Post by LadyBlue on Jul 15, 2007 18:27:11 GMT -5
Shawn Hornbeck, the Missouri boy whose rescue after four years of captivity captured international attention, made a rare public appearance.
Shawn was helping clean up damage on Sunday after vandals struck a memorial in his honor. Police on Monday continued to search for suspects after someone drove over a bench, tree and garden that had been established while Shawn was missing, a spot that served as inspiration for the family and the small community of Richwoods.
“That was a big part of our lives,” said Shawn’s stepfather, Craig Akers. “To a lot of people, it’s $200 or $300 worth of damage. To us, it’s priceless.”
Akers on Monday provided a glimpse of the 15-year-old’s life in the months since he and another missing boy, 13-year-old Ben Ownby of Beaufort, were found Jan. 12 at the suburban St. Louis apartment of Michael Devlin, who faces multiple charges of kidnapping.
Shawn has been tutored privately since his return home but is doing so well academically that he may begin at a private school in the fall, Akers said.