January 13, 2007

"I didn't see or hear anything odd or unusual from the apartment. I just figured them for father and son."

Said Rick Butler.
[He] lives across the street [and] said he saw no evidence that the boy was scared or trying to get away. He even saw Devlin and the teen pitch a tent outside in the complex...

Last fall, Butler said he found a cell phone outside, called a number on it and the teen came outside to retrieve it.

What a strange story! Why didn't Shawn Hornbeck escape?

7 comments:

Robin Goodfellow said...

Stockholm syndrome is real. And is perhaps even more potent when the kidnapee is a child. I don't think people appreciate what a long and rocky road this kid has ahead, mental health wise.

Susan said...

I Know My First Name Is Steven was a TV movie based on a real story that delves into how a young child can be kidnapped by a sexual predator and live with his kidnapper in relative freedom even to the point of going to school.

Jennifer said...

Because the fear of the unknown is greater than the fear of the known?

I always wonder why nobody ever recognizes these kids, and then I realize that I can't recall the details of a single missing poster/picture myself.

KCFleming said...

Because of this threat, probably:
"If you escape, I'll find you, and hurt you and your family. And it'll be your fault they're gone. I took you once and I 'll do it again."

Chrissakes, the kid was eleven at the time. Pretty much the same reason why abused women don't leave.

Anonymous said...

We, from the outside, almost have to ask why they do not just walk away. But it is way more complex on the inside.

I assume that the man was sexually perpetrating the boy, but it is just an assumption right now. And my practice is full of men who were perpetrated and it confuses the hell out of them. Genitals respond, and when our genitals respond to sexual abuse it is very confusing. Then you get the choice, gay or rape victim. Not so easy.

And I have had child patient's that did run away, only to be returned to the perpetrator by well meaning but clueless people.

So it is very complicated to live through, and some of the complications are very frightening. It is easier, and much more comfortable, to blame the victim for their abuse.

Trey

Matthew C. Keegan said...

He stayed put because he was abused. He thought his mother was dead and he was afraid of a 300 lb blob who controlled his mind.

Anonymous said...

Latest reports from the police mention that he was threatened with a gun.

Trey