ONE
LONG CONTINUOUS DAY
Those were the words used by Pam
Akers, mother of Shawn Hornbeck, to describe the feeling of the last four
and a half years spent without her son. Shawn disappeared over four years
ago while riding his bike in a suburb of St. Louis, and was never seen or
heard from again. His mother said that rather than four years, it had seemed
like one long continuous day of worrying, wondering and hoping. Pam and her
husband, Shawn's stepfather, had gone broke taking up the cause of missing
and exploited children and, of course, trying to find their own son. On
Friday, a strange turn of events led to the rescue of Shawn.
Last week, 13 year old Ben Ownby was taken after getting off his school bus
on Monday afternoon. The key to the case was a beat-up white pick-up truck
that had been spotted by one of Ben's schoolmates who had got off the bus at
the same time. Thank God for this kid. On Thursday, some forty miles away in
Kirkwood, alert police officers spotted a truck matching the description.
They traced the truck to owner Michael Devlin, an Imo's Pizza manager and
part-time funeral home worker. A search warrant was issued and police went
to his apartment. At his home, they found not only Ben Ownby, but also Shawn
Hornbeck, who had been living, no doubt under threat, as this man's son.
Neighbors reported that they never imagined anything different, as they
would see the two playing outside and living, apparently, as father and son.
If the recovery of these two boys doesn't qualify as miraculous, then I
don't know what does.
The disturbing aspects: Imagining these predators who abduct children and
without a shred of humanity, leave parents sentenced to a lifetime of misery
and grief. As a parent I simply cannot get my head around the idea of having
one of my children go missing with no outcome. I truly can't imagine a worse
fate and it is a more fearsome version of Hell than Hell itself. Another
aspect to consider, that even with the wide circulation of pictures of this
boy and a constant effort to locate him, that in a middle class
neighborhood, nobody noticed this child. It caused me to reconsider the
cursory glance that I give to missing children notices. Those ones we all
get in the mail, the ones posted at variety stores and the post office. I
consider myself concerned, but realize now that I could look at one of these
pictures and then walk right by that kid five minutes later. Still more, it
reminded me of the vulnerability of children. Though details are scarce at
this point in the story, it has been mentioned that Hornbeck was threatened
with his life by Devlin were he to alert anyone of his circumstance.
Instead, he clearly assumed the role imposed on him. Imagine, that this
could have gone on forever or untill God knows what finally happened to him.
Imagine the terror this poor kid had to endure.
While considering some of the above, ponder now the punishment that would be
suitable for this individual. Most of what comes to mind for me is
unprintable in this column, yet there is no guarantee that this guy Devlin
does any time at all. Just days ago, in Vermont(surprise) another judge let
an admitted child molester walk. A guy with a rap sheet who confessed to
molesting a four year old...a four year old, repeatedly, walked out of
court. No time. This leads me to the most disturbing aspect present in all
of these cases. It seems that as a culture, we have a soft approach on child
abusers. Any parent reading this needs to remember this Missouri case, that
yes indeed, there are people out there who would snatch your child,
literally, off the street, and take him or her as his own. In the blink of
an eye, a family is shattered, never to be whole, or the same at least,
again.
So in another case of Eternal Hope, an alert boy exiting a school bus saves
not only his friend, but another boy from a lifetime of misery and probably,
eventually, a violent death. The footage of these parents reunited with
their children sent me sobbing, and probably especially, the parents
reunited with their son who had been missing for almost five years. It is
hard to imagine the sense of unburdening they must have felt, the relief and
wonderment at hugging a child they most likely never expected to see again.
I don't know about you, but it's like a second Christmas for me.