Kaine Horman: Don't be afraid to come forward with a tip
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TIGARD, Ore. (AP) - The birth parents of 7-year-old Kyron Horman marked the eighth week of his disappearance by saying they are still holding out hope he is alive but they have no idea where he might be.
- Watch Friday's news conference
- Watch: Kyron parents not taking the little moments for granted (part of ABC interview)
"I don’t know that I’m getting through it. I’m trying to take it each day at a time, but 8 weeks is a hard marker for me to hit emotionally," Desiree Young said in response to a question from the media. She appeared with her ex-husband and Kyron's father, Kaine Horman.
At a Friday news conference Desiree Young also repeated her belief that stepmother Terri Horman is involved in the Oregon boy's disappearance. Terri Horman has not been identified as a suspect by investigators.
When asked about what she thinks has happened to her son, Desiree Young said "My theory? That Kyron’s alive and someone’s holding him." She did not elaborate further.
Kaine Horman reflected on the search effort following Kyron's disappearance. "I’ve hugged more people that I don’t know in the past month, month and a half than I have in my whole life and again I’m very private person," he said. People have been giving him a "pat on the back, tell me to keep my chin up, be strong for Kyron, be strong for Kiara, do everything we can to find him, very supportive in all aspects. Everyone else’s priority is finding him and bringing him home and they let me know that."
Kiara is the toddler daughter of Kaine and Terri Horman. Kaine currently has custody of the child.
Both Kaine and Desiree again appealed to the public to contact investigators with any tip, or even if they just knew Kyron or his stepmother, Terri Horman.
For those that may be afraid to come forward, Kaine Horman asked that anyone reluctant to contact law enforcement about the case should empathize with Kyron and how afraid he must be - and then do the right thing by coming forward.
He also said Terri Horman communicated mostly by email and social networking sites such as Facebook, and asked that anyone who received messages from her to to review them and pass them to law enforcement is anything seemed unusual.
Kyron Horman vanished from his northwest Portland elementary school on June 4, leading to the most extensive search in state history.
Since then, Young and father Kaine Horman have regularly addressed the news media to keep their son's case in the spotlight.
Terri Horman has retained legal counsel in the case and has moved out of the family home following divorce proceedings and a restraining order. She is currently living in Roseburg.
No arrests have been made and no suspects have been named in the case.
Local expert weighs in
While Kaine and Desiree have said their theory is Kyron is still alive, one local expert said if Terri Horman is involved and there’s an accomplice holding Kyron the case would have been broken by now.
“The strange thing is, it actually might be more likely that if Kyron is still alive he might be held by a complete stranger abduction with no connection to Terri Horman at all,” said Bruce McCain a retired Multnomah County sheriff’s captain and attorney.
He said the fact that investigators are working on the assumption Kyron is still alive is just another sign they are no closer to finding Kyron than they were two months ago.
The latest court documents from Terri Horman’s divorce lawyer, Peter Bunch, say Terri wants Kaine to pay her legal fees for the divorce.
The documents also ask the court to dismiss Kaine’s request that Terri show where she got the money for her criminal defense attorney Stephen Houze, which reportedly was a $350,000 retainer.
But according to the documents, “the amount of money counsel states Terri paid to attorney Stephen Houze is grossly inaccurate. Terri did not borrow money or utilize any marital funds to pay attorney Mr. Houze.”
Additionally, the document said Terri will not use any marital funds to pay Houze.
Stories related to the search for Kyron Horman
KATU News staff contributed to this report.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)