Never Give Up Hope

Ten years ago, on Jan. 12, 2007, Shawn Hornbeck and Ben Ownby were found. Ben had been missing for a few days, but Shawn had been missing for more than four years. The discovery that the boys were alive and kept captive by Michael Devlin in Kirkwood made national news.

Shawn was kidnapped while riding his bike to a friend?s house near Richwoods, Missouri. Shawn had taken this path many times before but this time, Shawn passed by Mike Devlin who bumped him with his truck. Devlin initially seemed concerned for Shawn?s safety, but moments later put him into the back of his truck and told him ?You were just at the wrong place at the wrong time.?

Shawn Hornbeck?had several chances to escape while he was held by a kidnapper for four years. He went out riding his bike at age 11 in 2002 and never came back. Shawn had multiple chances to make contact with the authorities, but he did not. He even had access to the Internet. He was discovered by police in the home of his captor and returned to his family at age 15. His case has been the source of much speculation, and many believe he suffers from Stockholm Syndrome.

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In the wake of the latest Christchurch earthquake there are many outside of the area trying to assist in so many ways.

Crowd-sourcing is playing a major part.

Google has a Crisis Response Page that provides a lot of information including a live Twitter feed.

There is the Google Person Finder service that was set up. I updated the news on one person I was aware of had been located and was ok.

Now an Accomodation Finder has been set up:

In the wake of Tuesday’s devastating earthquake, many people and families have been left without a place to stay.

Compassionate Kiwis are helping out. Spread the word and let others know they can offer or request accommodation here.

If you can help locate people or provide emergency?accommodation?for people then please use these tools to offer help.

Cameron Slater

As much at home writing editorials as being the subject of them, Cam has won awards, including the Canon Media Award for his work on the Len Brown/Bevan Chuang story. When he’s not creating the news, he tends to be in it, with protagonists using the courts, media and social media to deliver financial as well as death threats.

They say that news is something that someone, somewhere, wants kept quiet. Cam Slater doesn’t do quiet and, as a result, he is a polarising, controversial but highly effective journalist who takes no prisoners.

He is fearless in his pursuit of a story.

Love him or loathe him, you can’t ignore him.

To read Cam’s previous articles click on his name in blue.

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