'Little Boy Lost: An ID Mystery': Oregon boy Kyron Horman still missing a decade after he vanished from school
In 2010, 7-year-old Kyron Horman disappeared from Skyline Elementary School in Portland, Oregon after attending a science fair. Seeing that he hadn't returned home from his day out at school, a search around town was launched by his distressed mother and father, but in vain. All eyes turned to Kyron's stepmother, Terri Moulton Horman, who was reportedly the last person to see the boy before he went missing. The local and state police then took over, with the FBI jumping aboard the case of the missing boy and conducted a comprehensive search. A criminal investigation was later launched, the largest of its kind in Oregon history, but no information has been uncovered as yet pertaining to Kyron's whereabouts. A decade later, Kyron's disappearance is still a mystery with no warranted arrests made and no charges filed in the case.
Investigation Discovery's new show shedding light on the unsolved case in 'Little Boy Lost: An ID Mystery', which examines the perplexing details and various pieces of evidence that could possibly lead to a breakthrough in the case. It also features gut-wrenching interviews from Kyron's loved ones, including his mother, Desiree Young. The ID special comes just as a book about the case 'Boy Missing: The Search for Kyron Hormon', authored by Rebecca Morris was published.
Who was Kyron Horman?
Kyron Richard Horman was a student at Skyline Elementary School near Forest Par, Portland, Oregon. His parents, Desiree Young and Kaine Horman divorced a month before Kyron was to be born, with the former citing irreconcilable differences, with the two sharing custody of their son until 2004. His father took full custody when it became apparent that Desiree was suffering from kidney failure and needed to go through extensive treatment, yet she was still very actively involved in Kyron's upbringing. Kaine married Terri Moulton in 2007, who he had met whilst finalizing his divorce from Desiree, and the following year, they became parents to a daughter.
What happened to him?
On the morning of June 4, 2010, Kyron was dropped off at school by his stepmother Terri, who stayed with him as he attended a science fair. She stated that she left the school at about 8:45 am, after last seeing him walk down the hall to his first class of the day. However, he never made it to his first class, which was math, and was marked absent that day. Later that afternoon, she, Kaine, and their 19-month-old toddler went to the bus stop where Kyron was usually dropped to pick him up, but he never got off the large vehicle. When they asked the bus driver, they realized that the boy hadn't boarded the bus after school. Terri rang the school to check on his whereabouts, but the school secretary told them that as afar as anyone knew, Kyron had never made it to school that day and was accordingly marked absent. It then became clear that Kyron had gone missing, and the secretary dialed 911.
Investigation
Kyron's disappearance gained national recognition and was broadcast on every single national news channel, leading newscasts fro the first three months. The case also featured in high-profile American TV shows like 'Oprah', 'Dr Phil', 'NBC Dateline', 'Good Morning America', 'The Today Show', 'Nancy Grace', and more. Many news programs and news magazines either featured on field reports live from Portland or covered the case via satellite.
Law enforcement announced via media in August 2010, that they were searching for an individual that was allegedly seen seated inside Terri's truck outside Kyron's school by two witnesses, on the day Kyron disappeared.
Terri Horman's possible involvement
Desiree Young believes Terri was somehow involved in her son's disappearance and called her a "horrible person". She said she wanted the police to keep tabs on Terri and pressure her for more answers. However, despite the increasing suspicion since she was the last to have seen the boy, she has repeatedly denied any involvement in Kyron's disappearance. However, she failed two separate polygraph tests that were conducted on her, which she addressed in a 'Dr Phil' segment saying she was hard of hearing and couldn't fully understand the questions. She claimed to have been telling the truth, and didn't quite know why she had failed.
According to her statements to her police, her alibi indicated that after leaving school at 8:45 am on June 4, 2010, she ran errands at two different branches of Fred Meyer grocery stores until about 10:00 am. From then until about 11:40 am, she claimed to have been driving around in her truck with her daughter, who was suffering from earache. She hoped the motions of the vehicle would help soothe the toddler. Later, she said, she went to a local gym and worked out between 12:40 pm and 1:30 pm after which she went back home and posted Kyron's photos from that morning at the science fair on Facebook. Terri has never officially been named a person of interest or a suspect in the case and in interviews with 'Dr Phil' and PEOPLE Magazine, she said she believed Kyron was abducted but is still alive.
While the investigation into Kyron's disappearance was still underway, in late June 2010, investigators alerted Kaine Horman about Terri having offered a lot of money to their landscaped, Rodolfo Sanchez to have him killed. Sanchez testified in attestation that Terri had approached him to kill her husband in January 2010, months before Kyron had disappeared, however, he denied it when Stephen Houze, Terri's attorney approached him about the same. On June 28 Kaine filed for divorce, which was subsequently granted and obtained a restraining order against Terri.
Young and the investigators involved in the case of Kyron's disappearance have tried to get in touch with several of Terri's friends to obtain any kind of information that could be a potential lead. One among Terri's friends, DeDe Spicher had a suspicious alibi on the day Kyron went missing. She reportedly left her job abruptly in Northwest portland the morning of June 4, 2010 and returned 90 minutes later. She also allegedly helped Terri secure an untraceable phone, according to media reports. In July 2010, a Multnomah County grand jury subpoenaed Spicher, and the law enforcement searched her car and property, which they say she easily cooperated with. Spicher has never been charged for any crime.
Kyron's mother sues Terri Horman
Two years after Kyron's disappearance, in June 2012, his mother, Desiree Young filed for a civil lawsuit against Terri alleging that she was "responsible for the disappearance of Kyron." The lawsuit was an attempt at proving Terri had something to do with his disappearnce, mostly that she was the one that kidnapped him. Young sought $10 million in damages from Horman and when Terri tried to motion a delay in the lawsuit, the federal court judge denied it.
In October 2012, Spicher refused to answer 142 questions during a deposition with regard to Young's lawsuit against Horman. The questions were mostly pertaining to her whereabouts and her contact log with Terri on the day Kyron went missing. She further refused to identify a photo of Kyron and confirm whether she has met him before or not or if she knew his father, Kaine. On July 2013, it was announced that in order to not interfere with the ongoing investigations, Young had dropped her lawsuit against Terri.
Kyro's whereabouts remain unknown, 10 years after his disappearance. Currently, there is a $50,000 reward for any piece of information or lead that anyone can provide to further the investigation and find Kyron.
'Little Boy Lost: An ID Mystery', airs May 29, and is a part of 'ID Presents: Nine at 9', with new premieres running nightly at 9 pm on Investigation Discovery.