Missing Kyron Horman Possibly Sighted in West Virginia?

For a limited time on Saturday, July 11, the Kyron Horman case saw a glimmer of hope and a redirection of focus from Terri Moulton Horman, the boy's stepmother and the last person known to have seen the missing second-grader. But it was just that -- limited. According to WOWK in Huntington, a possible sighting of Kyron Horman in Charleston, West Virginia, resulted in Charleston Police finding the reported vehicle and child -- but the child, unfortunately, was not Kyron Horman.

The Charleston Police Department were notified by the FBI Saturday night of a possible sighting of the missing Oregon boy at an Advance Auto Parts on the city's west side. Dispatchers told officers to be on the lookout for a 94 silver Ford van with no windows. Although police would eventually track the vehicle down, the child in question did not appear to be Kyron Horman.

The investigation into missing 7-year-old Kyron Horman entered its sixth week Friday with much of the focus seeming to be directed at stepmother Terri Moulton Horman, especially after Kaine Horman, her husband and Kyron's father, stated at a press conference Thursday that his wife had failed both her polygraph tests. The news conference revelation followed a series of reports implicating Terri Moulton Horman in a murder-for-hire plot against her husband, his notification of the murder plot by Multnomah County authorities, and his subsequent filing for divorce and a restraining order against his wife. Earlier that same day, a judge had unsealed the restraining order petition, revealing that Kaine Horman had wrote in his complaint that he had "probable cause" from what he had been told by authorities to believe that his wife was "involved in the disappearance" of his son, Kyron.

Terri Moulton Horman has continued to keep quiet counsel, as has the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office. Except what has been revealed in press conferences, Mutlnomah County authorities refuse to discuss the ongoing investigation. Terri Moulton Horman has made no comment whatsoever about the case since it began. Apart from a couple of incidental remarks on her Facebook account, Horman has remained mum about the disappearance throughout.

Kyron Horman disappeared on June 4. According to the police, Terri Moulton Horman said she took the excited 7-year-old to school early that day to look at the science fair exhibits on display, one of which was his. She said that after walking around for awhile, she waved good-bye to her stepson and watched him walk toward his classroom. She then turned and went home.

Kyron never made it to class.

Terri Moulton Horman has yet to be named a person of interest or a suspect in a case where the evidence seems to be highly circumstantial. She has become isolated from family and friends as well as more details surface that seem to paint her in a bad light.

But possible sightings of the missing like the Charleston, West Virginia, incident are part of any overall search for a missing person. Sometimes they produce valuable leads, such as in the case of Haylee Donathan, a 4-year-old Ohio girl who went missing with her mother and a halfway house escapee convicted sex offender. It was later discovered, however, that the mother, Candace Watson, had gone with the escapee, Robbi Potter, willingly, placing her daughter at risk throughout the cross-country manhunt.

Sometimes the sightings do not pan out. As with the Charleston sighting, two reports of a child matching Kyron Horman's description surfaced in Yreka, California, on June 10, just six days after the boy disappeared. According to OregonLive.com, both reports placed a boy who was thought to have been Kyron Horman in a WalMart superstore with an older man and woman. Police later ascertained that the child in question was the grandson of the older couple, although the boy did bear a remarkable resemblance to the missing Oregon boy.

Still, missing person cases have been solved on leads generated from far less credible tips. Thus far, the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office has received almost 3,000 tips concerning the missing boy.

Anyone with information regarding the disappearance or the whereabouts of Kyron Horman are urged to contact authorities via the tipline at (503) 261-2847 or the FBI Portland office at (503) 224-4181.

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Sources:

WOWKtv.com
OregonLive.com