Reward rises to $75,000 in case of missing boy

RICHWOODS, Mo. -- With the help of anonymous donors, family and friends of a Washington County boy who disappeared more than five months ago have increased to $75,000 the reward for information that leads to his whereabouts.

Shawn Hornbeck, 11, vanished last Oct. 6 while bicycling near his home near this community, about 65 miles southwest of St. Louis.

Police have followed hundreds of leads, and volunteers have spent thousands of hours searching Washington County woods for Shawn.

"There is no doubt in my mind that someone out there knows where we can find Shawn," his stepfather, Craig Akers said Friday. "Someone is directly responsible for his disappearance. He didn't just vanish of his own accord."