Ben Ownby

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William "Ben" Ownby (born in 1993 in Beaufort, Missouri, USA) is a boy who made headlines when he disappeared January 8, 2007 and was later found on January 11, 2007. The police allege that he was kidnapped and raped by Michael J. Devlin.

On Monday, January 8 2007, at approximately 3:30 p.m., Ben was dropped off by his school bus but never arrived home. When Ben didn't arrive home, his parents called friends and the authorities. The story was rapidly picked up by the media, and the FBI was later involved. His abduction shocked the quiet community where 13-year old Ownby was a boyscout and straight-A student. ^[1]

A break in the case was made when a classmate of Ownby, Mitchell Hults, who rode the bus with Ben, noticed a white compact Nissan pickup truck with a camper shell speeding away from the area and no sign of Ben. Authorities found a tire track at the scene that corroborated Hults' information.

On January 11, 2007, Kirkwood police spotted a white pickup truck that matched the description. They traced the vehicle to Michael J. Devlin, and upon receiving a search warrant, found Ownby inside Devlin's home. They also found 15 year-old Shawn Hornbeck. Hornbeck had been missing since October 2002 when he went missing after a bike ride. Devlin was arrested, and the boys were reunited with their families. Both boys appeared healthy.

In February 2007 Devlin was charged with kidnapping Ownby and forcibly sodomizing him 16 times over four days.^[2]