for a preliminary arraignment. I`m going to explain the charges against you and certain rights that you have. At the end of January the 8th of this year, here in Franklin County, you who are not related to a person whose initials are W.O. by blood or marriage, knowingly and unlawfully removed that person, W.O., a child under the age of 14, from 836 Wild Rose Lane. You understand what you`re accused of?
DEVLIN: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The range of punishment, sir, for a class A felony is from 10 to 30 years in the penitentiary or life in prison. You understand that, sir?
DEVLIN: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now, Mr. Devlin, you have certain rights under the Constitution. One of those rights is the right to an attorney. You have - - I have two attorneys here in the courtroom, Mr. Kelti (ph) and Mr. Corije (ph). (INAUDIBLE) make any statements. I`m sure your attorneys will tell you the same.
You also have the right to have a preliminary hearing before you can be forced to face a jury trial in this matter. And at this time, I would propose to set the matter for a preliminary hearing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Your honor, at this time, I believe a plea needs to be entered for the defendant.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Devlin, how do you wish to plead in this matter? Mr. Devlin?
DEVLIN: I`m not guilty.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. OK. Do you have any questions at this time?
DEVLIN: No, I don`t.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Any comments or questions from counsel?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nothing on behalf of the defendant, your honor.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nothing for the state, your honor.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That will conclude matters for now. Thank you very much, gentlemen.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you, your honor.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Devlin, we`ll see you on March 15th.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: As to little Ben Ownby, he has not been spotted in public, but his parents gave a statement that he is happy, healthy, doing what a kid his age should be doing, and that they are trying to keep his life as, quote, "normal" as possible. God bless him.
END
