The Disappearance of Kyron Horman

 

Kyron Richard Horman (born September 9, 2002) is an American boy who disappeared from Skyline Elementary School in Portland, Oregon, on June 4, 2010, after attending a science fair. Local and state police, along with the FBI, conducted an exhaustive search for Horman and launched a criminal investigation but have not uncovered any significant information regarding the child's whereabouts. His disappearance sparked the largest criminal investigation in Oregon history.

Background

Kyron Richard Horman was born September 9, 2002, in Portland, Oregon, to Desiree Young and Kaine Horman, an engineer for Intel. Desiree and Kaine Horman divorced eight months into her pregnancy with Kyron, with Desiree citing irreconcilable differences. The two had been granted shared custody of Kyron until 2004, but when Desiree was diagnosed with kidney failure that required extensive medical intervention, Kaine took over full custody; notwithstanding this fact, Desiree still remained an active part of Kyron's upbringing.

In 2007, Kaine married Terri Moulton (born March 14, 1970), a substitute teacher originally from Roseburg, Oregon. Kaine became romantically involved with Terri around 2001 when he and Desiree were in the midst of divorcing. Kaine and Terri married in 2007 while in Kauai. In December 2008, Terri gave birth to a daughter, Kiara. Meanwhile, Kyron was a student at Skyline Elementary School near Forest Park.

Disappearance

On June 4, 2010, Kyron was taken to school by his stepmother, Terri, who then stayed with him while he attended a science fair. Terri stated that she left the school at around 8:45 a.m. and that she last remembered seeing Kyron walking down the hall to his first class. However, he was never seen in his first class, a math class, and was instead marked as absent that day.

Terri's statements to the police indicate that, after leaving the school at 8:45 a.m., she ran errands at two different Fred Meyer grocery stores until about 10:10 a.m. Between then and 11:39 a.m., Terri stated that she was driving her daughter around town in an attempt to use the motion of the vehicle to soothe the toddler's earache. Terri said that she then went to a local gym and worked out until about 12:40 p.m. By 1:21 p.m., she had arrived home and posted photos of Kyron at the science fair on Facebook.

At 3:30 p.m., Terri and her husband, Kaine, walked with their daughter, Kiara, to the bus stop to meet Kyron. The bus driver told them that the boy had not boarded the bus after school, however, and to call the school to ask his whereabouts. Terri did so, only to be informed by the school secretary that, as far as anyone there knew, Kyron had not been at school since early that day and that he had accordingly been marked absent. Realizing then that the boy was missing, the secretary called 9-1-1.

Initial search efforts

The search efforts for Kyron were extensive and primarily focused on a 2-mile (3.2 km) radius around Skyline Elementary and on Sauvie Island, approximately 6 miles (9.7 km) away. Law enforcement did not disclose their reasons for searching the area where they did, which included a search of the Sauvie Island Bridge.

On June 9, 2010, the Horman family, who had initially refused to speak with the media, released a statement to the press:

Kyron's family would like to thank people for support and interest in finding their son. The outpouring of support and continued effort strengthens their hope. We need for folks to continue to assist us in our goal. Please search your properties -- cars, out buildings, sheds, etc. Also check with neighbors and friends who may be on vacation or may need in assistance in searching. There are a lot of resources here to help you search, so please don't stop. It is obviously a difficult time and they want to speak to the public so you can hear it from Kyron's family as they come together to share their message. Their objective is to keep the focus on Kyron and not about anything else.

On June 12, around 300 trained rescuers were on the ground searching wooded areas near Skyline Elementary. The search for Kyron, which spanned over ten days, was the largest in Oregon history, and included over 1,300 searchers from Oregon, Washington, and California. A reward posted for information leading to the discovery of Kyron, which was initially $25,000, expanded to $50,000 in late-July 2010.

Legal proceedings

In late June 2010, in the midst of the investigation into Kyron's disappearance, Kaine Horman was reportedly told by investigators that Terri had offered their landscaper, Rodolfo Sanchez, "a lot of money" to kill him. Sanchez testified in a deposition that Terri approached him to help kill her husband in January 2010, five months before Kyron's disappearance but when Terri's attorney Stephen Houze asked if Terri asked him to kill her husband, he said no. Investigators convinced Sanchez to confront Terri while wearing a wire, but they were unable to obtain any evidence and could not make an arrest. On June 28, Kaine filed for divorce, and obtained a restraining order against Terri. The divorce was granted and Terri was eventually granted supervised visitation with her daughter.

During this time, Terri failed two separate polygraph examinations regarding Kyron's disappearance. In August 2010, it was announced that law enforcement were searching for an individual allegedly seen by two witnesses sitting inside Terri's truck outside Skyline Elementary the day of Kyron's disappearance. Bruce McCain, a former sheriff for the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office, told CBS News: "The identity of that second person, if he or she existed, could be critical in determining what happened to Kyron after 9 a.m. on June 4."

Meanwhile, in July 2010, a Multnomah County grand jury subpoenaed several friends of Terri Horman, including DeDe Spicher, whom Young and Kaine Horman described as having "been in close communication with Terri" and "providing Terri with support and advice that is not in the best interests of our son." According to law enforcement, Spicher was "extremely cooperative" and allowed a search of her property and car, as well as enduring three hours' worth of questioning from detectives. On the day of Kyron's disappearance, Spicher abruptly left her work gardening for a homeowner at their residence on Germantown Road in Northwest Portland around 11:30 a.m., and returned around 90 minutes later. She also allegedly helped Terri purchase an untraceable cell phone. During this time, Spicher told journalists: "There's this horror that my friend is going through. If I thought for a second that she was capable of [foul play], I would not have been there. She would not have been my friend in the first place."

In early August 2010, both Young and Kaine were subpoenaed and testified during the grand jury, as well as the school principal of Skyline Elementary. In December 2010, it was reported by The Oregonian that the grand jury had yet to provide compelling evidence yielding a potential indictment. By November 29, 2010, search efforts in Kyron's case had cost an estimated $1.4 million according to county commissioners, and yielded 4,257 tips.

In May 2017, it was reported by KGW that a secret grand jury panel continued to hear evidence in Kyron's disappearance, and had convened on multiple occasions. During the report, Kyron's case was described as still "active and ongoing." Two months later, in July 2017, law enforcement conducted further searches along Skyline Boulevard, but the searches yielded no results. In June 2018, Horman's mother, Desiree, posted on the official Find Kyron Horman Facebook page: "Stay tuned, something big is coming, I promise you."

Lawsuit against Terri Horman

On June 1, 2012, Kyron's mother, Desiree Young, filed a civil lawsuit against Terri claiming that she was "responsible for the disappearance of Kyron." The lawsuit attempted to prove that Terri had kidnapped Kyron on the day he disappeared. Young sought $10 million in damages from Horman. On August 15, 2012, a federal court judge denied a motion by Terri to delay the lawsuit.

In early-October 2012, Spicher refused to answer 142 questions during a deposition regarding Young's lawsuit. Among these questions were ones regarding Spicher's whereabouts on June 4, 2010, and her contact with Terri that day. She also declined to identify a photo of Kyron, whether she had met him before or not, and whether she knew his father, Kaine.

During testimony provided by Kaine Horman in a separate hearing the same year, he stated that police had told him they "have more probable cause to think Terri Horman was involved in Kyron's disappearance than they did two years ago." On July 30, 2013, it was announced that Young had dropped the lawsuit against Terri so as not to interfere with the ongoing police investigation.

Depiction in media

Terri Horman appeared as a guest on Dr. Phil in 2016, during which she told Phil McGraw: "I was advised from the beginning by law enforcement, by my husband at the time, by attorneys in the beginning, not to say anything. I've always wanted to. I've asked multiple times to speak out and have not been allowed." She denied having any involvement in Kyron's disappearance, and also stated her belief that he was kidnapped, adding: "There was a man in a white pickup truck, Ford, parked on Highway 30 at the 7-Eleven, which is not near the school. He was acting very strangely and he was addressed by one of the employees because he had been pacing back and forth in front of the 7-Eleven for about an hour."

Boy Missing: The Search for Kyron Horman, written by Rebecca Morris, was released in May 2020. The book claims Kyron's regular bus driver, a classmate, and two of the classmate's family members witnessed Kyron walk through the school parking lot with Terri Horman and her infant daughter on June 4, 2010.

"Vanished from School," season 2, episode 2, of the television show Real Life Nightmare on Discovery ID explores the case. The episode aired November 15, 2020.