Our region and the entire country has been enthralled by the story of two Missouri boys found in an apartment near St. Louis. One boy's story was amazing enough: four days after being kidnapped, the keen eye of a teenager and sharp police work by two officers helped track him down. But that's not all. Police find not one, but two boys in the apartment and the second boy had been missing, not for four days, but for four years. Incredible.

These stories usually don't end happily, of course, certainly not after four years. The case has given hope to dozens of parents who are still searching for their missing child. You can only imagine the joy of the reunions after this amazing discovery.

On the flip side, both of the boys are going to have to work through a lot of issues, particularly Shawn Hornbeck, who was a captive for so long. This case is also raising a lot of questions: why didn't Hornbeck get help? Why didn't he just run away? Authorities and psychologists say it's not that easy. It's hard to judge someone, especially a child, who is thrown into that kind of situation.

Hopefully, the media spotlight will soon fade for these two families who need time to heal and celebrate. However, the story provides something that can seem to be in short supply sometimes: hope. Hope that even horrible situations can have a happy ending.