Susan Murphy-Milano...

UPDATE:

Ben Ownby, the 13-year-old Franklin County boy missing since Monday, has been found alive in Kirkwood -- as well as Shawn Hornbeck, a boy from Washington County who has been missing since 2002.

Franklin County Sheriff Gary Toelke said officers located both boys today in an apartment in Kirkwood. He said the case broke when two Kirkwood police officers went to serve a warrant last night and noticed the white pickup truck that had been the object of an intense search in the Ownby case. Officers went to the apartment today and found both boys inside.

Hornbeck identified himself as the boy who has been missing since October 2002. Both boys appeared to be in good health, Toelke said.

One person has been charged in the case, identified as Michael Devlin, 41,Toelke said. He was being held in lieu of $1 million bond and being questioned as the news of the boys' recovery was announced.

St. Louis County Court records show Devlin was charged in traffic violation cases in 1987 and 1988 with failing to register a vehicle and speeding 70 miles an hour in a 55 mph zone, respectively, and paid fines in both cases.

In both cases, he listed an address in the 600 block of Oakwood Avenue in Webster Groves. He was described in the case in 1987 as 6' 4'' and 300 pounds, and in the 1988 case as 6' 4' and 260 pounds.
 
   A check of the Missouri State Highway Patrol's sex offender registry did not show his name.

"We have some good news and we have some probably unbelievable news," Toelke told reporters this afternoon.

Reflecting on the earlier case involving the kidnapping of baby Abigale Woods last year -- another happy ending -- Toelke said:

"To have two endings like this is just unbelievable, just unbelievable."

Around 5 p.m. today, police escorted Ownby into the sheriff's department. The slight boy was wearing a red shirt and jeans and appeared somewhat dazed as he walked inside. A moment later, a car door opened and Hornbeck stepped out. He had a thick head of dark hair and was dressed in a leather jacket and jeans.

Ben Ownby's parents were at the Franklin County sheriff's office, where the boys were taken. Toelke said Hornbeck's parents were on their way.

Mitchell Hults, the boy who got off the school bus with Ben and said he had seen an old white pickup in the area, went with his family to the sheriff's office after they heard the news.

"It's crazy. I'm happy they got him and I'm glad he's okay," said Mitchell, 15. His mother, Sheri Hults, said, "It's incredible, it's incredible. I'm just so glad they were found... Thank God they found them alive. We've been paying and praying for this."

In Kirkwood this afternoon, a next door neighbor of Devlin said she has seen Hornbeck in the neighborhood for years, often playing with friends in the neighborhood.

The neighbor, Shavonne Butler, said she and other neighbors watched Hornbeck grow from a young boy to a teenager, but they never had any clue he was the boy who had been reported missing.
 
Instead, they thought he was Devlin's son.

Ownby disappeared after getting off his school bus in Beaufort near his home Monday afternoon. He has been sought ever since, with authorities concentrating on a white pickup truck seen near in the area.

Hornbeck was last seen on his bicycle, riding to the home of a friend in Richwoods, Mo., on Oct. 6, 2002.

In Beaufort this afternoon, Lisa Williams, Ben’s Boy Scout troop leader, said she was one of a dozen people at the Ownby house preparing to distribute more fliers about the missing boy when the good news came.

"We were excited and amazed," Williams said. "It’s unbelievable. We are so glad to have Ben back."

Williams said volunteers were stuffing their jackets with the flilers when the news came.

"Now I have to call my Boy Scout troop leaders who were putting up fliers and tell them they don’t have to that anymore. Finally, we got some good news."