Q: With the escape of the three women in Cleveland, what has happened to Sean Hornbeck?
—Martha Hunt, Hoschton
A: Hornbeck, who was kidnapped in 2002 and rescued in 2007, is 21 years old and has a full-time job at a metal fabricating company in Pevely, Mo. He lives with his parents, but pays his own phone bills, a car payment and insurance, Hornbeck said earlier this month when interviewed about the escape and rescue of Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight after being held for 10 years in a Cleveland house. "I'd like to go back to college and finish my criminal law degree," he told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on May 8. "I'm just kind of waiting for the right moment for everything to line up." Michael Devlin kidnapped Hornbeck, on Oct. 6, 2002, and held him captive in his suburban St. Louis home until police found Hornbeck and 13-year-old William Benjamin Ownby on Jan. 12, 2007. Hornbeck was 11 when he was kidnapped and 15 when he was rescued. "To me, four years felt like it was an eternity," Hornbeck said. "So I … can't tell you how they must have felt. I haven't gone through what they did."
Q: Several weeks ago there was an explosion at Georgia Power’s Plant Bowen. What caused the explosion?
—Joe Sappington, Lawrenceville
A: An internal investigation revealed that worker errors caused a generator explosion at the coal-fired plant near Cartersville, the AJC reported. Workers did not comply with procedures and did not communicate properly before the explosion on April 4, a Georgia Power spokesman said. There were no serious injuries.
Andy Johnston wrote this column. Do you have a question about the news? We’ll try to get the answer. Call 404-222-2002 or email q&a@ajc.com (include name, phone and city).
