Blunt honors police, citizens who helped find two missing teens

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Police and volunteers who helped find Ben Ownby and Shawn Hornbeck received official thanks from Gov. Matt Blunt on Wednesday.

Blunt signed four proclamations praising the two Kirkwood police officers who discovered the suburban St. Louis apartment in which Ownby and Hornbeck were found, the Franklin County Sheriff Department which led investigations that have found three missing children in less than a year and the Shawn Hornbeck Foundation, created after he went missing in 2002.

At the ceremony in the governor's Capitol office, Blunt said law enforcement performed admirably in the high-profile case.

"The case really did capture the attention of the nation, and we can really be proud of what Missouri law enforcement accomplished," Blunt said.

Michael Devlin faces 81 state and federal charges for allegedly kidnapping and sexually assaulting the two boys.

Mitchell Hults, the classmate of Ownby whose detailed description of a white truck speeding past his school bus helped lead law enforcement to the missing boys, was made an honorary state trooper during Wednesday's ceremony.

Missouri State Highway Patrol Superintendent Col. Jim Keathley said Hults' description was so detailed that he was able to tell investigators the trailer hitch on the truck didn't have a ball.

Along with a certificate, Keathley gave Hults two Highway Patrol baseball hats -- one navy blue and one camouflaged, so that Hults could wear it while turkey hunting.

Hults also has been given a new truck and was one of Blunt's guests at the annual State of the State address.