Return of 2 conjures up Smart case

The kidnappings of Shawn Hornbeck and Ben Ownby in Missouri — and their return to their families — bring back familiar memories and emotions for Ed Smart.

"It, of course, takes you back to Elizabeth," the girl's father said in an interview with the Deseret Morning News on Saturday night.

Even for the families of the Missouri teenagers, the abduction and return of Elizabeth Smart remains a symbol of hope for families of a child spirited away.

"I remember when I got a phone call when Elizabeth Smart was found," Hornbeck's stepfather, Craig Akers, told reporters on Saturday. "I remember how much that raised our hopes, how much fuel that gave us to keep going."

Shawn Hornbeck disappeared in 2002. He was 11 at the time and is now 15. He was found Friday with the 13-year-old Ownby, who had vanished early last week. Authorities have charged Michael Devlin, 41, with kidnapping.

The Smart family lived a nine-month nightmare when Elizabeth was snatched from her bedroom in the early morning hours of June 5, 2002. Police said a man broke into the family's Salt Lake City home and made off with the 14-year-old girl.

Equally bizarre was Elizabeth's return, after she was found walking down a street in Sandy in the company of homeless street preacher and his wife. Brian David Mitchell and Wanda Barzee face criminal charges in connection with the kidnapping.

After her abduction, Elizabeth Smart was often in plain sight — walking down the street, wearing a veil to cover her face, and always in the company of Mitchell and Barzee, investigators say.

Many people saw Hornbeck, who was missing for 4 1/2 years, at Devlin's apartment. The boy did not appear to be a captive.

The cases raise many questions, among them: Why didn't the children yell and scream for help? Why did they stay?

Ed Smart said these are unfair questions to ask.

"'Why didn't you do this? Why didn't you do that?' re-victimizes them," he said. "There tends to be placing almost blame and guilt by asking that question. They did what they did."

A Utah child psychiatrist says those who ask such questions aren't children living in total fear because they've been abducted.

"The brain works differently when you're in a state of fear," Dr. Thomas Conover, with University Health Care at the University of Utah, told the Morning News. "The brain of a child and even an adolescent works differently than when you're an adult."