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Arlin was riding his white and yellow bicycle in his family's Moscow Mills, Missouri mobile home, about fifty miles north of St. Louis, on July 25, 1991. He was last seen between 5:00 and 5:30 p.m. the day he vanished. Arlin has never been heard from again.

Josh Spangler confessed to Arlin's murder in 2001, ten years after the child disappeared. Spangler was 13 years old at the time of the alleged killing and could not have served prison time for his role in the crime due to the fact that he was a minor when it was committed. Spangler was apparently involved in drug activity in 1991 and was associated with George N. Gibson and his older brother, Charles "Chuckie" Gibson. Charles is currently imprisoned on federal drug and money laundering charges. Both of the Gibson brothers were initially charged in connection with Arlin's case in the spring of 2001. Spangler told investigators that a member of Henderson's family owed money to Charles Gibson, and Spangler was paid to kill Arlin as a warning. Spangler said that he sold drugs for the Gibson brothers in 1991.

Spangler stated that he was riding in a truck with George on July 25, 1991, the day Arlin vanished, and that they abducted him and held him in a house in Davis, Missouri for a few days. Spangler said that they abducted the child and claimed that he shot Arlin in the head with a nine-millimeter pistol in a creek bed near Davis on July 28, 1991, three days after the boy was abducted. He said he was paid $10,000 by the Gibsons for abducting and killing the boy and that his body was buried along the Mississippi River.

Authorities searched a site near Winfield, Missouri in late July - early August 2001 for Arlin's remains. Details about the search have not been released, but Arlin was not located Authorities withdrew charges against both of the Gibsons in October 2001 after learning that Spangler lied regarding their involvement in the crime. Citing numerous discrepancies in Spangler's account, they charged him with perjury in connection with his testimony about Arlin's supposed death. Spangler plead guilty to perjury and was sentenced to seven years in prison. At the time of his plea, he was serving a four-year prison sentence for unrelated charges of burglary and tampering. Authorities now believe Spangler had nothing to do with Arlin's disappearance. They say Spangler made up the story as a malicious joke to make the police look incompetent.

Investigators have Arlin's bicycle as evidence and hope to identify a set of fingerprints discovered on the frame. It is not known if the prints belong to participants involved in the crime. Searches will continue for Arlin's remains as events warrant.

Authorities have not cast aside the theory that Arlin's disappearance may have been drug-related, but Arlin's mother denies allegations that she or any of her family members were involved with drugs. Arlin's mother describes him as a fun-loving boy who enjoyed telling stories. He lived with his mother at the time of his disappearance; his father died of emphysema in 1990. Arlin's sister was murdered ten years after his disappearance, but the crime was not related to his case; his sister was killed by her estranged husband, who subsequently committed suicide. Arlin's mother still lives in the same trailer park where her son used to live, but in a different mobile home. Her husband's name is still listed in the phone book in case Arlin is alive decides to call home.

In 2007, investigators began investigating Michael J. Devlin for possible involvement in Arlin's disappearance and in several other cases, including the 1988 disappearance of Scott Kleeschulte and the 2005 disappearance of Bianca Piper. Shawn Hornbeck, a fifteen-year-old boy who was kidnapped in 2002, and William "Ben" Ownby, a thirteen-year-old boy who disappeared in 2007, were both found alive and well in Devlin's house in January 2007. Ownby had been missing for five days and Hornbeck for over four years. Both boys had been held against their will by Devlin, and have since been reunited with their searching families. It should be emphasized that Devlin has not been charged in any cases besides Ownby and Hornbeck's, and thus far the investigation has not shown any strong links between him and any other children.

Arlin's disappearance remains unsolved.

SOURCE: http://www.charleyproject.org

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Photos not seen as lead in Arlin Henderson case

St. Louis Post-Dispatch
FROM STAFF REPORTS
01/25/2007

Authorities believe that two photographs provided by a woman who knows accused kidnapper Michael Devlin are not a credible lead in the investigation of Arlin Henderson’s disappearance in 1991, sources familiar with the investigation said Wednesday.

Arlin disappeared from a rural road in Moscow Mills when he was 11 years old.

Authorities said no evidence has been found linking Devlin, the man charged with kidnapping Shawn Hornbeck and Ben Ownby, to any other victims.

The woman gave the photos to the Post-Dispatch over the weekend, saying they showed a teenage boy she met through Devlin in the mid-1990s. She said Devlin identified the boy as the son of one of his friends. Devlin himself is not in the photos.

Detectives showed Arlin’s relatives the photos on Tuesday. Arlin’s uncle James McWilliams said Wednesday that he saw some similarities between the teen in the picture and Arlin.

Lincoln County Sheriff Dan Torres has said that his department was working to see whether there are links between Devlin and Arlin.

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For Arlin Henderson's family, the cycle of hope, despair is an agonizing ride

By Susan Weich
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
Friday, Jan. 26 2007

LINCOLN COUNTY — When Debra Griffith-Henderson looked at the decade-old photograph of the teenage boy wearing a frayed ballcap, she couldn't be sure, but she thought she saw a family resemblance.

The photo was thought to be the first promising lead in five years in the disappearance of her son Arlin, who was 11 when he went for a bike ride on July 25, 1991, near Moscow Mills in Lincoln County, and never came home. He would be 26 now.

Since showing her the picture earlier this week, police sources now say they don't believe the photo or another picture provided by a woman who knows kidnapping suspect Michael J. Devlin are credible leads.

"Maybe I just wanted it to look like him," Henderson-Griffith said Thursday. "It was pretty hard not to get my hopes up."

It's part of the emotional roller coaster she's been on since Shawn Hornbeck and William "Ben" Ownby were found in a Kirkwood apartment two weeks ago. The parallels between Shawn's disappearance and Arlin's have renewed hope of finding Arlin alive. At the same time, Henderson-Griffith has had to deal with constant news coverage and the glare of national attention.

Henderson-Griffith fought back tears as she described the latest letdown she and her family have experienced since authorities found Shawn and Ben.

She cried that day too — tears of joy for the families mixed with her tears of sorrow.

"I just want to know what happened to my son," she said. "Is that so bad to ask?"

A few days after the rescue of the boys, Lincoln County Sheriff Dan Torres said that his department was working to see if there are any links between Devlin, charged with taking Shawn and Ben, and Arlin.

So far no connection has been found, authorities say. But the cases have striking similarities, Torres said. Arlin, Ben and Shawn all were about the same age when they disappeared from a rural road in daytime. Arlin and Shawn were riding bikes.

The potential connection has caused the media to focus on the 15-year-old case and to inundate Arlin's relatives with phone calls and requests for interviews.

In fact, family members say Arlin's case has gotten more national media attention in the past two weeks than it has in all the previous years combined. In the last week alone, the family has appeared three times on Greta Van Susteren's show on Fox News.

Jim McWilliams, Arlin's uncle, said the family has been put in a tough position. Family members want to cooperate with police who prefer they not talk about leads, but they also want to get the information out because it might bring Arlin home.

"I just wish everybody could learn to be patient, because this could possibly hinder the investigation," he said.

The day after police showed them the photographs, McWilliams said, his phone rang every five minutes with another call from reporters.

"They jumped on this so fast yesterday it gave me a headache," McWilliams said Thursday.

Henderson-Griffith said that she is emotionally drained from talking about Arlin's case over the past two weeks. She has had trouble sleeping and hasn't been able to get the strength to do the things she loves, like dote on her grandchildren and cook.

"I don't even watch the news anymore," she said. "I don't need to relive that day over and over."

On Thursday, Arlin's mother spoke with the Post-Dispatch by phone but said she wasn't up to an in-person interview. Other relatives agreed to be interviewed at McWilliams' home in Winfield.

Still, Henderson-Griffith encouraged anyone with information about Arlin's case, no matter how trivial, to call authorities.

"It's the police's job to investigate; they won't get mad," she said.

Eva McWilliams, Arlin's aunt, said she considers her nephew's disappearance one of the saddest chapters in her family, which has suffered numerous tragedies.

Arlin's sister, Joy Leonard, was killed in 2000 by her estranged husband, Robert Leonard, who also took his own life. She was 29.

Then in 2001, Joshua Spangler confessed to killing Arlin at the behest of two other men. He pleaded guilty of murder and testified against them. Then he recanted and admitted he made up the story.

Eva McWilliams described Arlin as a boy who was friendly, bold and who had dreams of becoming president.

She remembered the brave front he put on at his father's funeral the year before he disappeared.

"He hugged his mom's leg and told us not to worry because he was going to take care of her now," she said.

She smiled as she talked about videotapes of Arlin that were shown on national networks this week.

She and other family members were planning to meet later Thursday to talk about restarting a group they had formed, Friends of Arlin, which had disbanded over the years. They hope to plan events to keep Arlin's story in the public eye.

"I just hope the police find something," she said. "He was a lovable kid who got his life stolen."

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Arlin Henderson family launches website

By Susan Weich
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
Mar. 16 2007

LINCOLN COUNTY — The family of Arlin Henderson is launching a website to encourage new information about the missing boy who now would be a man.

On Saturday, one day after Arlin's 27th birthday, his relatives will kick off a web page, www.lookforarlin.com, that includes a section where visitors can post leads about the case. The event will be in conjunction with a safety fair and balloon release.

Arlin has been missing for more than 15 years, but his disappearance has been pushed back into the spotlight after Shawn Hornbeck and William "Ben" Ownby were found in a Kirkwood apartment on Jan. 12.

Michael J. Devlin has been charged with kidnapping the boys, and a police task force is working to see if there are any links between Devlin and other missing children, including Arlin.

So far no connection has been found, authorities said this week, but the cases are similar. Arlin, Ben and Shawn all were about the same age when they disappeared from a rural road in the daytime. Arlin and Shawn were riding bikes.

"One of the reasons we're doing this is because it's been a few weeks since the public has heard Devlin's and Arlin's names together," said Arlin's uncle, Jim McWilliams. "We're hoping to shake up some people's memories."

McWilliams said it has been difficult for family members to realize that Arlin would be 27 now — especially Arlin's mother, Debra Henderson-Griffith, who he said was too emotionally distraught to talk to reporters.

"He and my oldest daughter are the same age," he said. "They were really close, they were best buds. It's still a shock that he's not around."

Lisa Womble, a cousin of Arlin, said a group dubbed the Friends of Arlin
Henderson hopes to keep Arlin's case in the public eye. They are hosting
Saturday's event, which will begin at noon at Fairgrounds City Park in Troy.

Tags bearing the new website address will be attached to balloons released at 2 p.m. The event is open to the public.

Womble said the website features a new age-progression photograph of Arlin that, for her, has brought home how long Arlin has been missing.

"It just really stirs a lot of emotions in you when you look at it," Womble
said.

Lincoln County Sheriff Dan Torres said members of his department and the Explorer Scouts will be at the event to provide information on child safety.

"Although this case began in July of 1991, it has been and will continue to be one of the Lincoln County Sheriff Department's top priorities until the
mysteries surrounding Arlin's disappearance are solved," he said.

Womble and McWilliams hope to use the new website as a clearinghouse for information about other missing children in Missouri.

Anyone wishing to make a donation to the group can send checks to Friends of Arlin, P.O. Box 390, Winfield, Mo. 63389, or make a donation at any of the branch offices of Bank of Old Monroe.

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New leads give families hope
Task force reopens missing boys’ cases.

April 19, 2007

ST. LOUIS (AP) - Richard and Peggy Kleeschulte didn’t need to tell each other that they couldn’t stay at home last Thursday. Arranging a dinner date on their son’s birthday has become an unspoken ritual since he disappeared nearly 19 years ago.

The couple chatted quietly at a table in Tubby’s Pub in suburban St. Charles. Sweethearts since their teenage years, the Kleeschultes try to focus on happy memories. They didn’t speak their son’s name until the end of the meal.

"We had a drink and said, you know: ‘Here’s to Scott,’ " Richard Kleeschulte recalled.

Although Scott disappeared in 1988, the Kleeschultes still seesaw between despair and the desperate hope they might still see him alive.

"Ain’t a day goes by that you don’t think about him," Richard Kleeschulte said. "At times you think: He’s out there. Maybe I’ll get a phone call. Maybe today."

The arrest of accused kidnapper Michael Devlin has raised new hope for the Kleeschultes and the parents of other missing boys. A team of state and federal investigators is combing through Devlin’s background to see if he is linked to cold cases that have stymied authorities for years.

The 41-year-old pizzeria manager was arrested in January after a manhunt for missing 13-year-old Ben Ownby led to Devlin’s Kirkwood apartment. FBI agents who raided the home also found 15-year-old Shawn Hornbeck, who had been missing for more than four years.

The discovery was soon dubbed the "Missouri Miracle." But for parents of other missing boys there has been no miracle, just years of longing and frustration.

Parents deal with the stress in different ways. During his absence, Shawn’s stepfather, Craig Akers, threw himself into a foundation named after the boy, helping arrange search parties for missing kids.

The Kleeschultes have focused on raising their four other children. Debra Henderson-Griffith, whose son, Charles "Arlin" Henderson, disappeared in 1991, said she simply tries to stay distracted.

"You go to bed wondering. You wake up wondering. You have dreams. My husband wakes me up at night because I’m crying or screaming," she said.

At any moment, Henderson-Griffith is just a few memories away from weeping. She keeps the television on to occupy her mind. She ignores holidays when they come around.

She is still haunted by the Sunday evening in July when she last saw Arlin. He was riding his bike in front of the family’s mobile home in rural Lincoln County, just outside the town of Moscow Mills.

His bike was found months later, abandoned near a highway a few miles north of their home. Along with the anguish, Henderson-Griffith struggles with a parent’s guilt.

"God should put something inside of mothers so they can protect their children," she said.

The disappearances of Arlin and Scott fit the profile of cases that investigators are examining for links to Devlin, said Missouri State Highway Patrol Sgt. Al Nothum.

All the cases involve young boys who vanished in wooded or rural areas between 1988 and 2001. All of the boys lived in areas where Devlin was known to travel often, sometimes driving vehicles he borrowed from friends, Nothum said.

Nothum wouldn’t say if the team has found any solid evidence linking Devlin to other abductions.

"There’s connections," Nothum said. "The task force is not even close to being disbanded."

Between eight and 20 investigators are working with the team, he said. The task force’s current findings can’t be disclosed because they could become evidence in future trials.

"We don’t want to contaminate this case," Nothum said.

Devlin’s lawyer, Michael Kielty, said his client isn’t involved in any of the cases.

"We categorically deny any involvement in any other cases," Kielty said. "I’m confident nothing else will come of fruition regarding any of the other victims being looked at by the task force."

Devlin is being held in the Franklin County Jail in lieu of $1 million bond.

The Kleeschultes and Henderson-Griffith both say they are guarding against too much hope. Over the years they have seen too many promising leads vanish into nothing.

Henderson-Griffith’s family has re-formed The Friends of Arlin Henderson. The group was founded in 1991 to find Arlin, but it faded away over the years. The new effort is orchestrated by Arlin’s uncle, James McWilliams.

It seems the group is as much a coping mechanism as a means to find a boy who would now be in his 20s.

"We’re doing this to keep" Debbie’s "spirits high," he said. "You cannot give up."

Richard Kleeschulte said after all these years, he wants to meet the person who took his son.

"I’d like to look them in the face. I’d like to ask them: "Why did you put us through this?’"

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Missing boy's family will hold candlelight vigil

By Susan Weich
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
07/24/2007

LINCOLN COUNTY — The family of Arlin Henderson will host a candlelight vigil Wednesday to commemorate the 16th anniversary of his disappearance.

Arlin was 11 on July 25, 1991, when he didn't return from a bike ride in Moscow Mills, near his home. His family continues to work to find him and is hoping for a break in the case.

When Shawn Hornbeck and William "Ben" Ownby were discovered in a Kirkwood apartment in January, Arlin's family said they had new hope.

But no connection has been made between the cases and the man charged in the disappearances of the other boys — Michael J. Devlin. It has been two months since relatives have heard from any investigators, said Arlin's uncle, Jim McWilliams. Advertisement

"It's been a big letdown because you get your hopes built up, and then it just goes right back down the tubes again," he said. "But my family tries to keep a positive outlook, and we know we have to be patient."

A task force investigating links between Devlin and past child abductions has closed its office in Washington, Mo., but about 15 officers from different jurisdictions continue to follow leads on past kidnapping cases, according to the Missouri Highway Patrol.

On Wednesday, anyone wanting to participate in the vigil for Arlin should meet at McWilliams' home at 143 Highway EE in Winfield by 6 p.m., he said. A caravan of cars will proceed about five miles to the spot where Arlin's bike was discovered in some weeds along County Road 685 three months after he disappeared.

In addition to the candle lighting, relatives will tie a purple — the color of forget-me-not flowers — and yellow ribbon around a tree nearby and place a picture of Arlin there, McWilliams said. A friend of the family will read a poem written for Arlin and his mother, Debra Henderson-Griffith. The Rev. Scott Womble will say a prayer.

"We want to keep Arlin's name and picture out there," McWilliams said. "His case has been sitting idle for too long."