Kyron Horman Update: Surveillance Video Analysis Next Step in Horman Case and 'Window of Opportunity'

Kyron Horman, the 7-year-old Portland, Oregon boy missing since June 4th, is still missing after a month of intensive searching and investigation, according to KATU.com. But that could be about to change as law enforcement now collect and analyze surveillance video footage from several specific businesses.

Fred Myer and Albertsons

Two businesses that may prove helpful in the urgent manhunt for Kyron Horman are located geographically in the state of Oregon, mere miles from the last known sighting of Horman on June 4th. The first, Fred Myer's Sunset store off Highway 26 in Hillsboro, reportedly submitted surveillance video to law enforcement recently for the date Kyron went missing. The store is only five miles from Kyron's Skyline Elementary School.

The second store, Albertsons, located at Beaverton-Hillsdale Highway, is in proximity to Hwy's 26 and 5, which would enable someone leaving the area to take those main roads elsewhere. This store is approximately a maximum of 16 miles from the second-grader's school.

Geographical Profiling

Kyron Horman's disappearance on that fateful day in early June would necessitate the usual daily requirements of anyone attempting to abduct the youth and flee the scene: transportation, food and gas.

Hence, it comes as no surprise that law enforcement would attempt to now focus their, thus far, unfruitful investigation in a new direction. A direction that might finally yield evidence for an arrest and the hoped-for recovery of Kyron. That's where geographical profiling can help.

As Kyron's last known contact was his step mother, Terri Moulton Horman, surveillance video footage of her at any location other than those disclosed as her whereabouts to police on that date in question would prove helpful in the search for the missing boy.

Surveillance Video Footage and Timeline: Window of Opportunity

The timeline at present for Kyron Horman shows the child on the school premises as late as 9 a.m. Terri Horman, Kyron's step mother, was said to be back at the family home in time for Kyron's school bus to run at 3:30 p.m.

This leaves a window of free time spanning approximately a little more than three hours, after allowing for drive time from the school to the family home. This time frame is further reduced by the fact that Kyron's father, Kaine, returned home early from work on that fateful day, and Terri made a post to her facebook account even earlier in the afternoon, around 1:21 p.m.

The facebook posting of Kryon could have been made at another location besides the family home. However, law enforcement will have determined if the post came from the home computer by now. It is likely that is the case, and could have served as an alibi of sorts, especially if this is a deviation from normal procedure.

How the Geographical Distance Matters

With Terri Horman's window of opportunity reduced to between 9 a.m. and 1:21 p.m., the amount of geographical distance possibly covered is further reduced without aid of an accomplice. Additionally, any driving time is halved in the computations, as it would be required to double back from any attempted location site that day.

This means that the greatest distance Terri Horman could have feasibly covered on June 4th--on her own, without an accomplice--would have been an approximate two-hour trip maximum with Kyron from Skyline Elementary School.

Stores on Highways 26 and 5

The surveillance video footage being retrieved from the two store locations at present reveal a drive distance of less than half an hour. If one of these sights, or both, prove helpful in the investigation, it will not mean that Kryon is necessarily within the half hour distance, geographically. Remember, there is a larger window of opportunity than that.

Additional travel could have been made past these two particular points, geographically. However, consideration must be given to the fact that without the aid of an accomplice some amount of time had to be allotted by Kyron's abductor for dealing with a 7-year-old child in distress, as Kyron would likely have been. In addition, it would have required time or prior planning for the ultimate placement of said child for an indefinite period of time, too. So that may have been the maximum distance driven.

No Arrest, No 'Person of Interest'

Kyron Horman's step mother has hired a criminal attorney and it appears that she is being considered a person of interest in this case, although no such disclosures have been made publicly by law enforcement at the time of this writing. This refusal by law enforcement to publicly name Terri Horman as a suspect is to protect the integrity of the investigation for judicial proceedings later, if proven to have merit for an arrest, most likely.

"You have to be able to identify specifically what crime your going to charge. You can't simply say, 'you're under arrest because everyone thinks you did something.' I mean you have to have evidence, more likely than not, that you committed a specific crime," explained former Multnomah County prosecutor Jim McIntyre to the press in Oregon.

Future direction of Kryon Horman case

Investigative direction now appears to be moving into the complete profiling of Terri Horman. Since Kyron is too young to yield a victimology profile that could aid investigators in locating him (he couldn't drive off himself or financially provide for his disappearance), they have to move onto profiling the last known contact instead and looking at that person's 'window of opportunity.'

A victimology on Kyron, however, could have aided investigators if he 'wandered' off. But after untold numbers of man power searches in the school vicinity and elsewhere, that is not even a consideration at this stage. Kyron's best hope now is determining the validity of Terri Horman's timeline given for that date, and investigating any discrepancies found. This could include additional windows of opportunity too.

Accomplice?

While no one wants to entertain the idea that Kyron might be in a hostage type situation at present, an accomplice scenario would actually be more likely to produce a safe return of Kryon Horman after over a month's absence. A child must have food and water to survive. Those items had to have been left for him, be given to him the past month by an accomplice, or be obtainable by Kryon on his own in order to assure his survival this long.

Surveillance video analysis of any Kyron or Terri Horman sighting at Freds or Albertsons on June 4th will show the probability--or lack thereof--of any accomplice in Kyron's disappearance. The person doesn't even have to be on the footage for police to determine their likely presence elsewhere. Narrowing of the 'window of opportunity' will help.

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Source
KATU.com
Oregonlive.com
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