ST. LOUIS – Wednesday marks the 15 year anniversary of the “Missouri Miracle”, the day missing boys Shawn Hornbeck and Ben Ownby were found.
Hornbeck had been missing for more than 4 years, Ownby four days. The boys were discovered in a Kirkwood apartment. Michael Devlin is serving life in prison after being convicted of kidnapping them.
Hornbeck vanished on October 6, 2002, while riding his bike near his home in Richwoods, Missouri, about 55 miles southwest of St. Louis.
A man behind the wheel of a white pickup truck knocked young Shawn off his lime-green bike. The driver grabbed Shawn, put him in his truck, and left. That man later turned out to be Devlin.
A search went on for Hornbeck and his parents eventually started a foundation in his name to assist in searches of abducted children.
What nobody knew at the time was that Shawn was still alive and had been taken to an apartment in Kirkwood, where he’d live with his kidnapper for the next four years. He was even made to pose like his abductor’s son.
On Jan. 8, 2007, Ben Ownby was taken while waiting at a bus stop in Beaufort, located in Franklin County. The kidnapper put the 13-year-old in a white Nissan pickup truck and sped away, but not before Mitchell Hults, one of Ownby’s friends, got a good look at the vehicle and provided a detailed description to authorities.
The FBI followed a tip on a white pick-up truck that brought them to a pizzeria in Kirkwood. One of the store managers, a man named Michael Devlin, owned the truck.
An FBI agent was able to get a confession from Devlin. Devlin led the agents to his apartment where the two boys were sitting playing video games.
Shawn Hornbeck, 15, gets a hug from his mother Pam Akers as his stepfather Craig Akers touches his head Saturday, Jan. 13, 2007 in Richwoods, Mo. Shawn, who was missing since Oct. 2002, was recovered Friday with another missing boy, Ben Ownby. (AP Photo/Tom Gannam) 
Shawn Hornbeck, 15, seated right, listnes as his mother Pam Akers talks to the media while his father Craig Akers, sits by his side Saturday, Jan. 13, 2007 in Richwoods, Mo. Shawn, who was missing since Oct. 2002, was recovered Friday with another missing boy, Ben Ownby, at a suburban St. Louis apartment. (AP Photo/Tom Gannam) 
Law enforcement officers congregate outside the apartment complex in the 400 block of South Holmes where police found two missing boys in the apartment of Michael J. Devlin on Friday, Jan. 12, 2007, in Kirkwood, Mo. The boys, Ben Ownby and Shawn Hornbeck, were found together in Devlin’s apartment. (AP Photo/Kyle Ericson) 
Hired mover Scott Boettler helps pack up the contents of Michael Devlin’s apartment Monday, Feb. 12, 2007 in Kirkwood, Mo. Devlin is the 41-year-old pizzeria manager charged with kidnapping 11-year-old Shawn Hornbeck in 2002 and 13-year-old Ben Ownby on Jan. 8, both from rural areas of eastern Missouri. Both boys were found alive in Devlin’s apartment Jan. 12. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson) 
A law enforcement officer walks through the apartment complex in the 400 block of South Holmes where police found two missing boys in the apartment of Michael J. Devlin on Friday, Jan. 12, 2007, in Kirkwood, Mo. The boys, Ben Ownby and Shawn Hornbeck, were found together in Devlin’s apartment. (AP Photo/Kyle Ericson) 
News media continue to monitor the building, right, where kidnapping victims Ben Ownby, 13, and Shawn Hornbeck,15, were discovered three days ago in the Kirkwood suburb of St. Louis Monday, Jan. 15, 2007. Michael Devlin, 41, of Kirkwood is accused of abducting Hornbeck four years ago and Ownby who was missing for four days. (AP Photo/Bill Boyce) 
Mitchell Hults, right, is greeted by applause after Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt introduced him Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2007, during the governor’s State of the State address to the Missouri Legislature at the Capitol in Jefferson City, Mo. Hults helped authorities find missing boys Ben Ownby and Shawn Hornbeck. (AP Photo/L.G. Patterson) 
Officer Chris Nelson, left, and Officer Gary Wagster of the Kirkwood police department wait to be interviewed about their part in the recovery of Shawn Hornbeck and Ben Ownby, Sunday, Jan. 14, 2007 at city hall in Kirkwood, Mo. Wagster and Nelson observed a white pickup truck, that fit the description of one sought by the Franklin County Sherrif’s office in the Ownby abduction, while serving an unrelated warrant.(AP Photo/Tom Gannam) 
The sign in front of the Richwoods Baptist church welcomes home Shawn Hornbeck and Ben Ownby before dawn Saturday, Jan. 13, 2007 in Richwoods, Mo. Shawn, who was missing since Oct. 2002, was recovered Friday with Ben Ownby. (AP Photo/Tom Gannam) 
A sign outside of the volunteer fire department welcomes home Shawn Hornbeck Saturday, Jan. 13, 2007 in Richwoods, Mo. Shawn, who was missing since Oct. 2002, was recovered Friday with another missing boy, Ben Ownby. (AP Photo/Tom Gannam) 
Michael Devlin is helped out of a police van and into the Washington County courthouse under tight security Tuesday, Oct. 9, 2007, in Potosi, Mo. Inside the courthouse, Devlin pleaded guilty to kidnapping, sexually assaulting and attempting to murder young Shawn Hornbeck in 2002, a day after pleading guilty to kidnapping another boy. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson) 
A small sign sits beneath a tree, Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2007, planted after the disappearance of Shawn Hornbeck in his hometown of Richwoods, Mo. Prosecutors have charged Michael Devlin with the 2002 kidnapping of Shawn Hornbeck who was discovered alive along with Ben Ownby in Devlin’s apartment last week in Kirkwood, Mo. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
In a 2013 interview with FOX2, Hornbeck spoke about how he survived. “I knew my family was out there and they would never give up. And I’m sure these girls felt the same way. I mean you just have to hold on to your life because if you don’t, you’re just going to be lost within yourself and you can’t have that,” said Hornbeck.
Hornbeck also said he’s been able to put what happened behind him. “It’s a part of my life that I’ve had to accept and I have. With my family there, they’ve just made me strong and I’ve been able to move on with my life because they’ve been there to help me move on with my life.”
Shawn Hornbeck married and became a father. Both he and Ben Ownby still live in the St. Louis area.
Devlin pleaded guilty to all the charges and received 74 life sentences and an additional term of 2,020 years. He was transferred to Western Missouri Correctional Center in Cameron, Missouri. He won’t be eligible for parole until he’s 100.
