CHICAGO, Jan 14: A Missouri boy who disappeared in 2002 was found alive in the home of a man who had kidnapped another boy earlier this week, police said.

Both boys “appear to be okay,” said Sheriff Gary Tolke, who would not elaborate on what type of treatment they had been subjected to or how the man had managed to keep Shawn Hornbeck for more than four years.

Neighbours told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch newspaper that Hornbeck, 15, had been living as the son of Michael Devlin, 41, and had been seen playing with friends in the neighbourhood for years.

Devlin was charged with one count of kidnapping and held on a one-million-dollar bail.

“More charges are likely to be filed as we find out more,” county prosecutor Robert Parks told a news conference.

Hornbeck was last seen riding his bike to a friend's house on Oct 6, 2002, when he was 11 years old. A massive weeks-long search of the area around St. Louis, Missouri, turned up nothing substantial. His family founded an organisation devoted to finding missing children.

“I feel like I'm in a dream,” said Shawn Hornbeck's mother, Pam Akers. “Only now it's a good dream, not the nightmare I've had to live for the last four and a half years.”

Shawn held his mother's hand as he entered his former elementary school in St. Louis, Missouri, early on Saturday where 75 friends and neighbours waited to welcome him.

Savanna Pruitt immediately recognised the boy she last knew as a fifth grade classmate. “I'm happy he's back,” she said.

Craig Akers, Shawn's stepfather, said his family had not asked Shawn about the circumstances of his life since his disappearance in October 2002, choosing instead to allow him to share the details of his captivity at his own pace.

Ben Ownby, 13, disappeared on Monday after he got off a school bus. A schoolmate told police he had seen a white truck in the area and a tip to police about the truck led to the discovery.

His parents said the boy was happy to return to the routine of home, which in his case meant video games.—AFP