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COVER STORY: The Kidnapped Missouri Boys

Thursday January 18, 2007 02:15 PM EST

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"It kind of blows your mind," says Ben Ownby (back home with his family on Jan. 14) of having so many people searching for him. "I guess they care."

R. C. ADAMS / POLARIS

Those who saw Shawn around the apartment complex assumed he was Devlin's son; some who noticed he never went to school figured he'd dropped out. "We just thought he was a kid whose dad didn't care when he came home," says Eguana Boykin, who lives in the complex. "We never saw any bruises or abuse."

So why didn't Shawn make an attempt to escape? Police say it's because Devlin threatened to kill Shawn and his family if he tried to run.

Then on Jan. 8, Devlin apparently struck again: Ben Ownby, a straight-A student at his Beaufort grade school, disappeared after getting off his school bus at around 3:35 p.m.

Fortunately, police had a lead. Ben's neighbor Mitchell Hults, 15, told authorities he saw an unfamiliar white truck with a camper shell parked near the Ownbys' home that afternoon. Three days later police spotted a truck matching Mitchell's description in Devlin's apartment complex. The FBI raided the apartment the next day after Devlin left for work. "Are you going to take me home?" Ben asked the agents.

For Shawn Hornbeck's parents, having Shawn home again was both a dream and a shock. Some 30 pounds heavier and 5 inches taller than when they last saw him, and with several new body piercings, Shawn "is having a difficult time with all the commotion around the house," says family friend Kim Evans. "He's used to a quiet, rather solitary existence, and it's challenging for him right now." On his first night home, he spent hours talking with his two older sisters; he also told his parents he's eager to go back to school.

Suspect Michael Devlin (in custody Jan. 12) is being held in lieu of $1 million bond.

HUY RICHARD MACH / ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH

Ben, too, is ready to resume his old life. On his first day back, he asked for a snack of fried chicken and finished it in his bedroom. Early the next morning, "I checked on him," says Doris, "and I was so happy to see him there."

Devlin is also being investigated as the "most viable lead" in the case of another missing boy from Missouri, 11-year-old Arlin Henderson, who disappeared in 1991.

For the complete story, pick up the new issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday.