The Search for Missing Second-Grader Kyron Horman Gets Even Stranger
It's been four weeks since 7-year-old Kyron Horman vanished from his Portland, Oregon grade school. Last week, Kyron's father filed for divorce and a restraining order from his stepmother, the last person to see Kyron before he disappeared.
On Saturday, two 911 calls were placed from the Hormans' house in Northwest Portland . One was a "threat" call and one was a "custody" issue, according to the Oregonian. On Monday, Kyron's father, Kaine Horman filed for divorce and a restraining order against his wife Terri Moulton-Horman, Kyron's stepmother. The Oregonian confirmed that Kaine Horman moved out of the house on Monday, taking his and Terri's 18-month-old daughter with them.
Previously, it was reported that Moulton-Horman had become the main focus of the police investigation. Investigators were recently spotted distributing flyers with pictures of Moulton-Horman and her white pick-up truck outside the elementary school where Kyron disappeared after Moulton-Horman dropped him off. These latest developments certainly won't curb Internet speculation that Kyron was a victim of foul play at the hands of the stereotypical evil stepmother.
And it won't help the Hormans' increasingly desperate struggle to both attract and control media coverage. They want everyone in the world to know who Kyron is, in the hopes that someone will recognize him. This requires constant media attention, spurred by press conferences and new developments reporters can peg stories to. But the media's spotlight has recently shone equally as bright on the family's fractures as it has on the ubiquitous picture of the gap-toothed, bespectacled little boy.
The besieged family held a weird press conference yesterday, which illustrated their dilemma. They banned Oregon's two largest newspapers because they disapproved of their covering the family's problems. All other reporters were subjected to restrictive ground rules that only allowed them to report what the family told them they could report. Kyron's father explained, "This is a team, and if we're not going to play as a team, there's no point in being here."
But Terri Moulton-Harmon, Kyron's stepmother, wasn't at the press conference either. Kyron's biological mother made only an oblique reference to the implication of Terri's absence: ""We implore Terri Horman to fully cooperate with investigators to bring Kyron home," she said.