Official: Abducted Teen Hid Fellow Captive

An abducted teenager was ordered to guard fellow captive Ben Ownby and hide him from police after they were repeatedly left alone in their captor's apartment, an official close to the investigation told The Associated Press Thursday.

Shawn Hornbeck's cooperation with Michael Devlin was the result of what Hornbeck experienced during his first 30 days of captivity after Devlin allegedly kidnapped the boy in 2002, said the official who requested anonymity because he is not authorized to speak publicly about the case.

Hornbeck's isolation and abuse during that first month were so intense that the then-11-year-old's identity was torn apart, the official said. Over time, Hornbeck began to see Devlin as his protector and surrogate parent — a pattern common to many abuse victims, the official said.

"He's a victim. He was kidnapped. He was taken from his parents. He was forced to live with this guy. He was forced to accommodate," the official said.

Meanwhile, the investigation into Delvin has expanded, police say, with authorities searching one of his previous homes and investigators in Illinois looking into a possible connection to the 2003 murder of a 7-year-old boy.

St. Louis television station KTVI showed photos it obtained, apparently of Hornbeck, one of two missing boys found Jan. 12 in Devlin's apartment in the St. Louis suburb of Kirkwood. One of the photos shows a boy pointing a handgun at the camera.

Devlin, a 41-year-old pizzeria manager, faces kidnapping charges in two rural Missouri counties for the abductions of Hornbeck and 13-year-old Ben Ownby. Hornbeck, now 15, was 11 when he disappeared in 2002 from near his home in Richwoods, Mo. Ownby vanished Jan. 8 in Beaufort. A white pickup seen speeding away led police to Devlin.

A police source confirmed Wednesday that investigators have searched another Kirkwood rental property, a house where Devlin lived before moving to the apartment where Hornbeck and Ownby were found. Police wouldn't discuss the findings, but landlord Graciela Hartenbach said she was told nothing was found during the search on Tuesday.

Hartenbach said Devlin lived there for about six months in 1999. She recalled him as a quiet man who kept a clean but sparsely decorated home and paid the rent on time.

"He's very big and poker-faced — not too much expression," Hartenbach said. "He was always right (on time) with the rent. He didn't give me any trouble."

Hartenbach said investigators did not divulge what they were looking for.

In addition to the kidnappings of Hornbeck and Ownby, a special task force made up of federal, state and local police agencies is looking into whether Devlin could have played a role in at least three other unsolved missing child cases in rural areas of eastern Missouri.

Charles "Arlin" Henderson disappeared in 1991 while riding his bike on a rural road in Moscow Mills — like Beaufort and Richwoods, about an hour's drive from St. Louis. Henderson was 11 at the time and about the same size as Hornbeck and Ownby were when they were kidnapped.

Bianca Piper has been missing since March 10, 2005. The girl, then 14, was last seen walking on a gravel road near her home in Foley, Mo.

Scott Kleeschulte was 9 when he disappeared in 1988 in the St. Louis suburb of St. Charles.

The investigation of Devlin has also crossed into Illinois. Livingston County Sheriff Robert McCarty said investigators are looking to see if there is a possible link between Devlin and the unsolved 2003 killing of 7-year-old Dalton Mesarchik.

McCarty said the probe is routine. He said detectives have done similar checks several times in the past when suspected child predators are arrested near Illinois. He said no link to Devlin has been found.

Dalton was abducted from the front yard of his home in Streator, Ill., on March 26, 2003. A fisherman found his body in the Vermilion River the next day.

KTVI did not say how it obtained the photos that appear to be of Hornbeck — photos that the TV station said may have been taken inside Devlin's apartment.

The boy isn't smiling in any of the photos. In one picture, the boy points a gun, a bandanna over much of his face and a ball cap tilted sideways. Another shows the same boy wearing the same bandanna and flashing a hand gesture.

Devlin is being held in Franklin County Jail in lieu of $1 million bail. On Tuesday, his attorneys will argue for Devlin to be transferred to St. Louis because a New York Post reporter interviewed Devlin while he was incarcerated.

Ethan Corlija and Michael Kielty also asked that a gag order be imposed on the Post to prohibit it from publishing any more material from the interview.

The Post intervened in Devlin's case Tuesday to oppose the gag order, according to the Franklin County Court Clerk. An attorney representing the newspaper didn't return a call seeking comment.