Posted on 01/15/2007 8:27:11 AM PST by Halls
Kidnap victim Shawn Hornbeck was "brainwashed" into staying with his abductor after being told his parents no longer wanted him.
His kidnapper also threatened to shoot the 15-year-old after snatching him off the street.
Friends of the teenager have revealed Michael Devlin, 41, had at least three guns in the apartment where Shawn was held captive.
Tony Douglas, 15, who was Shawn's best friend, said: "We both knew there were guns in the house. Michael told us that he had the guns and were for his protection."
Shawn's stepfather Craig Akers, 45, has revealed his son's life was threatened by Devlin while he lived with him in a ground floor flat in Kirkwood, a suburb of St Louis, Missouri.
(Excerpt) Read more at thisislondon.co.uk ...
Patty Hearst was an adult, yet they managed to brainwash her into helping rob a bank.
I wasn't making a judgement...just stating that if the creep that took him, told him that he wasn't wanted anymore...it MIGHT have had more of an impact because there was a step-parent involved.
Isn't it just possible that a child might believe that more if a mother remarries...that he might not be as wanted???
You guys are just toooooooo worried about what I said, I was just pointing out another "fact" of the case...
sheesh
I was in no way upset with silentreignofheroes. I just pointed out the family has been through all their assets, left with nothing but what the mother earns and yes, the father could use some dental care, but that's the same guy. He's actually incredibly articulate which stunned me as I READILY ADMIT TO MY ETERNAL SHAME I didn't think he would be because of his appearance. THERE, THERE are you happy now, silent?. I jumped to conclusions based upon appearance -- I don't walk on water. :-) Please let it go.
I don't have that kid of time, especially since I have already spent too much time on this thread (and FR as a whole) today! LOL!
Hijack alert: btw, we have had tons of rain around here lately, we have perfect conditions for sink holes to start above the areas that have been mined.
When I found out that my youngest son had been molested by an older neighbor's boy, I asked him if it ever caused him to be gay. He said NO. I believe him. I know it can happen, though. Some become male prostitutes. We need to pray for these kids.
Yeah, back to where they CAME from!
I think they're just wonderful people! Craig Akers knows that pearly whites and legs that work are no good if your heart is as black as coal. The Akers are the kind of people who are the backbone of America.
I heard on FOX last night that his brother had a record but not him, not at all.
I have been shoveling snow since 3 AM. It is now 11:30 AM. I drop by this desk now and then to get a drink of water and a bit of psychological abuse and then it's back to the shovel.
It can also lead to addictions later in life, be it alcohol, sex/porn, drugs etc when the victim doesn't get help for the initial abuse. Prayers that your son has recovered from this as best as one can.
I'm sorry. I shouldn't have commented. I sometimes make an error in judgment, and shouldn't have interjected myself.
Hahaha! We have had an extremely mild winter here. Of course that gets the global warming crowd's knickers in a twist. You don't have a snowblower?!?! You must be crazy! :)
Didn't they privately tutor Elizabeth Smart the first year after she was found?
I despise power tools. True, I do own a Toyota and a welder and cutoff saw, but that's about it. If a man can no longer shovel his own driveway, he might as well sign himself in at the resthome.
"I won't judge his parents either. From what I saw the other day, they are wonderful people and will work through this together with Shawn."
When I saw the parents in the Saturday interview, I (and I am ashamed to say) immediately thought 'trailer'. Then I listened to the stepfather and was amazed at his articulate and intelligent answers.
I heard this stepfather is the only father he has ever known. Not certain what the background is, but at one point the SF said they had drawn up adoption papers before he was abducted and one thing Shawn told them on Saturday was he wanted them to process the papers and make him is father in every way.
I realized that you'd take it that way, AFTER I posted my response to you instead of silentreignofheroes. Not meant to either of you in a mean or unhappy way, especially not you. I wasn't upbraiding silentreignofheroes or you and am admitting to my first response to Shawn's stepdad BEFORE I knew how they suffered financially and what they'd been through.
When I think of how families are being taken down in this country, what we who have been touched by crime have lost, I almost can't get up in the morning, but I do. And every time I say I won't say another word, I must. Truth must be told and the light must shine on the darkness, or we can't make the decisions we must make to keep ourselves from evil.
I'd like to know what you did, unless you are joking. I always think of the story by O'Henry "Ransom of Red Chief" about how the kid gets the kidnappers to release him. Of course, today, they'd just kill and eat the kid.
I just wonder why the neighbors never called social services or the cops about the yelling and banging and so on.... that's what bugs me.
John needs to calm down. Just because people wonder and try to understand stuff they don't is no reason to freak. We know some little kids will try to escape so why some do and some don't remains a mystery.
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