Abduction: 31-year-old is charged (From Penarth Times)

Abduction: 31-year-old is charged

A MAN has been charged with abduction and false imprisonment following the 10-day disappearance of a teenage boy from the Penarth area.

Mark Royston Andrew Owen, aged 31, from Cardiff, appeared at Cardiff Magistrates' Court yesterday afternoon (Wednesday), where he was also charged with intent to commit a sexual offence.

The case has been committed to Cardiff Crown Court on September 12.

The boy went missing from his home on August 19, and was found on Monday evening on Barry Island beach.

His parents spoke to the Penarth Times after what they called'ten days of hell'.

The boy's mother said: "We were going out of our minds with worry. The longer it went on the more we feared the worst.

"When I heard his voice on the telephone at the end of it all, I just broke down and cried. We were all crying with joy - his father, his grandmother and me.

The boy's father said: "We have gone through an awful ten days - the worst of our lives.

"Fear sets in and takes over so quickly. Your imagination just runs away with you.

"You hear something positive and you are on a high, then it comes to nothing and you are as low as can be again.

"The feeling of relief at the news our son was safe is impossible to describe."

Friends and family organised themselves into search parties to assist the police in the hunt for the missing teenager.

And the parents paid tribute to the local community, and to all those who helped in the search.

"The support we received from the community was truly unbelievable," said the boy's father.

"Dozens of people joined the search. We had people out searching through woodland into the early hours of the morning.

"As a family we can't thank those people who searched for our son enough. We are truly grateful."