Thank God.
Actually I was expecting them to recover the boy and find the remains of previously abducted boys on the residence of the kidnapper/sex offender. And to tell you the truth they may eventually discover links to human remains also associated with this perp.
But I'm glad this worked out with the recovery of both boys.
How it will go in the future for both kids I can't say but at least this one particular perp is out and under now, and hopefully they prosecute for the maximum.
I hope some curious Dick sniffs out this guy from top to bottom though. Any perp with balls enough to snatch twice and then display in or around a public apartment complex, well, I have to wonder if this is his first matching set, and if other victims might not have ended up planted underground somewhere.
Given what I know about sex offenders and perps like this I can easily enough imagine his probable reasoning for Ownby's abduction. He snatches a basically docile victim, or at least one who is willing to play along patiently looking for some avenue of safe escape (after all he was only 11 when snatched, the victim could have simply said to himself, I can only get out of this by gaining his trust and getting the leverage of a little time and age), and then when it appears the boy is playing his role and trust and rapport develops, he (Devlin - the sex offender) thinks, "what the hell, I did it once and it worked, why not play the odds with another?"
Plus his original victim was aging and therefore becoming both a physical threat and probably of far less interest sexually to the perp since for some reason all their own, sex offenders get stuck in a certain "target-profile age frame." They have an enormous and perverted appetite for victims within a certain age range, but once a victim is outside that basic targeting profile, their interest collapses and they start seeking new victims. Sex offenders rarely stray far from their typical targeting profile, just as serial killers rarely stray far from their target profile.
So he could have already been in the process of subconsciously (or consciously) deciding to "put away" his original victim (Hornbeck) and was grooming a replacement when he snatched the second boy (Ownby).
In any case I'm glad whoever the beat cops, officers, or court agents were delivering the warrant had their eyes open and were observant. They did an excellent job and deserve a commendation and a salute for their observations and acting upon their instincts in the follow-up. It's occasions like this that make me feel good about every investigation I've ever worked. From time to time I see something like this and it still makes me ecstatic inside. It gives you a feeling that is hard to describe. Nothing beats astute and acute observation, followed by decisive action.
Good Job Gentlemen, you do us proud.
You protected and Served indeed
Missing Boys William 'Ben' Ownby, Shawn Hornbeck Found Alive in Missouri
Friday, January 12, 2007
E-MAIL STORY
PRINTER FRIENDLY VERSION
FNC/FBI
William 'Ben' Ownby, left, and Shawn Hornbeck, right.
William 'Ben' Ownby, left, and Shawn Hornbeck, right.
BEAUFORT, Mo. — A 13-year-old boy missing since the beginning of the week was found alive in a suburban St. Louis home, along with a 15-year-old boy missing since 2002, authorities said Friday.
The boys were found in a Kirkwood home belonging to Michael Devlin, 41, who has been charged with one count of first-degree kidnapping, Sheriff Gary Toelke said.
William Ownby, who goes by Ben, disappeared after he stepped off his school bus on Monday. The straight-A student and Boy Scout was last seen running the few hundred feet down a gravel road to his home.
A friend who left the bus with the boy told authorities that after the two parted, he saw a small white pickup with a camper shell speeding away from where Ben had been walking.
Toelke said the break in the case came Thursday night. Kirkwood city police officers were serving a warrant on an apartment complex when they noticed a white truck matching the description of a vehicle authorities had been searching for in the Ownby investigation.
Kirkwood officers contacted the Franklin County Sheriff's Department and determined where the owner of the truck was. Authorities then searched Devlin's house and found both boys.
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