Web held clue to abducted boy

KIRKWOOD, Mo. — While his alleged kidnapper was at work, teenager Shawn Hornbeck apparently had access to a computer, and he — or someone pretending to be him — may have put photos of Shawn online and posted a chilling message on a site created by his desperate parents: "How long are you planning to look for your son?"

A series of Web postings under the name "Shawn Devlin" — Devlin is the last name of the man suspected of kidnapping Shawn and posing as his father — came to light after Shawn's rescue from an apartment in Kirkwood last week.

Investigators would not comment on the postings, and it was not immediately known if they were, in fact, created by Shawn or by someone trying to taunt his parents. Either way, they add to the long list of clues that no one seemed to pick up on during the 4 1/2 years that the boy was missing.

They also deepen the mystery of why Shawn apparently made no attempt to escape or notify authorities.

Shawn, now 15, was 11 when he was kidnapped in 2002 while riding his bike near his rural home. Astonished police found him Friday in a suburban St. Louis apartment where they also discovered 13-year-old Ben Ownby, who had been missing for four days.

Their alleged abductor, Michael Devlin, a 41-year-old pizza shop employee who also held a job answering telephones at night at a funeral home, was jailed on $1 million bail. So far, he is charged only in the kidnapping of Ben, but authorities also plan to charge him with abducting Shawn.

Neither boy has spoken publicly about what happened, but in an interview with the Ownby family to be broadcast Tuesday on NBC's "Today" show, Ben thanked a classmate who gave police the tip they needed to find him, the description of a white pickup truck, saying, "Thank you for being such a great big help in this entire thing."

Investigators have given no motive for the crime and no details on what the boys went through. Officials said Devlin did not appear to have a criminal record.

Devlin's attorney, Michael Kielty, said he has not seen any evidence and will enter a not guilty plea at his arraignment later this week.

During his captivity, Shawn may have offered clues on the Web that went overlooked.

At 1:59 a.m. on Dec. 1, 2005, someone using the name "Shawn Devlin" asked in a forum on the Shawn Hornbeck Foundation Web site: "How long are you planing (sic) to look for your son?" Shawn's parents, Craig and Pam Akers, started the foundation to help find their son and other missing youngsters.