(photo AP)I was eating supper, with the news on but volume turned down when a familar face flashed upon the TV- Shawn Hornbeck
Many will recall the speculation about the 4 year old disappearnce of 11 year old Shawn Hornbeck, who was last seen riding his bicycle in a rural area in Richwoods, Missouri on October 6, 2002.
From CBS:
CIRCUMSTANCES: Shawn Hornbeck left his home in Richwoods, Missouri at approximately 1 pm on October 6, 2002 to ride his bicycle to a friend?s house, with the understanding that he would return home by 5 pm. He never arrived at the friend?s home, and didn?t return home. Hornbeck was last seen riding his bicycle approximately ? mile from his home at about 4:30 pm.
REMARKS: Shawn Hornbeck was last seen wearing an orange Astros t-shirt (from his little league baseball team), blue jeans and Nike athletic shoes. His left ear is pierced.
The news tonight brought a rare and wonderful end to not only Shawn's disappearence, but also Ben Ownby's.
Information is still slowing pouring out, so not all the details of the rescue are available yet- nor information pertaining to this monster who has caused so much pain. Thankfully however, Crime Blogger Steve Huff has done a wonderful (and FAST) job of writing up an incredible post on both the kidnappings and the rescue of these boys.
William (Ben) 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.
**This will be a continuely updated entry as more information comes in.
Categories: predators,missing, kidnappings,
Comments
There was more than enough probable cause to believe that Devlin was a suspect. He should have never been allowed to re-enter his apartment after he was questioned. The police should have detained him until a search warrant was secured or they should have used the exigent circumstances to enter the apartment without a warrant.
They did a great job but for this. We are lucky Devlin didn't decide to punch out and take these boys with him while he was alone with thim all night waiting for the police to make their move.
My thinking is that they were being very cautious about using the exigent circumstances to go in without a warrant. In that event there would have been nothing wrong with detaining him and waiting for a warrant or rejection of a warrant application.