It’s been nearly a week since 7-year-old Kyron Horman was last seen. Investigators say the child went missing from his elementary school on Friday, June 4, 2010. The Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office was immediately contacted and a search throughout the Portland area ensued. Last weekend, the Major Crimes Team stepped in to assist, and now the FBI is involved. There are expert search teams from the entire state combing the immediate area of where the child may have been taken. Sheriff Dan Staton said, every piece of ground within a 2 ½ mile radius of Kyron’s school has been covered, and the efforts today will go back over those areas.
Kyron’s family has reached out to the public, but not in person, or on camera. They issued a statement and urged the community for help with looking for Kyron. The family asks folks in the immediate area to please search their properties, buildings, sheds, any small places a child could hide. They say their reason for not appealing to the public in person is because they don’t want to take the attention away from Kyron. On a personal note, although I respect the family’s decision to scale back their public appearances, I also understand that they need the media to help find their son.
I have covered thousands of missing child cases over my career, and I know it is important for the public to actually see the parents, to see the loved ones, especially when their loved one goes missing. It is the image of the parents and guardians that resonate in the public’s mind, and if someone has information, it may weigh on their hearts and urge them to come forward.
Authorities say Kyron’s step-mother, Terri Moulton Horman, told them she saw him walking down the hallway inside the Skyline Elementary School towards his classroom. He was looking at science projects before walking to his class. About 300 students attend K-8 classes at the school. Teachers and staff say Kyron never made it into his class. There are many questions that need to be answered, and investigators need your leads.
Kyron was last seen wearing orange and black cargo pants, and a white t-shirt with a “CSI” logo. The t-shirt has orange trim around the neck. He had on Sketcher tennis shoes, and white socks. Kyron weighs 50 pounds, and is 3 feet 8 inches tall.
Please contact Multnomah County Sheriff’s non-emergency line at 503-261-2847 with any information.
Tags: endangered, fbi, Kyron Hormon, missing boy, oregon, radius, search teams, Sheriff Dan Staton, upgraded
As someone who went to a fairly rough k-8 school in Seattle, My suspicion, if not the birth mother, is a tragic case of bullying gone wrong. There were a number of kids at my grade school, including me, who were picked on quite severely.
I had been hit in the head by a thrown rock as a kid, for example. I had been knocked out and left behind by the attacking kids on an over-grown hill side less that two blocks from our school. I came too a few minutes later and was late for class.
Even though I pray to God he is found intact and alive, I’m betting this poor boy may have had a similar experience to mine.