Kyron Horman vanished five years ago when he was 7, but this flier shows how he might look at age 12. (MCSO)
It’s been nearly five years since young Kyron Horman disappeared from his school in Portland, Ore., and now local authorities are hoping that by drawing attention to a major reward, they can heat up a frustrating cold case.
“[We] remain committed to solving this crime, and bringing Kyron home.”
The Multnomah County Sheriff's Office has had a $50,000 bounty for information leading to Horman’s rescue ever since he disappeared after being dropped off for school in June 2010 but has decided to publicize the offering in the hopes of new leads, according to The Oregonian.
“The Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office and our agency partners in this investigation remain committed to solving this crime, and bringing Kyron home,” read a statement from the agency.
Even though the case faded from the headlines over the years, the department has stayed on it. A detective is primarily assigned full-time to the investigation, and an FBI Agent with experience in what law enforcement calls Child Abduction Rapid Deployment continues his involvement in this case, reviewing the evidence amassed by investigators despite having retired.
Kyron was last seen alive on June 4, 2010, when he attended a morning science fair at Skyline Elementary School.
Search teams at the time scoured the area between his home and school for days after his disappearance. They've since made numerous trips to nearby Sauvie Island, a 26,000-acre island on the Columbia River just 10 miles from Portland, searching land and area waters for any sign of the boy.
Deputies have neither revealed any clues they may have been found nor formally named a suspect in the criminal investigation. Kyron's biological parents, Kaine Horman and Desiree Young, insist stepmother Terri Horman is somehow involved in their son's disappearance.
Terri Horman, who now goes by Terri Moulton, said she took the boy to school early June 4 in her white pickup truck. She said the two previewed the school's science fair exhibits -- along with other parents and children -- before Kyron's first class was to begin. Terri then reportedly posted a picture on Facebook of the smiling boy standing in front of his tree frog exhibit.
Later that day, she called 911 at approximately 3:45 p.m. after Kyron, who was last seen wearing a black T-shirt with the letters "CSI," failed to return home on his school bus.
Questions arose over the truthfulness of Moulton’s account after she was asked by authorities to take a polygraph test twice. Her cell phone records also didn't match where she said she was on the day Kyron disappeared. The child's biological mother, Desiree Horman, later called on her to "fully corporate with the investigators" to bring Kyron home.
Despite the search for Korman being Oregon’s largest search-and-rescue operation for a missing child, he still has not been found and no arrests have been made.
“Over 4,000 tips have been received by MCSO regarding Kyron,” read the statement from the Sheriff's Office. “Tips from around the United States and globally arrive to MCSO on nearly a daily basis.”
Any information about Horman's disappearance should be directed to the sheriff's office tip line at (503) 261-2847.
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