A twisted tale of a missing child, a murder-for-hire plot, a contentious divorce, and the largest criminal investigation in Oregon’s history.
Kyron Horman was excited about going to school on June 4, 2010. The 7-year-old was participating in his school’s science fair that day, and he had spent weeks perfecting his project on the red-eyed tree frog. Kyron’s stepmother, Terri Horman, drove him to Skyline Elementary School and helped him get set up at the science fair. Once everything looked perfect, Terri snapped a quick picture of Kyron, smiling proudly as he displayed his project. Terri caught a final glimpse of Kyron as she left the school at 8:45 am; he was walking down the hallway towards his second-grade classroom.
Kyron was born to Kaine Horman and Desiree Young, who divorced while Desiree was still pregnant with Kyron. They shared joint custody of their son until 2004, when Desiree was diagnosed with kidney failure and Kaine was granted full custody. Kaine married Terri in 2007, and they had a daughter together in 2008. Kyron lived with them in Portland, Oregon and attended school just two miles away from his home. Desiree, who also remarried, lived six hours away in Medford, Oregon, but remained an important part of Kyron’s life. Kyron had wanted her to see his science fair project, but Desiree had been unable to take time off from work. Kyron was going to be spending the weekend in Medford with her and her husband, though, and planned to tell her all about red-eyed tree frogs when he got there.
Kaine Horman, who worked for Intel, returned home from work that day at 2:00 pm. Terri and their daughter, Kiara, were at the house when he got there. At 3:35 pm, the three of them walked down to Kyron’s bus stop to meet him after school. Kaine was looking forward to hearing about the science fair; he had been very proud of the amount of time and effort Kyron had put into his project.
The school bus arrived around 3:45 pm as usual, but Kyron wasn’t on it. Kaine wondered if Kyron had been confused by the fact that Terri had driven him to school that morning. Perhaps he had expected her to pick him up at the school that afternoon. Terri quickly called the school to see if he was still there, but was told that Kyron hadn’t been in class that day. None of the staff at the school recalled seeing him at all. His teacher remembered having a conversation with Terri the previous week about Kyron having a doctor’s appointment and believed that was why the child was absent. Assuming it was an excused absence, the school hadn’t called the Hormans at home.
Kaine and Terri were momentarily paralyzed with fear. Kyron did have a doctor’s appointment scheduled for the following Friday, but he had been dropped off at the school that morning and should have been in class. Fearing the child had been abducted, Kaine called police and reported Kyron missing. Police immediately began searching the area surrounding Skyline Elementary School, hoping the little boy had simply wandered off school property. The school, located in a hilly area to the west of downtown Portland, was surrounded by dense brush and steep inclines. It wasn’t an easy area to search, and a drenching rainstorm that afternoon further complicated things.
Hours passed, and searchers found nothing to indicate what might have happened to Kyron. The Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office wasn’t sure if they were dealing with an abduction or a lost child, but didn’t want to take any chances. They called the FBI, and the agency immediately dispatched it’s Child Abduction Rapid Deployment team to assist in the search. A large-scale physical search took place on Saturday, with police and volunteers continuing to scour the dense brush around Kyron’s school.
On Sunday, detectives started their investigation with the Skyline Elementary School community. More than 200 children and their parents were interviewed about the day Kyron went missing, but no new information was learned.
Kyron’s disappearance was front-page news across the Pacific Northwest. As word spread about the missing child, tips started flooding in. More than 1200 tips were phoned in during the first 72 hours of the search; most came from the Portland area, but possible sightings were reported across the entire state of Oregon and parts of Washington.
On Monday, investigators set up a checkpoint on the road near Kyron’s school, and they stopped each car that drove into the area. They handed out fliers with Kyron’s information and asked drivers if they had seen anything unusual the previous Friday. Everyone wanted to help in the investigation, but no one recalled seeing anything useful.
Hundreds of additional search and rescue experts from across the state came to assist in the search for Kyron. Although police appreciated the help offered by volunteer searchers, the terrain made searching dangerous and at least one searcher had to be taken away by ambulance after being injured in a fall. Residents were asked to check their own properties and sheds while professional search teams continued searching the area between Kyron’s home and school.
A week after Kyron went missing, his parents and stepparents united to speak at a press conference. They thanked the searchers for all their hard work and pleaded with anyone who had any information to call police. Desiree noted that her son was timid about new situations and rarely strayed from his own front yard. He was not the sort of child that would go off on outdoor adventures; he was practically blind without his glasses and was severely allergic to bees.
Kaine and Desiree had been adamant from the start that Kyron wouldn’t run away or wander off, and they were certain that he had been abducted. Ten days after the little boy went missing, police seemed to confirm this; the missing person investigation was officially reclassified as a criminal investigation. Detectives wouldn’t give any reason for the status change, and said they had no suspects or persons of interest. They did, however, comment that Kyron’s disappearance seemed to be an isolated case; parents were told there was no reason for them to take any extra precautions with their own children.
Those following the case closely were shocked when, 24 days after Kyron went missing, Kaine Horman filed for divorce. He also requested and was granted a restraining order against Terri. She was prohibited from any contact with Kaine, their daughter, or her teenage son from a previous marriage. The Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office refused to comment on any personal issues between Kaine and Terri, but once again stated that Terri was not considered a suspect in Kyron’s disappearance. Kaine, Desiree, and Desiree’s husband continued to work together in the search for Kyron, but indicated that Terri had expressed little interest in the investigation since the very beginning.
Terri was never named a suspect in Kyron’s case, but court documents filed by Kaine in the divorce case would paint a very different picture of her. He indicated that he believed Terri was responsible for Kyron’s disappearance and she posed a significant safety threat to their daughter. Additionally, he had learned from investigators that, in late 2009, Terri had attempted to hire a landscaper to kill her husband. It was learning about this murder-for-hire plot that pushed Kaine over the edge. Prior to this, he believed his relationship with Terri was a good one and had not suspected her of any wrongdoing.
Kaine and Desiree held a press conference shortly after the public learned of the murder-for-hire scheme. Desiree admitted that she had suspected Terri immediately, but both she and Kaine believed Kyron was still alive somewhere. The public seemed less optimistic, particularly when Kaine noted that Terri had taken two polygraph examinations and failed them both. Police refused to comment on the issue.
Desiree made a very public plea for Terri to come forward and tell the truth about what happened to Kyron. She told reporters that Terri was not cooperating with the investigation; she had hired a lawyer and refused to speak with detectives.
As the investigation moved into its fourth week, it became apparent that detectives were taking a closer look at Terri Horman. They also believed there had been another adult with her when she drove Kyron to school for the science fair. Police designed a flier with pictures of Terri, her white pickup truck, and her friend Dede Spicher. All residents who lived within a 4-mile radius of Skyline Elementary School were sent a copy of the flier along with a questionnaire asking if they recalled seeing the women or the truck in the area between 8:45 am and 1:00 pm on the day Kyron went missing.
Several witnesses reported to investigators that they had seen Kyron walking across the parking lot with Terri on the day he went missing, and they believed there was another adult waiting in Terri’s truck at that time. Terri has always denied this, and Dede told police she was at work the day Kyron went missing. Dede would later pass a polygraph and has always maintained that she had absolutely nothing to do with the disappearance.
Many people seemed convinced that Terri had done something to Kyron, but detectives were unable to find any physical evidence to support this theory. Not wanting to be accused of tunnel vision, investigators continued pursuing other possibilities. They interviewed all the registered sex offenders in the area. They pulled visitor logs from Skyline Elementary School for the week Kyron went missing and combed through them. They followed up on every possible sighting of the child that was reported. They even obtained phone logs and followed up with people who had made cell phone calls that were routed from the tower closest to the elementary school on the morning Kyron disappeared. In the first year of the investigation, the task force interviewed more than 3500 people and spent more than 26,000 hours working on the case. Nothing brought them any closer to finding Kyron.
In June 2012, Desiree filed a civil lawsuit against Terri Horman. In addition to asking for monetary damages, she asked a judge to order Kyron’s former stepmother to either return him or lead authorities to his remains. Terri filed a motion to delay the lawsuit as it was seeking information that could result in criminal prosecution. Although a judge initially ruled that there was no reason to delay, Desiree eventually dropped the lawsuit. Terri still maintains she had nothing to do with Kyron’s disappearance and she has no idea where he is.
Kaine and Terri’s divorce was finalized in 2013 and Kaine was granted full custody of Kiara. In June 2014, Terri went to court asking to change her name from Terri Lynn Moulton Horman to Claire Stella Sullivan. She claimed that her name had been stigmatized due to the investigation and it was impossible for her to find a job. She wanted to make a fresh start with a new name, but the judge rejected the request. She was eventually able to find a job as a mental health support specialist, but left after just two months because she claimed she was being harassed and stalked. She tried to get a restraining order against the woman she said was stalking her, but a judge found no basis for her claim and denied the request.
There have been numerous searches for Kyron in the decade since he went missing, but no evidence of the little boy has ever been found. While Desiree and Kaine tried to remain optimistic, they have come to terms with the fact that Kyron is most likely deceased. No charges have ever been filed in his case.
Kyron Horman was 7 years old when he went missing in 2010. He has brown hair and blue eyes, and his vision is very poor. At the time of his disappearance, he was 3 feet 8 inches tall and weighed 50 pounds. He was last seen wearing a black CSI t-shirt with green lettering and the image of a handprint on the front, black cargo pants, white athletic socks, and black Skechers sneakers with orange trim. He was also wearing metal-framed eyeglasses. If you have any information about Kyron, please contact the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office at 503–823–3333. A reward is being offered for information leading to the return or recovery of Kyron.