The St. Louis Kidnappings: A Missed Opportunity

Shawn Hornbeck was stopped by police in neighboring Glendale for being out too late a few months ago. Hornbeck is the 15 year old boy who emerged last weekend after being missing for four years, allegedly kidnapped by Michael Devlin of Kirkwood, Missouri, who is now in custody.

Glendale Police Chief Richard Black, says Shawn was riding his bike home from friends when he was stopped by a police officer at 11:23 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 29, 2006. He was wearing dark clothes and had no lights. The officer asked him where he was going, he was going home to his "father" and used the named Shawn Devlin. "Shawn did not respond to initial questions, so the officer asked him to get off his bike." He was about a mile to mile-and-a-half from Devlin’s home, and the police officer — it appears from the incident report, the chief said — sent him on his way.

Black said he finds it very strange that Shawn did not explain who he was, but said, "but of course we don't know all the facts. But yes, it is very strange. Yeah, there are a lot more questions out there for me than answers. Four and a half years seems an awful long time. By then, of course, he was four years into it." Other reports have speculated that the boy was intimidated into being docile and obedient to Devlin, who is said to have a collection of guns at home. Black said the officer who made the stop was called and asked about it once they found the incident report, and said he at first didnt remember the name or the stop, but recalled it after reading about it.