Phylicia’s North Carolina high school is offering a $25,000 reward for information leading to the teen’s whereabouts.  She was an honor student at her school before she disappeared in Baltimore while visiting her sister over the holiday.

Phylicia Barnes (missing)

1) Phylicia Barnes, 16, disappeared on the afternoon of Dec. 28 from a Northwest Baltimore apartment.

2) The FBI has joined the case to help find her, and investigators are leaning toward foul play.

3) Authorities focused their search efforts earlier in the week on Leakin Park. Unfortunately, no clues from that search have led them to Phylicia.  More than three dozen locations have been searched.

4) Phylicia is from Monroe, N.C., about 25 miles from Charlotte. Her goal was to move to Maryland when she finished with high school.

5) Her family said Phylicia does not have a history of running away, and the last message she sent her sister indicates she may have left to get something to eat.

Phylicia was last seen wearing a navy blue pea coat with a hood, a turquoise thermal shirt, blue jeans, and white slipper-boots and was carrying a caramel-colored purse.

A $2,500 for information in her disappearance. Anyone who has heard from Phylicia or knows where she may be is asked to call Baltimore police at 410-276-8888

Kyron Horman Missing

Tomorrow will mark the six week anniversary since Kyron Horman went missing, and every single day there is a new development.  Usually when a child goes missing, within a week or two the case falls out of the spotlight, but this family’s personal and bizarre life has kept this case alive and the public wanting more.  Over the last couple of days investigators in Portland have been seen searching on the ground for clues and re-interviewing witnesses at the school from where the 7-year-old went missing.  Desiree Young, Kyron’s mother, spoke out and said she thinks her son’s disappearance was planned and executed by his step-mother Terri Moulton-Horman.

Since Kyron vanished at his elementary school, his father, Kaine, filed for divorce from his step-mother and filed a restraining order against her.  Police say Terri may have been the last person to see Kyron at Skyline Elementary School on June 4, 2010.  In addition to the divorce, Kaine was granted a restraining order restricting Terri from coming near him or their 20-month-old daughter Kiaria.  Over the last few weeks, Kyron’s biological mother Desiree and his father Kaine have spoke candidly to the media and have not held back when saying they believe Terri may have had something to do with Kyron’s disappearance.  They beg her to come forward and do the right thing and cooperate with investigations.  The parents indicate Terri failed two polygraphs and there could be a chance she may have had help.  Investigators have not named Terri a person of interest or suspect in this case. 

A restraining order was released to the public last week indicating that Terri allegedly tried to hire a landscaper to murder Kaine, and they made Kaine aware of this murder-for-hire plot. Then this week, just a few days after Kaine moved out, court papers indicate Terri was sending graphic sexual text messages, also known as “sexting,” to Kaine’s childhood friend Michael Cook.  The contempt of court paperwork filed on Monday at the Multnomah County courts also indicates that Terri may have been in violation of her restraining order by disclosing the sealed information to Mr. Cook and that she let him take pictures of the documents with his camera phone.  The order goes on to say that investigators interviewed Mr. Cook and his cell phone records.  In addition, the paperwork also indicates that Terri may have tried to concoct a plan to abduct her 20-month-old daughter from the gym where she and Kaine work out.  Terri allegedly did this by asking the person behind the desk to contact her when her estranged husband and child arrived.

A hearing is set for July 22, 2010 to have Terri removed from the family home so Kaine and their daughter Kiaria can move back in.  Although Terri is not contesting the move, she is asking for money to leave.  Kaine’s attorney is attempting to get the court date moved up and hopefully have her removed as soon as this weekend.

RE-CAPPING KYRON’S STORY:

A judge released the sealed restraining order that Kaine Horman sought against his wife Terri.  In his own words and handwriting Kaine Horman wrote, “I believe respondent (Terri Moulton-Horman) is involved in the disappearance of my son Kyron who has been missing since June 4, 2010.  I also recently learned that respondent attempted to hire someone to murder me.  The police have provided me with probable cause to believe the above two statements to be true.”  The key phrase in the order is “police have provided me with probable cause.”  This is important to the public in this case because it gives everyone an idea as to where investigators may possibly stand.  For weeks authorities have said that Terri is not a suspect and/or person of interest in this case, and although that may appear to be the case, there seems to be enough evidence that a judge would restrict Terri from coming into contact with her own 19-month-old child.  Yesterday Kaine asked the judge to amend the petition to allow himself and his daughter back in their home.  Kaine wants Terri removed so Kiara and Kyron can come back to their house and not feel any kind of disconnect.

Kaine spoke out about the restraining order at a press conference and said, “It was a, well say a point and time decision, um, it was based on a lot of information provided, so it wasn’t a sudden well say a reactionary decision that was made.” They admit that Terri took two polygraph tests and failed them both and that she is lying, and they also stand behind their initial statement that they believe Terri has more information to contribute to finding Kyron.  Desiree, Kaine and Tony have all taken polygraphs and they say they all passed with flying colors.  Desiree said, “I am so angry I don’t even have words… it is extremely frustrating that she (Terri) is not cooperating… She is not taking an active role in finding Kyron, telling the truth.” When asked the question by a reporter if they believe anyone else is involved in the disappearance of Kyron, Kaine and Terri stopped, looked at each other and said, “We would like to speculate, but we really can’t.” Desiree continued by saying, “I believe that God is looking over Kyron and protecting him right now, and that gives me hope and I pray every day for his strength and my strength and the whole entire situation.”

Investigators say Terri was the last person who may have seen Kyron before he vanished.  Authorities say they were inside his elementary school before classes for a science fair, and Terri claims she said goodbye to Kyron and watched him walk off before she left.  On July 1, 2010, Desiree spoke out to the public and said, “We implore Terri Horman to fully cooperate with investigators to bring Kyron home.”

Since then, new reports and details have emerged that Terri allegedly may have tried to hire a landscaper in the Portland area six or seven months before Kyron went missing to kill her husband Kaine.  She allegedly offered a landscaper a large sum of money to kill her husband.

The Oregonian website went on to say, “Investigators also recorded a conversation June 26 among the cooperating landscaper, Terri Horman and an undercover law enforcement officer, but Horman shut down the conversation fairly quickly, sources said.”

Desiree and Kaine believe he is still alive because they have not been told otherwise, and they encourage the public to keep their eyes peeled for their son.

According to KATU’s website, here is exact text that appears from questions asked and answered by the Horman’s a couple of weeks ago:

The Sheriff spoke out on Friday and said Terri Horman has cooperated throughout the investigation but was insinuated in your statement that she has not been cooperating-please explain.

We believe that the Sheriff’s statement could have been misinterpreted and possibly reflects Terri’s cooperation to participate in prior weeks during the investigation. The statement was directed at historical cooperation not current cooperation. Based upon information we have received from briefings it is our understanding, and continues to be such, that she has not been cooperating. We have been briefed by law enforcement and we have not received a response since our request for her to fully cooperate with investigators to assist in bringing Kyron home.  We continue to issue our plea of her FULLY cooperating with law enforcement and the investigation to help bring Kyron home as quickly as possible.

KAINE

Reporters: Trying to clear up so many reports that have been out there:

Was Kaine waiting at the bus stop for Kyron to get off of the school bus?

Yes I was. I walked Kiara down to the bus stop about 3:35 with Terri following close after we left. We all arrived down at the bus stop together and waited as the bus came to the stop.

When is the last time Kaine saw Kyron?

I last saw him at about 7:45 am. He was coming back to the house after feeding our cat (Bootsie) and I was heading out to the car to head into the office. I walked over to him, told him I was extremely proud of him for the effort he put into his red-eyed tree frog project, and for him to have a great and fun day at the science fair. We talked about maybe going for a special treat and playing the Wii after school, and then I said “I love you”. He said “I love you too, Dad”, at which point we hugged, and then he went into the house as I got into the car and left. While I have not seen him since, that moment in time is still etched in my mind as if it just happened and is a constant reminder of the joy of having him as a son.

Was Kaine working from home the day Kyron went missing? If so, when did Terri get home from the school?

No, I was in the office that day until about 1:45 and arrived back home a little after 2pm. Terri was already in the house, on her laptop, when I arrived. I kissed Kiara, grabbed some food, and worked from my home office until about 3:30 at which time I put shoes on Kiara and we started walking down toward the bus stop.

Was Kyron supposed to be out of school the following Friday for a doctor’s appt.?

There was some discussion about the appointment but it was unknown exactly when the appointment was scheduled so we cannot comment for certain.

CASE

Do you all still feel strongly that the investigation remains on track?

Yes, we feel the investigation continues to be on track and progressing toward finding Kyron. Every action we take is for the sole purpose of expediting the investigation and search for him and to bring him home as quickly as possible. Some actions can appear as distractions but our purpose, all efforts/actions, and our focus remain unwavered until he is home and safe.

Kaine are you able to confirm anything in the Oregonian story that was in the Sunday Paper that says it was discovered by police that Terri had attempted a Murder for Hire Plot?

We are unable to comment.

Do you receive daily briefings? If so, how are those briefings delivered to you?

Yes we receive daily briefings or more frequently as needed, the delivery method changes based upon participant locations.

What would you like to see happen in the investigation that hasn’t been thus far?

As Kyron’s family we have only one goal with the investigation, we only care about Kyron coming home to us soon.

Have you been asked to take polygraphs? If so, did you take them?

Yes, all 3 of us have taken polygraphs and have voluntarily undergone any and all sessions with law enforcement and will continue to do so as long as it takes to bring Kyron home. We wake up every day and check in to proactively see what else we can do to help with the case and to find Kyron. We are relentless in this focus.

Just prior to Terri being served the official paperwork a little over a week ago, Kyron’s biological mother, father and step-father jointly issued a statement:

“We have been fully briefed by law enforcement on the on-going criminal investigation.  We are in complete support of that investigation.  We have asked the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office to facilitate releasing this statement for us due to their access to the media/flash news.  We understand that we have free access to the media but are limiting statements to the media to keep the integrity of the investigation intact.  Any actions taken by the investigation, or by us, are based on the best interests of Kyron and Kiara and comply with the law.  Beyond this, we have no comment on the matter.” – Desiree, Tony and Kaine 

Nearly 3,000 leads have poured in on this case. Desiree said her son had poor vision and couldn’t see very far in front of him, so he’s known to stick close to home.  Kyron’s favorite food is macaroni and cheese and sushi.  Also, when he gets upset or excited, a birthmark in a “V” shape re-appears on his forehead. 

 

The Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office collected questionnaires from parents, students and staff of Skyline Elementary School in Portland, Oregon early on.  The information was geared towards hopefully uncovering new leads that will help find the missing 7-year-old.  Investigators passed out the forms and requested the information back at the end of last weekend. Lt. Mary Lindstrand of the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office told me that the official search efforts to track Kyron Horman shifted, and the new flier released will hopefully lead to clues. 

Matt Shelby, Spokesperson for the Portland School District said this was the first incident in 20 years that a student vanished.  Two decades ago Shelby said a young girl was taken out of one of their schools and raped, but her attacker was caught.  This case is bizarre because Kyron was seen at the school that morning walking from classroom to classroom looking at the projects with his step-mother.  Shelby confirmed to me that the school was open at 8 a.m. – 8:45 a.m. for the public to come in.  No one was required to sign in at the front office because the science fair was similar to an evening PTA event in that anyone was invited to attend.  Kyron was one of 25 other students in his classroom at Skyline.  About 300 students attend grades K-8.  The morning Kyron vanished Shelby told me that two of the five doors were unlocked and families and friends could walk in and out easily.  Unfortunately, there is not any surveillance monitoring the hallways or the classrooms. 

Lt. Lindstrand said, “Although this has been an investigation since day one, it has progressed into a criminal investigation.”  Searchers from her department are available to assist in going out on leads, but the immediate area where Kyron went missing has been covered a dozen times.  Teams have combed the water and land near the school and specifically Sauvie Island dozens of times.  There are reports that this is where cell phone information from Kyron’s step-mother, Terri, was linked to, but Lt. Lindstrand cannot confirm or deny that information.  There is one main bridge to get to Sauvie Island and it is only accessible by boat or by car over the bridge.  The island is encompassed by two counties, and the island is surrounded by a channel.  There are small shops there, houses and farming area.  

There are many questions that need to be answered, and investigators need your leads.  Was there someone inside or outside the school? 

Kyron was last seen wearing orange and black cargo pants, and a black 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.

Authorities announced a $25,000 reward being offered for any information, and this case will not grow cold.     

Please contact Multnomah County Sheriff’s non-emergency line at 503-261-2847 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting with any information.