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ST. LOUIS - A boy missing since 2002 was discovered living in a Missouri apartment yesterday along with a 13-year-old whose disappearance this week prompted an intense search, and authorities charged a man with kidnapping.
A tip about a white pick-up truck seen in the vicinity of Tuesday's suspected kidnapping of Ben Ownby led authorities to the suburban St. Louis apartment of Michael Devlin, 41, where both boys were discovered apparently unharmed.
"Both appear to be in good health," said a relieved Gary Toelke, the Franklin County Sheriff.
Shawn Hornbeck, 15, was last seen on October 6, 2002, riding his bicycle in the St. Louis suburb of Richwoods. Toelke said his discovery was a shock to investigators who stormed Devlin's Kirkwood, Missouri, apartment.
A neighbor of Devlin's told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch she had seen Hornbeck for years playing with friends in the neighbourhood, and assumed he was Devlin's son.
Devlin was charged with a single count of kidnapping and ordered held on $1 million bond, with more charges likely, authorities said.
A search was launched when Ownby, a straight-A student and Boy Scout, disappeared after getting off a school bus near his Beaufort, Missouri, home.
- REUTERS
