Theory involving missing boy has meth connection

Investigators of the disappearance of 11-year-old Shawn Hornbeck won't overlook a theory -- one of many in the case -- that the fifth-grader may have happened upon criminals running a remote methamphetamine lab, a prosecutor said Tuesday.

But Washington County prosecutor John Rupp dismissed as hearsay some broadcast reports that volunteer searchers for Shawn, missing for more than three weeks, had been threatened by meth dealers twitchy that search efforts might uncover their labs.

"It has gotten a little too far out of hand," Rupp said Tuesday as searchers in Richwoods, about 111 miles northwest of Cape Girardeau, continued to search for Shawn.

"Yes, Washington County has a meth problem, and Richwoods has a meth problem," Rupp said. "There is a theory, and it cannot be overlooked, that meth might have had something to do with Shawn's disappearance. But that's one of many theories, and it's absolutely a theory not supported by any facts or solid evidence."

Overall, the prosecutor said, "we really don't have any solid leads or evidence" about Shawn's whereabouts since he vanished Oct. 6 while riding a bike to a friend's house.

Since then, Rupp said, searchers who have scoured the densely wooded, one-time mining town have discovered about five former meth-making sites.

Shawn's father, Craig Akers, said he was unaware of any direct meth-related threats -- only rumors that makers of the drug, while perhaps using the remote area as cover for their labs, were finding all the searching bad for business.

"We take every threat seriously, even if it's from some nut case with no intention of carrying out the threat. But we don't have any direct threat," Rupp said. "If someone makes a threat, we've got to take it seriously, whether it's credible or not. But is the family in danger? I don't think so. Are the searchers in danger? I don't think so."

"We won't tolerate this type of nonsense that diverts us from the real purpose of finding Shawn."

Volunteer searchers on Tuesday numbered about 10 by Akers' estimate, a fraction of the more than 200 that converged on Richwoods in the first few days after Shawn vanished.

While Akers calls the thinning ranks of searchers "disappointing, no question," the effort to find the boy -- in some fashion -- presses on.

"We try to keep our chin up and stay optimistic," he said. "We certainly would like to find him safe and certainly hope that's the case, but we want to find him no matter what the circumstances."