Missing Missouri Boy May Have Been Abducted

Boy Last Seen Riding Bicycle

ST. LOUIS -- Nancy Wilkes slept on a pew inside Book of Acts Methodist Church. Clara Boyer slept two hours at some point, but couldn't say when.

Few people have been able to rest in this tiny eastern Missouri town since 11-year-old Shawn Hornbeck was reported missing Sunday evening.

Friends and townspeople joined police and rescue workers Tuesday in searching for the fifth-grader, last seen riding his green mountain bike on his way to a friend's house. Friends and neighbors held out hope that he was alive.

Wilkes, a friend of Shawn's parents Craig and Pamela Akers, said she drove in from St. Charles Monday morning after seeing Shawn's picture on TV.

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"Everyone's feeling disbelief. We're in shock and just want to help because we all have kids of our own," she said.

Hundreds of people from throughout eastern Missouri have been combing through the rugged terrain and abandoned strip mines that surround Richwoods, about 45 miles from St. Louis.

Wilkes has worked as the "coffee lady" at the fire department, headquarters of the search effort, filling a vital role by keeping crews awake. On Tuesday afternoon, she joined Boyer in guarding the door. Few people are allowed into the office, where officials have created a grid of at least 168 square miles using aerial maps from Washington County.

Assistant Fire Chief Dennis Thurmon said crews of eight to 10 people were searching each part of the grid on foot, all-terrain vehicles and horseback, day and night. The FBI was assisting in the search.

St. Louis' KSDK-TV reported Tuesday that authorities found a wrapper of beef jerky 3.5 miles from where Shawn was last seen. Officials believed the jerky was the last thing the 11-year-old had eaten.

Thurmon wouldn't speculate on whether the boy was lost or abducted, but said finding Shawn amid the area's steep valleys and thick brush would be like finding a needle in a haystack. "Once you get out of the fields, you can hardly walk. There's holes out there that will swallow you," he said.

Felicia Horton, 13, and other students have been excused from class at Richwood's school district since Monday to join the search. Jamie Wideman, 13, and Rose Evans, 12, joined the search Tuesday and said other students would help after school.

Horton said Shawn wasn't the type to run away. "All I know is everybody and his parents care about him," she said.

Dave Godat, pastor at Book of Acts, canceled his church's revival this week to focus on the search. He said he often saw Shawn at the local church's youth center and described him as a good kid.

Preparing tacos, hot dogs, soup and sandwiches for volunteers, Godat didn't want to think about what could have happened to the child.

"We want to believe he's lost or injured. I don't make guesses. I don't want to lose hope," he said.

Shawn was last seen when he left his home on a 21-inch green mountain bike. He was on his way to a friend's house but he never arrived. Shawn was wearing an orange Houston Astros T-shirt, blue jeans and Nike brand shoes.

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