Missing Boys in Missouri Found

[Andy L]

Im sure everyone has heard about the two boys that were missing in the St Louis area of Missouri that were found last week. One was missing 4 days and the other 4 years. Its almost unheard of for these cases to end up this good.

I do have one problem that is bothering me. Shaun Hornebecks parents, the boy missing for over 4 years, are on Oprah today. This doesnt sit well with me. Does anyone else find this strange? Your son has been abducted. Hes been missing for all this time and you have searched high and low and it has no doubt been a devestating time for you and your family. Suddenly, unexpectedly he is found. The media has been hounding you day and night wanting details. There is no doubt this kid has been subjected to horrors that no one can imagine.

Am I wrong for thinking the parents are lowlifes for going for the cash by going on a show like Oprah just days after getting their son back? I would think the boy has been through enough and all the gory details are going to be out there in court soon enough. Im sure hes not proud by any means of what has happened to him and not anxious for the world to know the details. Then his parents go on a talk show just days later? His dad telling the world that he was sexually assulted? Something about that just seems to be wrong.

The other boy was in my sister in laws wedding last year, according to my wife. I dont remember him. Actually, I cant stand my sil and wasnt paying attention to anything, just wanting out of there. It seems his parents have handled things the way you would expect. They did a press conference right off the bat and havent been heard from since. Spending time with their son, Im sure.

I just find it sickening people would try and profit off a tragedy like this. Especially less than a week later.

Oh, on another note, I wish they could hang this guy publicly. Saddam style. Im sure he will get life in prison. He doesnt deserve it. If he cant be put to death, I hope they at least put him in general population in Licking Mo or one of the other maximum security level 5 prisons in the state. Maybe he can pay every day of his life getting himself what he gave these boys.

[GoodOlBoy]

I have to agree. What blows my mind is that four years this kid has been missing and he is one town away? FOUR YEARS? He has been playing outside, he has talked to the neighbors, and he can't get word to somebody?

If I had been gone for two minutes I could have called in a dozen family members armed to the teeth and that freak would have been hung before the cops could have saved him.

And YES I agree, but not JUST public hanging. I think freaks like this should be stripped naked, and hung in a crows cage in the town square to rot.

my 2 cents.

GoodOlBoy

[Dan Morris]

Nothing about this passes a sniff test!!!!!Just my own unworthy opinion........
Dan

[fabsroman]

Let's not be so quick to hang and kill this guy. Yes, he is quilty of kidnapping, plane and simple. Do we know for a fact that he is guilty of sexual abuse?

As you guys probably know by now, I like to ask a lot of why questions. Why didn't the boy contact somebody about this? According to his neighbors, the kidnapped boy was over there a lot and they even saw ads about him being kidnapped while they were all sitting in front of the TV. When these ads were run, the neighbor kids would kid him about how much he looked like the kidnapped boy. The neighbors never saw any bruises on him, and according to the neighbors he was allowed to hang out and go to school. Now, if he was being treated poorly by the kidnapper, why didn't he ever say anything? It wouldn't have been all that hard.

Did he not say anything because going back to his parents would have been worse than being with the kidnapper? Something just isn't right about this entire thing.

As far as the parents going on Oprah, I figured that is what they would do. I watched the mother's initial press conference and knew right away that she was trash. Personally, I don't think things like this should be addressed via Oprah. In fact, these things should be kept within the family and the family should deal with. People watch Oprah because they want to believe that their life is so much better than the screwed up people that are on the show. You will never find me on that show or any other type of talk show like that (e.g., Jerry Springer, Montel Williams, Geraldo). Then again, I don't think that I have enough problems in my life to qualify me for those shows, or for me to be entertaining enough for the American public.

Before I form an opinion about the kidnapper, I want to know everything that there is to know about the situation, and that isn't coming from the Oprah show. It might come from a Court room, but even then you have no idea. Look at the issue with the Duke Lacrosse players. If the mob were allowed to take justice in their own hands, those kids would be dead right now, and what justice would that have been. In that case, the DA should be the one that gets hanged. At the very minimum, he should have to pay for all the attorneys fees incurred by the families.

This story with the kidnapped kids will have some twists and turns as time goes along. Whether or not we hear about them will depend on whether or not the media thinks it is a hot enough topic to get good ratings.

[Andy L]

I found it strange he didnt try and contact anyone. However, they are talking about Stockholm Syndrom, or whatever they call it. Where the kid was brainwashed that if he told anyone or contacted anyone his family would be killed. Remeber, he was 11. It wouldnt be that hard over a period of time to brainwash him.

Also, I know its just a technicality, but I dont think he went to school.

Its strange. I dont liken it to the Duke case. In that case there was an accuser. Just her word that the boys raped her. No evidence but her word that turned out to be worthless as she is. Here we got a guy with the goods that initially confessed. He had the boys, confessed and the boys both say hes the one. Hes guilty. Just to what degree and of what. Your right that its quick to judge on the sexual abuse. I was going by the previews of Oprah. She asked the dad if he was sexually abused and he nodded yes.

This guys guilty and sexual abuse or not, needs to die a slow horrible death. Just taking the kids is enough for that.

I also agree that his parents are trash. Pure white trash.

[Wahnie]

I concur. I only watched a few minutes of it out of curiosity. Something smells fishy to me, though.

[fabsroman]

Andy,

Maybe the guy is disturbed. Maybe the guy has always wanted a family of his own but just couldn't have one for one reason or another. Maybe he thought he could give the boys a better home. Who knows. There are a lot of maybes.

Yes he is guilty of kidnapping, but that doesn't necessarily mean he should get the death penalty. Now, if he is guilty of sexual abuse, he should be killed. Don't get me wrong, I am for the death penalty, but I think we have to be a little slower than pulling the trigger.

My comparison to the Duke case wasn't in the way you are reading it. The comparison was to show you that first impressions are not always the right ones. If the mob were to have its way at the beginning of that case, the boys would have been dead. How about the Jean Bene Ramse (I know for sure I butchered that name) case? One guy confessed to the crime because he wanted the celeb status. Should we have fried him right away.

I say this again, this guy is definitely guilty of kidnapping, but I seriously doubt kidnapping is a crime that deserves capital punishment and I don't think a single state has kidnapping as punishable by death. Once the facts are further explored, maybe I will agree with your death decry, but just not right now.

[Andy L]

I reckon we will have to agree to disagree again, Fabs.

I hope he didnt molest those kids, but Id bet money he did. Say he didnt. It doesnt make any difference in my opinion. I guess maybe Im thinking as a parent again. Guilty as charged. But if someone took one of my boys and robbed me of four days or four years and put them thru hell from just being scared, robbing them and me of some of the short precious time we get to have our kids at home, he deserves to die. I dont care what the reason was he took them. They were not his kids. He took them from a family.

You know, 18yrs sounds like alot of time. But I look at my boys and it scares the hell out of me. My oldest is 12 and youngest 6. I thought I had alot of time to be with them at home and teach them what I want them to know. Stuff my dad didnt teach me. I look at the youngest and think hes going to have a ball when he gets to be 12, just 6 short years from now. (time seems to me to go faster each year I get older) Thats not too long. Then I think, awe hell, that will make my oldest 18 and basically gone.

Its really a short time we have them. Rob us of that? He deserves to die. I dont give a tinkers damn what his reasons were.

[fabsroman]

Andy,

If you raise your kids right, you will have them for a lifetime. I just came from my parents' place and I am 35. I will be over there again on Sunday to help with remodeling the kitchen and for our weekly Sunday dinner where most, if not all of my 4 siblings show up. My parents are remodeling the kitchen because they are worried about having enough room at the house to host Sunday dinners when there are spouses and grandkids involved. So, if you raise your kids right, they don't just up and leave you when they turn 18. If you raise them right, they will continue to learn from you, but they will also teach you things later on too. Heck, they might be teaching you stuff right now. My dad decided to use the same tile layout in his kitchen as I did in mine 2+ years ago, even though he fussed the entire time when we spent an entire day measuring where the border would go and he fussed again about all the cuts that were required for the middle pieces. When I went over tonight, I couldn't help but smile on the inside when I saw how he had laid out the tile and the border. I also have him an idea about how to run a vent to the upstairs, and while he was dead against it last week when I suggested it, he told me tonight that he thinks it would make the kitchen look a lot better. I just agreed. Mind you, he has taught me almost everything I know about using tools and I am still learning. Next on the list is to learn how to weld, but that probably will not happen until this summer.

As far as punishing the kidnapper is concerned, I never said that we should let him off. I would probably go with 15 years to life depending on the circumstances. Now, if they prove that he molested the kids, I would be all for the death penalty.

[Andy L]

I dont expect them to leave me and never come back. Close as we are, I suspect I will see them alot. But, I also know it wont be the same. My little one promised me last night while sitting on my lap watching tv that he would try and grow up as slow as possible. LOL

I dont know, maybe Ill be ready for them to leave by the time they are old enough. Weekend visits may be plenty. For now, I want them here. Not raised by some crazed freak of a kidnapper.

I may also have a little anxiety due to the relationship, or lack thereof, with my father. I saw him last night for the first time in over two months. It will probably be that long or longer before I see him again. I never want my boys to feel that way.

I know Ive said this before, but you will see soon. Life changes in a big way and I know my attitude and outlook on things changed even more, still are changing, since I had kids. You think you know what love is, but you really dont know what unconditional love is until you have them.

Dont take that wrong. Just stating my opinion Fabs. :cool:

[fabsroman]

That wasn't taken the wrong way.

"For now, I want them here. Not raised by some crazed freak of a kidnapper. "

I think we can all agree with that statement. What you and I will continue to disagree on is whether the kidnapper should get 15 to life in prison or the death sentence. Now, if it turns out that he is a kidnapper and child molester, I think we both agree that he should receive the death sentence. We are not that far apart.

What I posted above was to let you know that your boys will never leave you if you raise them right. My dad was probably a lot like you. His dad was tough on him and his dad didn't spend much time with them (i.e., my dad, his brother and sister). My dad made it a point to come to nearly every soccer game and bike race of mine. A slight few of them he couldn't attend because he either had to work or he had to attend some other event for my brothers and sisters. When my two brothers and I were playing soccer, he would try to make three different games every Saturday. Sometimes I would have to get a ride home from a teammate because he had to leave before game's end to attend my other brother's game. Life got a little easier when one of my brothers and I played on the same team. As a family, we spent a lot of weekends in PA on a piece of property that my parents and aunt/uncle owned. Those were some great times.

"It isn't the amount of money you spend on a child, but the amount of time you spend with the child that matters."

I read that quote somewhere and it has stuck with me. Here is another.

"I was the smartest man alive, but I became the stupidest man alive when my children became teenagers."

That one is from my dad. While my mom and dad loved having us around and raising us, I am pretty sure that they are happy that we are out of the house. Now, I am willing to bet that as soon as they become grandparents they will be at my house all the time.

Give it another 10 to 15 years and then we will talk about whether or not you still want your kids in your house.

As far as unconditional love goes, I don't think that ever applies to anything. Yes, when your children are babies you can say you love them unconditionally, but as they grow they can do things to hurt you, and they can do enough to make you stop loving them. If all parents unconditionally love all their children, why do so many parents do such horrible things to their children? Same goes for children unconditionally loving their parents.

Nothing is unconditional in life. I have had employers say that they wanted unconditional loyalty, but loyalty comes with a price. Loyal employees want a loyal employer that treats them right. Same thing goes with love and respect. I love it when people I meet tell me that I have to show them respect. In my book, respect is something that is earned. When I first meet a person, I treat them as a stranger. They have to earn my respect. The same goes with love. Love must be earned. It takes a long time to earn love and respect, but they can be lost very quickly.

We will have to disagree on "unconditional" love.

As far as life changing, I have heard a lot about that from everybody but they cannot tell me exactly what is going to change. Of course my life is going to change when I have a baby. Heck, my life changed when I graduated undergrad. It changed again when I graduated law school. It changed when I bought a dog. It changed when I got married. My life changed when I bought a car, a truck, a bike, and a townhouse. It changed again today when I ate at Sbarro, a fast food place in a mall, and got a mild case of food poisoning. Life is always changing. Now, instead of thinking about car payments, I am learning all there is to know about different ways to save for college and worrying if we will be able to save enough. Once the baby is born, I have 3 months to learn how to change her diaper, how to feed her, and how to do anything else that needs to be done. After that, I am on my own because my wife will be going back to work. I have also learned that there are about as many baby accessories as there are hunting and fishing accessories.