Stepfather of boy found 4 years after abduction dies

RICHWOODS, Mo. (AP) - A father has died 12 years after his long missing stepson was found in the suburban St. Louis apartment of his captor with another abducted boy.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that Craig Akers was 57 when he died on July 15. He had been diagnosed with bladder cancer in June.

In 2007, he was reunited with Shawn Hornbeck, who, at age 16, was found alive in a Kirkwood apartment. He was with 13-year-old Ben Ownby, who had gone missing four days earlier. Shawn had disappeared four years earlier.

A man has since been convicted of abducting, abusing and torturing the boys.

Akers' wife, Pam Akers, said that her husband was "so grateful he got to spend more time with Shawn." Shawn was a baby when the couple met.