Reverse Suspicions

  Shawn Hornbeck went missing in 2002 at the age of 11. He was riding his bike to a friend’s house when he was abducted by Michael Devlin and was held captive in Michael’s apartment for the next four and a half years. The best documentary I can find on Shawn is  here .  The most noteworthy aspect of Shawn’s case is his rescue. In January of 2007, his captor abducted another boy named Ben Ownby. There was one witness to Ben’s abduction, a teenage boy who was getting off the school bus with Ben. This teenager had a very intense obsession with trucks and gave the police such a detailed description of the truck that it nearly made him look suspicious. Law enforcement still decided to publish the detailed description, which is what ultimately led to the discovery of both Ben and Shawn alive in Devlin’s apartment.  Another noteworthy part of Shawn’s rescue was the  victim blaming by Bill O’Reilly . Shawn made it very clear in interviews later on how his captor had com...

  The discovery of three missing women in the home of Ariel Castro really shook up the world. When others were found alive in the past, many people may have just thought it was a fluke that they were alive. I knew I felt that way about Jaycee Dugard in 2009. But four years later in 2013, Amanda Berry got the chance to break free of her captor’s home and call 911 from the home across the street.  The best documentary on these three is  here .  Michelle Knight was the first to be abducted in 2002. Since she was a legal adult with a history of running away, police didn’t do much to search for her.  A year later in 2003, Ariel also kidnapped Amanda Berry. Amanda was about to turn 17 the next day. Her abduction caused a media frenzy. She was walking home from her job at Burger King and never made it home.  Another year later in 2004, he kidnapped 14 year old Gina DeJesus on her way home from school. The community now lost two girls from the same street only a ye...

  Jaycee Dugard was abducted by a stranger when she was 11 years old in June of 1991. She was discovered alive 18 years later at age 29 in 2009. Her abductor forced her to assume a new identity. She chose the name Alyssa for herself, because she was a fan of the actress Alyssa Milano. She gave birth to two daughters at age 14 and then 17, both fathered by her captor. She is now living peacefully and free with her mother and daughters.  Here is her interview with Diane Sawyer.   Jaycee wrote her first book, “A Stolen Life” shortly before this interview aired. I read it a couple years ago. Her captor brainwashed her in so many ways. I remember reading how the captor and his wife took her out in public for the first time, when she was about 18. She’d been locked up in their backyard sheds for seven years at that point and was so brainwashed by them that she didn’t try to escape when out in public. She did look around at all the people around her and wonder if they recognized...

  A lesser known case of a child that was found alive is that of Cleo Smith. Cleo is from Western Australia and went missing for 18 days last year. Honestly, being missing in the Australian Outback, I didn’t think they’d find her alive. But they had enough evidence to believe she was kidnapped and enough leads to find her while raiding the home of a man who was obsessed with Bratz dolls.  A 60 minute interview with her parents is found  here .  I was amazed when she was found. This really sounded like she’d wandered off at night and was killed by a wild animal, but her parents insisted she’d never do that. I believed them, because my own daughter would have never done that either. So I kept hope alive for them and shared her story on social media. When this picture of her in the hospital with her popsicle went viral after she was found, I was overjoyed. She is so cute!  What a great kid, I wish only the best for her. 

  Elizabeth Smart is one of the most outspoken advocates for missing and exploited children that I know of. I remember when she was abducted out of her bedroom in 2002. I also remember when she was “miraculously” found alive in 2003.  I put “miraculously” in quotes, because when a missing child is found alive, I do not believe it’s a miracle. Many say it is, but to me, a miracle is something that is impossible. Does that mean I think it’s not totally wonderful?  Of course not. It’s wonderful, but not a miracle.  This is because it is not only “possible” for a child to be found alive, but it’s more common than we think for them to be out there somewhere.  Elizabeth was abducted by a homeless man who her parents had helped out in the past by giving him handy work around the house. He had one wife, but believed God had told him to take many other wives as well. Immediately after Elizabeth was abducted, she was led by knifepoint up a mountain to their campsite and g...

 Since Jayme Closs was mentioned in my intro, I decided to make my first synopsis post about her.  On October 15th, 2018, an intruder murdered Jayme’s parents in her home and abducted her. Her extended family and community searched long and hard to find her. She finally escaped her captor on January 10th, 2019.  The most thorough documentary I can find on Jayme is  this one. Jayme was held captive in the home of Jake Patterson, who murdered her parents to get to her. Not much is known about what went on in the 88 days that he held her, because the courts decided they had enough to put him away for life with the two murders. They didn’t want to put Jayme through a trial on her captivity.  The thing that stood out to me the most was that law enforcement and Jayme’s extended family had a reunification plan. This means that there was enough hope that she was alive to make plans regarding where she would live, who would have custody of her, her schooling, therapy, et...