Kidnap Victim: 'It Was Worse Than Death'

Shawn Hornbeck speaks publicly for first time about 4-year ordeal
By Mary Papenfuss,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 25, 2008 8:19 AM CDT
Kidnap Victim: 'It Was Worse Than Death'
Shawn Hornbeck smiles after receiving a new backboard and hoop at a birthday celebration at a charity golf tournament to benefit the Shawn Hornbeck Foundation in Madison, Ill.    (AP Photo/Tom Gannam, file)

A young kidnap victim sexually abused for 4 years said he feared every day for his life—and often thought death would have been easier, reports People. Shawn Hornbeck, now 17, speaks publicly for the first time about his ordeal in a CBS interview. What he endured would make "psychiatrists insane," he said. He was snatched off a Missouri street in 2002 by a kidnapper who is now serving 74 life sentences.

"There wasn't a day when I didn't think he was just gonna kill me," recalled Hornbeck, whose captivity involved "gory details that a lot of people can't handle." The teen was found last year by police searching for a second boy kidnapped by the same man.The Hornbeck interview will air Saturday on 48 Hours Mystery.

(More Shawn Hornbeck stories.)

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