Kidnapped: Shawn Hornbeck

(CBS News)  This episode was originally broadcast on Sept. 24, 2008. It was updated on Sept. 5, 2009.

On Oct. 6, 2002, 11-year-old Shawn Hornbeck wanted to ride his bike to a friend's house - something his parents say he had done many times before. But this bike ride would end very differently than all others: when Shawn turned down a gravel road, he had no idea he was heading straight into the grip of a dangerous kidnapper.

Kidnapped and held for four and a half years, Shawn tells his amazing story of survival to correspondent Troy Roberts.

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Hours after Shawn disappeared, sheriff's deputies, police and volunteers were combing the rough terrain around his hometown of Richwoods, Mo.

But aside from dogs detecting Shawn's scent, nothing else turned up - not even his bike.

As days turned to weeks, Shawn's mother Pam and stepfather Craig Akers put on a brave face for reporters, but privately they were falling apart.

"Nighttime was about the only time where we really did have the opportunity to talk honestly about things and share our emotions and that was probably the roughest times - you're sitting there alone and, just trying to figure out what happened to your son," Craig remembers.

Pam and Craig couldn't help but feel guilty for letting Shawn go out alone that day. And Pam says at times she does blame herself. "I do feel that I failed on the part of protecting him. And keeping him safe and keeping him at home."

"I feel the same way," Craig adds. "I'd just go over in my mind all the different things we could have done that day."

But Shawn had taken that ride dozens of times before.

Shawn and his two older sisters, Jackie and Jennifer, had grown up in the quiet Midwestern town, just 60 miles from St. Louis.

When he was 6, Shawn had walked his mother down the aisle when she married Craig.

And even though Shawn wasn't Craig's biological son, they shared a special bond. "He was always known as my shadow. He grew up sitting on my lap in front of the keyboard. We spent pretty much every minute of every day together," Craig remembers.

When the official search for their son was scaled back, the Akers kept looking. "We cashed in my 401(k). Every penny that we had ever saved went into the search for Shawn," Craig says.

They formed the Shawn Hornbeck Foundation, and set up an e-mail tip line.

Working for the county prosecutor, retired St. Louis Detective Don Cooksey investigated over 400 leads. "I searched strip mines; I searched caves, river ways, abandoned farms, abandoned trailers, cemeteries. Lakes, I've drained lakes," he remembers. "About a year into the investigation, maybe a year and a half, I didn't think we'd ever find him alive."

One year gave way to two, then three, and four.

What the Akers didn't know was that less than an hour from home, Shawn was being held captive by a man police would later call a monster.

Shawn was living his days in terror. "I'm not gonna lie, there was times when it seemed like I was better off dead than living through that," he tells Roberts.

Shawn was subjected to unimaginable daily physical and sexual abuse. "From day one, he had the gun, he had the power. I was powerless. There's nothing I could physically do," he explains.

Asked if the days seemed to blend in with each other, Shawn says, "Yeah, there was times that I thought it was July and it was snowing outside. I just, I didn't keep track of time or day. It was just another day. It was just another day to add to my life."

Then, on a cold winter's morning in January 2007, Pam and Craig woke up to a TV news report about an abduction in a nearby town. "It really kind of struck me as eerily similar," Craig says.

"The hair color, the size, the age," Pam adds.

Was it just an eerie coincidence or something more?

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[leggz_diamond]

the videos undertone felt to me, Of "blaming" the victum. which is soooooooooo wrong. i can understand how hard it is to understand why shawn never (even after many for sure "he cant get me right now opportunities")didnt take one of the opportunities to tell someone or to escape the fiend! wow! so i as well as you shld try to wrap your brains round this. for one, shawn never asked for this. so no matter [[what happeded,or what could have happened, or especially what didnt happen people, and i bet we can all imagine some pretty crazy stuff]] he is not, and can never be blamed for this no matter what. no matter if he fell in love with the guy HE STILL CANNNOT BE BLAMED, he survived it so if that survival called for him to love the man, well thats that, no blame only survival. #two his age when it happened is a huge factor in the WHYS???WWWHHHYYEEE??? we dont understand, yet doubt and blame remain.his age at time was most circumspect,gullable,manipulative,innocent, honest,informative,very vulnerable, & very impressionable, even shall i dare say, MOLDABLE stage of a kids life? kids have also evolved to be somewhat materialistic which also cannot be blamed(cuz theres oh.so.much.more.stuff out there,just look @ the news!!)shawn got what he wanted, when he wanted it? did someone say? and all he/i had to do was play? play and give the monster what he wanted for as little cost to me/us/him personally, so as not to freak the **** out even more, but to stay sane and outside the whole ordeal. becuz truthfully, (remember the age) there was no choice in the matter n e way just a will to survive) trust me i know, video games, bikes, ect.. can be good incentives/good bribes. (candy wrks too, but at even younger ages) Shawn has got to be thee most survivinist survivor i know! he has got to be one of the smartest people i know!and probably thee strogest! from day one he was "survivin" then 2 b able 2 (HIM!!the kid in the mix!) talk the sicko out of killing him...HA! whose zoomin who? ive also got to say the sicko/monster was goooood at what he did/does too. just imagining how it was,total takeover and manipulation of mind,& body for a very significant amt of time no less. but chalk 1 up for the kid again, he never allowed total programming or takeover. he coulndt penetrate this whisp of a boys inner soul. the armor it must of took and the venomous weapons used, yet coulndt penetrate nor touch what really mattered, the things inside that makes us human and individuals. theres something to be said for hard heads!! nor could "it" supress his instinctual desire to live, especially to live throu it, all the damage and assaults to ones being and still come out on top while maintaining ones self,his(own)sacred being intact. and uncanny will to survive & instinctual traits handeddown since the dawning of mankind to come out almost unscathed with, very little scarring of shawns BEING. not allowing "it" power by means of ruthless assault savagery, playstations, tiny tastes of freewill, illultions of freedom to break ones will to there own. demoralize, desensatise introduce self hated,using you up till your an empty shell of a being.watching,looking,waiting for you to rot from within, combust from within. most astonishingly his soul and willingness to submit in order to keep and maintain. no matter how smart nor how strong ones will, the perp was just really good at what he did. then for shawn to not let his abuser continue to abuse him ...{long after the physical fact,nor did he allow the residual of years, to mentaly aflict, relive,and to slowly rot for many, many more yrs to come.(as is the norm)}its total astonishment to me! the cherry so to speack on top! hes almost non-chalant about it all! me i was weak, and still am i still carry scars, torments,hatetred,nightmares, and especially QUILT run my life still decades after my incidents.

[strength1]

This is a very sad story. There are people out there that need to be locked away. Our system needs to be changed, to the point that these sick people need to be locked away forever and castrated. In this case there where no signs and he did not have a record.I feel for this young man and others that are missing. Let us never forget or quit the fight looking for these kids and adults. If you feel in your gut that something is not right ,follow through and do something about it.

[debinok1]

To those who question the "why"? If you have never been in that situation you have no idea how much control these individuals have over their victims. They are experts at manipulation and control. They know how to look for weak points and use them to their advantage. He was held for the first month being bound and gagged and abused, he then came very close to death. The will to survive comes in many forms, not all of those come in a fight or flight instinct. This "child" used his survival instinct to "survive" and you can bet that every time he was confronted with the option to flee, his abusers words, face and threats were forefront in his mind. The body heals very well from most forms of physical abuse, it takes the mind much longer to overcome the mental abuse. I speak as someone who physically survived 10 years of sexual and mental abuse and spent the next 17 years healing mentally.

[actornaught]

I liked the part where the fool, Bill O'Reilly thought this kid enjoyed not having to go to school & got to play video games all day.

Maybe billo should've changed places with him, sounds like he's jealous...

[STCN]

People seem to be much more understanding of how peoples' thought processes can be significantly altered by trauma brought on by being exposed to combat situations because there have been so many soldiers who have returned from Iraq and Afghanistan with PTSD. How unfortunate that the general public isn't yet as collectively understanding of how peoples' thought processes can be significantly altered by trauma brought on by being kidnapped as a CHILD. If there are some situations so horrific that grown men - professional soldiers no less - can have their minds messed up, then what do people think getting abused by a nut will do to an 11 year old who's been torn away from his family?

It's probably totally exacerbating Shawn's recovery to feel like he has to address some sort of elephant in the room that really shouldn't be there. Like it's not a question he should be feeling like he needs to answer for people - people should have the strength to feel compassionate enough to understand and know the answer on their own. The question's already been asked and answered - if people still don't understand, that's on you not Shawn.

Go Shawn! We're all rooting for you!

[gericc1]

Dear Shawn and family,God bless you! may you enjoy peace and harmony.To the wonderful community and the police department,for all your support and hard work. God speed to all of you!!!

[stickdog3]

I followed this in the news when it happened, and the first time it aired on 48 Hours Mystery last year. He (Shawn)himself said no one has the right to judge him. Theres a reason for him saying that. He's probably hearing it a lot.Nobody wants to play devil's advocate, but it sits in the back of your mind. The first day this clown went to work and left him there unrestrained, why didn't he leave? Thats the million dollar question. It will be answered, probably 20 to 30 years in the future, but, it will be answered. Thats why the neighbors who befriended him are still asking. Being traumatized is one thing, but in every human the will to survive is very pronounced. I would love to know why this boy didn't run when he had hundreds of chances. Like I said this question will be answered, he will finally tell. Hope this doesn't psychologicallly permanently scar him. Very tragic story indeed.

[graceforyou]

I have thought about the recorded program. I am dissapointed that CBS elected to include the "spoiled" statement by the neighbors. Receiving a bike and game system is hardly being spoiled. Who knows why those were purchased. If the neighbors thought he looked like the missing Shawn, why didn't they call the authorities?

Unless we have been a victim in the circumstance of captivity since age 10, we would never know what we would do or believe to survive. I can only imagine the pure joy Shawn must have felt to be away from his captor when he was allowed to spend the night. One night away from torture.

As for God, hopefully there is a spiritual being a greater power, that gives our life meaning and purpose.

I pity those without compassion and the need to blame a child of 10 for being a victim.

[leggz_diamond]

to graceforyou if cbs didint include the spoiled statement then they would not have been doing there jobs. not everyone or eveerything statement may be true, but thats life. people with thoughts and views of their own. how would it be if news only related nice comments? next only nice stories,then so on. come on you know the drill.also i tend to believe the neigbors statements. 4 yrs, sons best friend? they spent lot of time getting to know shawn and live next door? im sure they can recognise a spoiled kid when they meet one. i dont believe they stated that statement easily but what can you do when its the truth. can u image how they knew they wld look by saying that? with the whole wrld praying for shawn!?!also the neighbors point blank asked shawn if that was him. watching it on tv they said he didint even bat an eye, no giveaway whatsoever. then he answers them in a way that made'em feel hecka dunb for asking too? lady that was a happy boy whom never let anything outof place within himself show, nor do i think he even felt such. sounds like to me towards the end it wasnt so bad huh? i guess one can really get use to n e thing and maybe even be made to like it for sure

[ronkerr]

To PinkieSparkles16 - I still can't believe that you posted that comment. Are you kidding me? You really believe that a game system or a new bike would make getting raped and tortured by a 300 lb pervert worth it? We can only speculate on what really happened to him behind those closed doors or what lies Devlin told him but to sit there behind your computer and judge this young man is so way out of line. Shawn seems to be an amazing person who will hopefully grow up and do wonderful things with his life.

[leggz_diamond]

to ronkerr-yes we can only speculate but shawn was a survivor in the most astonishing ways, grew up very fast by means of his own even so it was not his choice, he was made to fight fire with fire to survive no matter what. not just live but to survive intact. took all the bad and made some good from it. learned to be manipulator extrodinaire, most if not al boys his age would not have lived throu' let alone survive and come out alittle richer inside and out.

[graceforyou]

To Shawn and Ben - As a mom, my heart is joyful that you are home with your family. As time unfolds, I pray that you will live a beautiful life. I don't usually comment on stories, but your story touched me and my family. I cannot imagine what you have endured, but you are now an example of strength, fortitude, and the will to survive. I believe that God has a special purpose for you whether it be in the public eye or to make a difference in one person's life. You are special. From one survivor (cancer) to survivors of something exponentially worse, you are special. Don't ever blame yourself. Look to the future of your family and friends.