Missouri Abductor Sentenced to Life in Prison
Michael Devlin was sentenced today to four life sentences in prison after he plead guilty to multiple counts of kidnapping, assault and child pornography in a case that involved two separate AMBER Alerts, one from 2007 and one from 2002.
Shawn Hornbeck was the first child to be abducted about 50 miles south of St. Louis and remained as Devlin’s captive for four years. In January 2007, Ben Ownby was also abducted in the same area where police rescued him and also found Hornbeck.
On an unrelated call police recognized Devlin’s white truck and decided to knock on this door. Their ability to rapidly identify the truck was based on a statewide AMBER Alert, which was created by law enforcement for distribution to media networks, transportation departments and members of the public by the Amber Alert Web Portal.
Hornbeck was also a pivotal resource in the survival of Ownby, as he protected Ownby from additional abuse at the hands of Devlin. For more information on Hornbeck and what he endured in his 1,558 days of capture, visit the Shawn Hornbeck Foundation at http://shawnhornbeck.com.
