How often do you think twice about allowing your child to ride his bike to a friend’s home, around the block, or to the corner store? On a typical day (you know, the one that includes doing the laundry with one hand, carrying a cranky baby in the other, loading the dishwasher with your left foot while balancing on the right, and using your teeth to mend a stuffed toy) I would guess the majority of parents are simply happy that at least one child has found something to pass the time… and isn’t it a shame he can’t take the baby with him?
On October 6, 2002 Shawn Hornbeck’s parents didn’t think twice when they gave him permission to ride his bike to a friend’s house. And why would they? The 11-year-old boy had taken the same route for years by himself and what’s more, the family lived in a quiet, tight-knit rural community with a population of less than 1,000 people. How would they have known that when Shawn turned down a gravel road in broad daylight on that sunny fall day he would be heading straight into the grip of a heinous kidnapper?
By now I’m sure you’ve heard about the living nightmare Shawn and his parents went through during his disappearance. I happened to be a TV reporter on the job when Shawn disappeared and back then—–before I was a parent—I remember thinking that there could be nothing more excruciatingly painful than not knowing where your child could be and if he or she was dead, alive, in pain, etc.
Fast-forward six years. I am now a mom to a 4-year-old and a few days ago I watched in stony silence the interview Shawn did with Troy Roberts on CBS’ “48 Hours Mystery.” If you watched any portion of the show I highly doubt that you would be so willing to let your child bike off to his buddy’s house… ever again.
For those of you unfamiliar with Shawn story, in a nutshell, he was kidnapped by a pervert and was subjected to unimaginable daily physical and sexual abuse. In addition, the boy’s life was threatened on a daily basis and in fact, according to the interview, on at least one occasion the monster that kidnapped Shawn tried to strangle him to death.
“I’ve gone through some stuff that’ll send psychiatrists insane,” Shawn told Roberts in the interview.
Shawn lived in terror for four years. “I’m not gonna lie, there was times when it seemed like I was better off dead than living through that,” he told Roberts.
In the meantime, Shawn’s parents were sitting just an hour away from where their son’s kidnapper had taken him feeling guilty for letting their son go out alone the day he was snatched. During the “48 Hours” interview Shawn’s mom said at times she blamed herself.
“I do feel that I failed on the part of protecting him. And keeping him safe and keeping him at home,” Pam Akers told Roberts.
One year gave way to two, then three, and four, yet Shawn’s parents never gave up hope that they would find their son. When the official search for Shawn was scaled back, the Akers kept looking on their own using the money they got from cashing in their 401(k). In the end Shawn’s sadistic abductor was caught after he snatched another boy, 13-year-old Ben Ownby.
Both kids were reunited with their respective families, and are still trying to deal with the hell they experienced at the hand of the mad man who took them.
Did you watch the “48 Hours” episode?
When it was over I was left with a few thoughts:
A. The amount of inexhaustible hope Shawn’s parents displayed is beyond remarkable.
B. Miracles really do happen.
C. What impact does a story like this have on other parents? Do you let your child run free and hope for the best or do you keep them locked up in your home so as to decrease the chance they might end up like Shawn or Ben?
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