Kyron Horman disappearance Portland Ore.

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Investigators ask public if they saw stepmother of missing Oregon boy on day he vanished

Detectives investigating the June 4 disappearance of a Portland boy from his school are focusing on the child's stepmother by distributing a flier Friday showing her picture and asking if anyone saw her at the school that day.

The Multnomah County Sheriff's Office also wants to hear from anyone who saw Terri Moulton Horman's pickup near Skyline School. The woman is not a fugitive and last week appeared at a news conference with the boy's father to appeal for help in finding the 7-year-old.

Kyron Horman disappeared after a morning science fair he attended with Terri Horman, who reportedly raised him since he was an infant. His absence was reported that afternoon when he failed to return home on a school bus and his stepmother contacted the school.

Terri Horman told authorities she last saw Kyron at about 8:45 a.m., when she watched him walk toward his classroom. Another witness, who has not been identified, reported seeing the boy around 9 a.m.

Classes began an hour later and Kyron was not there.

The boy lived with his father and stepmother about 2 miles from the school.

Searchers spent 10 days checking the area near the school and the family's home before the sheriff's office scaled back the search effort and reclassified the disappearance as a criminal investigation.

Police have released little information about the criminal investigation, but searchers have been combing Sauvie Island, 10 miles northwest of downtown Portland.

Willamette Week alternative newspaper, citing anonymous police sources, reported that cell phone records show Terri Horman was on the island June 4.

Though she not been labeled a person of interest by police, Terri Horman has been the subject of public scrutiny since the investigation began, mostly because she was among the last to see the boy. Her Facebook activity has also been deemed suspicious by a bevy of armchair detectives wondering why she was "hitting the gym" a few days after her stepson disappeared or why she failed to quickly change her profile picture from her biological daughter to Kyron.

The flier distributed Friday includes two questionnaires — a 10-question form directed at adults and an eight-question survey for children. Adults and children are both asked if they saw Kyron or the stepmother at or near the elementary school, or if they noticed a pickup matching the description of Terri Horman's white Ford F250 pickup.

The sheriff's office scheduled a Friday afternoon news conference to discuss the flier.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/06/18/investigators-ask-public-saw-kyron-hormans-stepmother-day-vanished/

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Police seek information on missing boy's stepmother

By Gabriel Falcon, CNN

Authorities searching for a missing Oregon boy are seeking information from the public on the child's stepmother.

The Multnomah County Sheriff's Office released a flier Friday with pictures of Terri Horman, who told investigators she last saw her stepson, Kyron Horman, 7, inside Skyline Elementary School in Portland on June 4.

A form to be filled out and returned to the police by anyone who was at the school the day Kyron disappeared was attached to the flier.

"At any time did you see Terri Horman at or near the school?" was among the questions in the form.

Capt. Jason Gates issued the following statement Friday on the decision to request information on Kyron's stepmother:

"Detectives work in this case is exhaustive and they, along with Kyron's family, are asking for the community's assistance regarding anyone who saw not only Kyron, but also who may have seen Terri Horman and/or the truck she was driving that morning. Terri is the last person known to have seen him before he disappeared."

In a brief phone interview with CNN, sheriff spokeswoman Lt. Mary Lindstrand said the focus of the investigation is not on Terri Horman.

"We're looking for every bit of information that we can," Lindstrand said. "We are not in a position to name anybody a person of interest."

The two-week-old case has been labeled a criminal investigation, involving one of the largest police search and rescue operations in state history.

Kyron's family released a statement Friday urging the public to help bring him home.

"It has been two weeks since our son, Kyron, disappeared," the family said. "For the last 14 days, we haven't been able to talk to him, see him playing around the house, or tuck him in bed. Any parent would understand the grief this has caused our family.

"Father's Day is Sunday. For the first time in seven years, we will not have Kyron around to hug and talk to. It hurts us deeply and our hearts are broken," the statement reads.

Kyron was wearing dark cargo pants and a black T-shirt with the "CSI" logo on it at the time of his disappearance. He is 3-foot-8, weighs 50 pounds and has brown hair and blue eyes.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/06/19/oregon.missing.boy/index.html

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Father of Missing Oregon Boy Files for Divorce

PORTLAND, Ore.-- The father of a 7-year-old Oregon boy missing for more than three weeks filed for divorce from the boy's stepmother on Monday, court documents showed.

The filing in Multnomah County Circuit Court listed Kaine Horman as the petitioner and Terri Moulton Horman as the respondent.

Police have said she's the last known person to have seen Kyron Horman alive before he disappeared from his Portland school on June 4. After a massive search, the Multnomah County sheriff's office recently described the case as a criminal investigation.

Sheriff's spokeswoman Lt. Mary Lindstrand said Monday night her office is "not talking about personal issues going on with the Hormans." She said Terri Horman is neither a person of interest nor a suspect.

Terri Horman's father, Larry Moulton, is staying at her house to give her support. He confirmed to KPTV that the couple's 18-month-old daughter Kiara was staying away from the house at a separate location.

"It's a very difficult time and I'm just here to support my daughter," Moulton said. "We'll leave it at that."

Earlier Monday, Kaine Horman as well as Kyron's mother Desiree Young and her husband Tony Young issued a statement through the sheriff's office that was signed only "Desiree, Tony and Kaine." It did not include Terri Horman's name.

In the statement, the three said they have been fully briefed on the investigation and support the sheriff's office.

"Any actions taken by the investigation, or by us, are based on the best interests of Kyron and Kiara and comply with the law," the statement added.

Police have said Terri Horman told them she took Kyron to school on the morning of June 4. The school was having a science fair before classes began, and Terri Horman took a photo of Kyron in front of his project.

She has told police that she last saw him walking down a hallway toward his second-grade classroom, wearing a "CSI" T-shirt and dark cargo pants.

The divorce filing was reported by The Oregonian and several other news organizations.

An Associated Press call to lawyer Laura Rackner, listed on the court petition as Kaine Horman's representative, was not immediately returned Monday night.

Kaine Horman and his former wife, Desiree Young, were interviewed by national TV morning shows and by local affiliates late last week. It was the first interview the missing boy's birth parents have granted.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/06/29/father-missing-oregon-boy-files-divorce/

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Police May Be Close to an Arrest in Case of Missing Oregon Boy, Former Sheriff Says

After fielding thousands of tips, police investigating the case of missing Oregon boy Kyron Horman are reportedly preparing to make an arrest.

“Several persons that have been interviewed by detectives are coming out of those interviews indicating that the investigators are telling them that they right now have probable cause to arrest Terri Horman, on both the solicitation of murder of Kaine [Kyron's father] and as well as in connection with Kyron’s disappearance,” Retired Multnomah County sheriff's Capt. Bruce McCain told Fox News.

The former gardener of Terri Horman has accused her of trying to hire him to kill her now-estranged husband, Kaine Horman.

Having probable cause, McCain said, indicates police have enough evidence to arrest and indict Horman, but “there’s probably not going to be an imminent arrest unless the district attorney feels that he has a case that he can take to trial and get a conviction or guilty plea.”

McCain says charges in a murder-for-hire plot could be pursued as a separate matter, but in the case of Kyron, the boy himself remains the missing link.

“They really first need to determine whether he’s alive or dead to figure out what kind of criminal charges to pursue,” McCain said.

Authorities say Terri Horman was the last person to see 7-year-old Kyron before he vanished from Portland's Skyline Elementary School on June 4.

Police have now returned to the school to further their investigation.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/07/26/police-reportedly-preparing-make-arrest-case-missing-oregon-boy-kyron-horman/

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Reward in Kyron Horman Case Doubled

by: Dan Springer

The reward for information leading investigators to 7-year old Kyron Horman or the person responsible for his disappearance has been doubled to $50,000. The Portland boy has been missing since June 4th after vanishing from his Portland, Oregon school following a morning science fair.

The Multnomah County Sheriff's Department held a news conference today saying "significant progress" is being made in the investigation, but officials refused to divulge any details or answer any questions from reporters. A grand jury has been assembled for the case and at least one person has appeared before it.

De De Spicher, a friend of Kyron's stepmother Terri Horman, answered her subpeona Monday. Her attorney, Chad Stively, tells Fox News he would be surprised if Terri Horman is not indicted. Stively is a former Multnomah County prosecuting attorney.

Terri Horman was not at today's news conference nor was her name mentioned even as police thanked Kyron's biological parents for their cooperation. Kyron's mother, Desiree Young, made a tearful statement saying to her son, 'we love you, never give up hope, we're coming to get you to bring you home.'

Terri Horman was seen with Kyron at Skyline Elementary during the morning science fair. She claims she left him there and only discovered he was missing when he failed to get off the bus in the afternoon. School officials say Kyron never made it to his class which started at 10 a.m.

Terri Horman, who has not been named a suspect, remains a strong focus of the investigation as her whereabouts in the late morning of June 4th. have not been confirmed by police. She told investigators she drove her daughter around several country roads trying to calm her down because she was not feeling well.

Kyron's father, Kaine, filed for divorce since the disappearance after learning from police Terri had tried to hire a landscaper to kill him several months ago. Terri recently moved out of the house and has moved to her hometown of Roseburg, Oregon. She has also hired a criminal defense attorney. Kaine told reporters Terri has failed the two polygraph tests she was given and has since refused to speak with police.

http://liveshots.blogs.foxnews.com/2010/07/27/reward-in-kyron-horman-case-doubled/