How can a 15 yr old, only an hour from his house,be held "captive"?

Question

Betcha something else will come out about this? Media has been quiet but you know they will be digging dirt?

Answer 1

I really think & agree with you that there is more to this story.....
My friends wife used to work with Mike at Imo's in Kirkwood. As she quotes "He was a gamer, loved video games, sat outside for two days before a new system came out and always had people over to play them, always had every new game and system." Was a permenat fixture at Imo's. Everybody liked him and he would seem more likely be the one to rescue run aways. Who knows though, you may think you know somebody when you really don't.
My question really is, how the hell does a man from Kirkwood, go to this rural county and know when to pick up these kids at times
when they were alone? My in laws live in Union and it is a very small community, you notice if somebody got a new dog for heaven sake, much less seeing a suspicous car coming down your subdivision spying on kids to make sure he gets their schedule down to know when to snatch. What I am trying to say iis, both parents, Ben & Shawn's mentioned like first thing, that they both wanted to go play video games. Of course that is normal, but maybe these kids were online playing games and wanted to run away or say something and this man found some blog they were on and told them they can live with him, not go to school and play these games all the time.
Sorry this is so long, but when they interviewed Shawn's friends from kirkwood and they said it seemed that Shawn was happy and basically had his own freedom. Also, they even said to him, you look like that Shawn Hornbeck kid and he answered "Whatever, I am not him." I mean, you have to be old enough to really understand that you can reach your parents and get the hell out. You might all think I am crazy, but they are hiding a lot of stuff and all those thoughts came to my mind. Thank God they are home and well.

Answer 2

He was only 11 when he was kidnapped and was a very small kid when kidnapped. You should read up on stockholm syndrome. Strange things happen to people's state of mind when they are held hostage even as adults, so you can only imagine how an 11 year old would re-act. Not to mention if his or his families lives were threatened by this sicko.

We should be asking more questions about the punishment for people who do these things. This ogre should never see the light of day again

Answer 3

First of all you have to remember that the boy was only 11 when he was kidnapped. Who knows what has happened to this poor child in the last 4 years. We don't know what kind of physical, sexual, and/or emotional abuse this boy has been put through. Typically out of respect for the victim details of the captivity will not be made public when the victim is a juvenile. Although this boy is back with his family he will be dealing with this experience for the rest of his life. I am just happy that these boys were found.

Answer 4

For the list, the concept of "rapture" isn't and not in any respect has been component to canonized scripture. purely with information from tearing some verses out of context, raping their translation to impose a fraudulent which skill upon them, and foisting them upon the gullible and uneducated has the concept develop into component to so-called "doctrine" to component to Christianity. The mainstream rejected this concept, and may not be held interior the same mild of ridicule because the fundies. In a distinct time, Margaret, Irving, Darby, Scofield, and Tim LaHaye might want to were horsewhipped in the back of the sanctuary for being so stupid, and, contained when it comes to Scofiend and l. a. Haye, grasping.

Answer 5

in Mexico people get kidnapped all the time ,a friend of ours was kidnapped 3 weeks ago ,and was returned after the ranson was paid ,and he was held with in an hour or so from were he was captured ,
often it is family members who do this
but you guys are talking about something else i guess ,

and you could be held captive in the same street in a soundproof room if you were taken there blindfolded and via a long way ,you would never realise where you were,
sounds often give locations away as do smells or feelings of altitude like temperature or presure on the ears
but with music or ear plugs in closed room,these senses can be fooled.

Answer 6

Its called the Stockholm Syndrome, Shawn was afraid to leave, this Michael Devlin put fears into his head. He would have told shawn such things as he would kill him, or his parents. I heard on the news that Shawn might have been told that his parents no longer wanted him, or that they passed him on to Devlin, his god father, though he wasn't. Often in cases like Shawn's, if the child is fearful, they will be thankful for the good things they get from their kidnapper. Because Shawn wasn't brutally abused, he wouldn't want to leave because of the fear of the unknown. What i mean by this is that he knows what life is like with Devlin, but he doesn't know what will happen if he runs away. He doesn't know whether he will escape or not, and what will happen if Devlin caught him. Had he been abused, he might of had more reason for escape. And those kidnapped sometimes feel a sort of connection to their kidnappers.

Here's the real question, why didn't those who knew Shawn as Shawn Devlin question the fact that he looked remarkably like the missing kid? Because, they believed that Shawn was telling the truth. They had no reason for suspicion because they saw no sign to believe that Micheal Delvin was not Shawn's father.

What is suprising to me is that it took the kidnapping of a second boy in order to to bring the man into justice. Though it is tragic that Ben Ownby was kidnapped, one can say that through that event, Ben saved Shawn from a much more horrible fate.

Hopefully, through this case, it will be possible to prevent future ones from happening. It should have definately shown the public that they need to keep a watchful eye on their world. If people are at all suspicous that a child might be the one who is missing, they need to report it, just to be on the safe side. And hopefully, federal organizations will use this story to crack down on these kidnappers, to stop them before they can start, and to find them when they have done this most terrible crime.

My friend is Shawn's cousin and my dad went to high school with Micheal Delvin, so I feel really close to this story. Micheal Delvin was working for Imo's even back then. Welcome back, Shawn Hornbeck, soon to be, Shawn Akers. And welcome back Ben Ownby. And yes, the media will be sure to bring us more details as soon as they get them.

One more thing, the spelling of Devlin is not that far off from Devil. Strange doesn't even begin to describe that.

Answer 7

Maybe he didn't know he was only an hour from his house. Who knows whats going on in this case. I agree, it seems kinda fishy to me.


jaden644- If the kid was being held "captive" do you really think the abductors would have told him where he was? NO! Who cares if he's high school age. If he is being held captive with no way to leave then he may never have known where he was. We don't have all the facts. Neither do you. Stop being a smart*ss.

Answer 8

I'm not saying that you're wrong but Keep in mind that Shawn was 11 when he was kidnapped. Devlin had lots of time to work on him. He probably told Shawn that he would kill him or his family if he tried to escape or make contact. The kid was probably brainwashed.

Answer 9

some kidnappers threaten to kill the kids' family, if the kid tries to escape or misbehaves

he was only 11 when he was kidnapped; if he didn't have access to the internet or a map, how would he know that he was an hour away? and besides that, in rural missouri (his home), there isn't a bus that will take you out there.

Answer 10

There can be a few ways. Using fear tactics or actual physical force such as restraints, or being kept locked up.

If there is some type of abuse the young person might be afraid of what people will think and say about them so they just stay. They should be treated with great compassion.