missing 7 yr old boy in Oregon

[buglebe]

FBI joins search for boy who vanished from school
By ANNE M. PETERSON Associated Press Writer

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The FBI has joined the search for a 7-year-old boy who vanished after his stepmother left him at his Northwest Portland elementary school on Friday morning.


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Story Published: Jun 6, 2010 at 3:20 PM PDT
Story Updated: Jun 7, 2010 at 7:06 AM PDT
This photo, taken the morning of Kyron Horman's disappearance, shows Kyron in the shirt he was wearing at the time he went missing. His science fair project is in the background. (Photo courtesy of KATU-TV, Portland. Ore.)
Comments (49)PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - Detectives hunting for clues in the disappearance of a 7-year-old Oregon boy interviewed some 200 of his classmates and their parents Sunday as the FBI joined an expanding search.

Kyron Horman vanished sometime after after his stepmother left him at his Portland elementary school on Friday morning.

The boy and his stepmother, Terri Moulton Horman, attended a science fair at the school early Friday, and she last saw him walking down a hallway toward his 2nd grade classroom at about 8:45 a.m. He was wearing a "CSI" T-shirt and dark cargo pants.

Police said Kyron did not return home on the bus as scheduled. The Multnomah County Sheriff's Office was contacted at about 4 p.m., and authorities have been searching the school and the surrounding area since then.

Sheriff Dan Staton said late Sunday night that he was "not prepared" to call the boy's disappearance a kidnapping and there were no suspects at this time.

But he said Kyron was a "missing endangered child" because more than two days had elapsed since he disappeared and because search efforts were hampered by rainy weather.

"We have developed a lot of information which has to be processed thoroughly, and I am not in a position to divulge any specifics of our investigative plan at this time," Staton said in a statement.

Investigators have been working to determine a detailed timeline of the boy's movements on Friday morning, Staton said.

Investigators asked Kyron's fellow students and their parents to come to the school Sunday and said they spoke with some 200 of them in an effort to glean clues into his disappearance. Relatives also distributed flyers with the boy's picture.

Authorities were reviewing photos and videos taken at the school's science fair. The last photo of Kyron shows the boy smiling Friday in front of his project on the red-eyed tree frog.

Asked if there were any persons of interest, Staton replied: "In this type of situation I think everyone is of interest to us."

The FBI has dispatched its Child Abduction Rapid Deployment Team, as well as its Behavioral Analysis Unit, which is often dispatched when a young child disappears. Its presence doesn't mean law enforcement has determined the child has been abducted, FBI spokeswoman Beth Anne Steele said in an e-mail.

The boy's parents were not ready to speak, Lt. Mary Lindstrand said Sunday.

Multnomah County sheriff's deputies, the county's search and rescue team, the Oregon State Patrol and police officers from Portland, Gresham and Fairview were taking part in the search, which focused on the area surrounding the school and the two miles to Kyron's house.

Superintendent of Portland Public Schools Carole Smith would not comment on the details of the district's policy for reporting school absences. Details about whether Kyron was reported as absent were not known.

"The reported disappearance of a child from one of our schools is unprecedented and deeply troubling," she said.

She said crisis counselors would be at the school on Monday.

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[gmyers]

I wonder if she really dropped him off or if thats a cover for her or the dad hurting him. Too many cases turn out that way,

[hblueeyes]

He was at school and they have photos of him at the fir with his project. Mo saw him heading to his class down the hallway. Didn't his teacher notice him gone? Just sad and scary.

Me

[buglebe]

The other children had seen him that morning but the teacher had divided the class up into groups so possibly that is why she didn't realize he was missing. Although it is strange he had been seen but she marked him as absent. But I would think she would have thought since he was getting his picture made with his step mom that maybe the step mom had taken him home. I don't think anyone would have thought about the child having been kidnapped or what ever has happened to him.

[Jolie Rouge]

Searchers for missing Ore. boy flooded with tips
Nigel Duara, Associated Press Writer – Mon Jun 7, 7:50 pm ET

PORTLAND, Ore. – Twenty-two state, local and federal agencies are following up on more than 1,200 tips in the search for a 7-year-old Portland boy who has been missing for four days.

Kyron Horman disappeared from Skyline Elementary School on Friday. Multnomah County sheriff's deputies and volunteers have been searching the densely wooded area near the pastoral school since then.

On Monday morning, deputies and FBI agents posted about 40 yards from the school stopped approaching cars and asked passengers whether they were at the school Friday and had any information about Kyron.

Sheriff's Capt. Jason Gates described the variety of tips as "leads that aren't as exciting, and other leads that are more prevalent."

"We need more," he said at a news conference Monday. "Every tip, no matter how insignificant you think it is, could be the one we need."

Speaking again to reporters about four hours later, Gates said authorities have gotten tips from across Oregon and from Washington state. He would not elaborate but said most of the tips were from within Oregon.

Searchers spent the day continuing to comb through woods and brush around the school, located in hilly countryside west of downtown Portland. Gates said Monday's ground search would continue until nightfall.

Authorities also were questioning school employees and parents of children who attend the school. "It's very important we interview every person who was at the school on Friday," Gates said.

Kyron was last seen about 9 a.m. Friday, shortly after the boy and his stepmother attended a science fair at the school. She last saw him walking down a hallway toward his second-grade classroom, wearing a "CSI" T-shirt and dark cargo pants.

A search began after classes let out and Kyron didn't come home on the bus. His stepmother called 911 about 3:45 p.m., and sheriff's deputies and K-9 units began a search of the school and the two-mile route to his home.

Authorities have not yet determined whether Kyron was kidnapped or just wandered off, but they're describing him as a "missing endangered child." The FBI has joined the search. "We haven't eliminated any possibility at this point," Gates said.

Visitors to the school are assigned badges, but Portland Public School District spokesman Matt Shelby said it would have been difficult to assign a badge to each visitor among the friends and family members who attended the science fair Friday morning.

Authorities were reviewing photos and videos taken at the fair. The last photo of Kyron shows him smiling in front of his project on the red-eyed tree frog.

It was unclear whether Kyron was in class Friday or when anyone noticed he was missing because police have been reticent to disclose public details of the search. Shelby said authorities don't want to give out information that could contradict a potential witness's recollection, but the school has a good idea of when Kyron was reported absent.

Kyron's parents didn't attend the news conference Monday. Gates said they didn't want to comment to avoid interfering with the investigation. "Kyron, we're going to bring you home, buddy," Gates said as he struggled to control his emotions at the news conference. "Nothing is more important to your family, your friends or to us."

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Tip line: 503-261-2847.

[gmyers]

I really hope they find him alive and safe. I wonder if someone just walked in off the street and pretended to be a parent and just took him. That poor boy must be scared to death.

[Jolie Rouge]

I wonder what that "Free Range Children" advocate has to say about this ??

[ilovecats]

They don't seem to mention if anyone saw him after the stepmom did.Am I the only one suspicious about her?

[gmyers]

I'm always suspicious of parents and step parents when this happens. Too many times people make up stories to cover up abusing or killing their kids.

[buglebe]

I read a bunch of articles by going to google and I was thinking that there was a child who claimed to have seen him heading to his room, but then didn't the mom say somewhere that he headed down a deserted hallway. I don't know for sure, but it is very strange they have still not declared it a kidnapping. That would indicate to me that they know or suspect something.

[Jolie Rouge]

Police seek info. on stepmom of missing Oregon boy
By Steven Dubois, Associated Press Writer Fri Jun 18, 9:21 pm ET [/i]

PORTLAND, Ore. – Detectives investigating the disappearance of a 7-year-old Oregon boy two weeks ago put out a call Friday for information on the whereabouts that day of his stepmother — the last person to see him alive.

Investigators refuse to say whether they have a suspect. Police passed out fliers Friday in hopes of jogging the memory of anybody who might have information on Kyron Horman's case, said Capt. Jason Gates of the Multnomah County sheriff's department.

A questionnaire that accompanies the flier has gone to everybody who was at Skyline School on June 4, he said. The boy was last seen there after a science fair he attended that morning with his stepmother, Terri Moulton Horman. "Terri is the last known person to have seen Kyron alive before he disappeared," Gates said.

The stepmother, who has raised Kyron since he was an infant, contacted the school on the afternoon of the disappearance, when the boy didn't come home on his school bus. Kyron lived with his father and stepmother about 2 miles from the school.

The flier includes two questionnaires — a 10-question form directed at adults and an eight-question survey for children. Both ask if anyone saw Kyron or the stepmother at or near the elementary school, or if they witnessed a pickup matching the description of the family's white Ford F250 pickup.

The stepmother appeared at a news conference last week with the boy's father to appeal for help in finding the boy. "We fully support the release of this flier," said a family statement that Gates read Friday.

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. Gates said he couldn't eliminate the possibility that Kyron was abducted by a stranger, but "the need for the public to be alarmed is very low."

Searchers have been combing Sauvie Island, 10 miles northwest of downtown Portland, but police refuse to say why.

The Willamette Week newspaper, citing anonymous police sources, reported that cell phone records show Terri Horman was there June 4. "I don't have control over what papers report," Gates said when asked about the Willamette Week article.

Terri Horman's Facebook activity has also been deemed suspicious by a bevy of armchair detectives — people leaving comments online — 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 pickup was recently towed from the Horman home, but Gates said it was because of a mechanical problem, not the investigation.

Detectives have refused to answer most questions about the specifics of their investigation. "Our primary goal is to not make any mistakes in this case, to be as perfect as we can be in investigating this case," Gates said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100619/...NsawNwcmludA--