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Kidnapped Children
By Amy Wood
Thursday, January 18, 2007
The case of Ben Owenby and Shawn Hornbeck raises the hopes of anyone who’s ever known a missing child, along with reporters like myself who’ve covered their stories.
The man accused of kidnapping them is now being investigated, authorities say, for possible involvement in the disappearance of yet another 11 year old. That child also taken, like Shawn Hornbeck, while riding a bike. This time the child disapppeared in 1991.
As I’ve followed this story and reported on it, it’s taken me back to my years working in Minnesota. One of the final stories I covered before coming to South Carolina, was the abduction of Jacob Wetterling. He was 11. And he was riding a bike on a rural Minnesota road with his brother and a friend.
When I heard about Ben and Shawn, I immediately wondered what happened to Jacob. Is he still alive and out there somewhere? How his parents are doing? How have his brother and his friend recovered? Is it even possible to recover from something as devastating as a gunman asking your age… and then picking your 11 year old brother to abduct instead of you or your friend? Jacob hasn’t been seen since 1989.
While the recovery of Ben and Shawn raises great hope, it also raises great fear for our children. These crimes are so random. So unpredictable. And thankfully extremely rare.
But they happen. And they can happen anywhere. And as parents we can never be too careful.
Link to the Jacob Wetterling Foundation
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