The families of the two youngsters who were found Friday in an apartment in Kirkwood meet with the media. Two news conferences – one in Washington County and the other in Franklin County – give the parents of Shawn Hornbeck and Ben Ownby the opportunity to publicly express their happiness over the fact their children have been found – alive. In Washington County, Shawn’s stepfather Craig Akers and the boy’s mother, Pam Akers, became emotional at times as they expressed the joy over getting the phone call informing them their son had been found. Shawn had been missing since October of 2002.
About an hour after the Washington County event, in nearby Franklin County, the family of 13-year-old Ben Ownby spoke to the media. Ben’s parents, William and Doris Ownby, expressed happiness that their son is home and offered thanks to those who had helped since Ben went missing on Monday. Both boys attended their respective family news conferences, but neither youngster had anything to say. 41-year-old Michael Devlin of Kirkwood was arrested and has been charged. He is being held in lieu of $1-Million bond.