Shawn Hornbeck Foundation dissolved by state

ST. LOUIS -- The Shawn Hornbeck Foundation has been dissolved by the state because of paperwork problems, but its members continue to pursue their mission of finding missing children.

The foundation was dissolved in late December after its administrators failed to file an annual report with the Missouri secretary of state's office, according to a letter the office sent to the foundation.

Missouri secretary of state's office spokesman Ryan Hobart said Wednesday that foundation administrators recently notified the state they will soon file the annual report. Once the paperwork is filed, the foundation should be restored to good standing, Hobart said.

A message left at the Hornbeck Foundation was not returned Wednesday.

Richard Lamb, executive deputy secretary of state, sent the letter officially dissolving the foundation Dec. 27. The foundation was prohibited from do any activity other than liquidating its business affairs.

Since that time, the foundation has continued its work by sponsoring race cars and registering ID cards to children at safety fairs.

Hobart said it's not uncommon for not-for-profit foundations to be dissolved when they don't file the proper paperwork. The Hornbeck Foundation was dissolved once before in 2006, then reinstated.

Hornbeck's parents, Craig and Pam Akers, formed the foundation after Shawn was kidnapped in 2002 to find Shawn. The foundation later broadened its mission to bring home other missing children.

Shawn was discovered early last year in the Kirkwood apartment of pizzeria manager Michael Devlin, along 13-year-old Ben Ownby, who had been kidnapped four days earlier. Devlin pleaded guilty to kidnapping and abusing both boys and is serving a sentence of dozens of consecutive life sentences.

Both boys have largely avoided the medial spotlight since they were returned to their families on Jan. 12, 2007.