UnNews:Boy arrested after hide and seek game got "out of hand"

This article is part of UnNews, your source for up-to-the-picosecond misinformation.

13 January 2007

What makes this story more confusing is the fact that they had a spiral staircase.

“ I can't believe that no one checked under the stairs. ”

MISSOURI, USA -- A boy was found and arrested today, after four years of hiding during a game of hide and seek.

Police found 15 year old Shawn Hornbeck, who started the game with his brother in 2002, hiding under the stairs of his family home. In the first round of the game, it is reported that the boy went straight under the stairs, a result of him thinking that "this game is sad, all I want to do was to get it over with and go out on my bike. Under the stairs should be an obvious place."

However, his brother, aged 13 (9 years old at the start of the game) was unable to find him. The boy's parents reported this to the police, and after 2 weeks they stopped looking for him altogether.

When asked why he didn't just reveal himself when he heard his family calling him for his lunch, he replied, "I couldn't lose to my brother, the thought of it is just cringe-worthy."

However, because of "wasting police time", the boy was moved from one small space to another, straight into a prison cell. Shawn didn't seem to care though, the last thing he said as he was being dragged into the car was "Well, at least I won that round. 1-0."

When reporters asked the parents what they thought about the arrest they replied, "Shawn who?". They then resumed what they were doing, posting clues on a web site in order to find their son, Shawn.

Now, when we look back on this incident, this game gone wrong, we'll ask ourselves, "Why didn't anyone look under the stairs?"

Sources

• "Missing Boy Found" Sky News, January 13, 2007