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UPDATE, Sunday June 13th, 10:20pm: The Multnomah County sheriff's office is now calling the search for Kyron Horman a criminal investigation. Previously, it was being treated as a case of a missing and endangered child.
Friday, June 11, marks a week since seven-year-old Kyron Horman went missing. His stepmother knew something was wrong on June 4 when the second-grader didn't get off the bus at the end of the school day. She notified his school, Skyline Elementary in Northwest Portland, where she had last seen him on the way to his classroom from the science fair where she had accompanied him earlier that morning. The school told her Kyron had been marked absent for the day. Skyline school officials then quickly notified police and parents of the boy's disappearance.
The Multnomah County Sheriff's office has been handling the case, following up on more than 1200 tips from around the state. The search recently expanded with the assistance of trained searchers from Oregon's 35 other counties. The Portland Public School district has announced changes to its protocol for notifying parents when a student is absent.
What else would you like to see change as a result of Kyron's disappearance? What can parents and school officials learn from this event that has frightened and saddened many people? Have you ever experienced anything like this? What is the best response?
Investigators ask that anyone with information that could be helpful in the search for Kyron Horman call the tip line at 503-261-2847.
Tagged as: kids · kyron horman · missing child · school
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I totally agree with Penny - I think Portland Public Schools should learn a valuable lesson here and should have been notifying elementary school parents, not just jr jigh and highschool parents when a student is absent. The automatic calls should go out within the hour the absence is noted by the teacher - not at noon like they're now proposing. Time is of the essence! They should also have cameras - hate to say it, but they should. Last night the news showed a burrito place being robbed and there were at least 2 security cameras filming the whole thing and yet our schools have none. Sad but true. I don't think we should have to walk our kids to their seats, but I do think schools need to step up their security policies - Portland is not a small town so we should not be maintaining a small town mentality anymore.
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There is a misplaced fear of a 'Boggie-Man', a random serial kidnapper or killer. This is further seeded in public imagination in public crime shows like 'CSI: Las Vegas', 'America's Most Wanted', TV Show 'Bones,' and a number of detective shows.
But like in most murders, by far most victims, as high as 80%, know the perpetrator--and he is a relative, spouse or romantic significant other. The random serial killer is less than 10% of all murders.
Like many children, Kyron is the product of a divorced family. And there is bound to be conflict, anguish and jealousy. To solve this mystery, don't put horse patrols and helicopters and 500 volunteers in a million dollar search in Forrest Park.
Rather interview the parents, step parents, and estranged parents. One of them is probably missing and unaccounted for. They may have headed for the border, Mexico is most convenient. They do not see themselves as kidnappers, but justified parents driven to the edge.
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Exactly right, jacob. The mother from Hillsboro who called in a few minutes ago exemplifies this. She thinks elementary school children should be required to always have someone with them, even when they go to the bathroom. Please, take a deep breath. All this based on the Kyron Horman case -- and we don't even know that Kyron was "abducted" from school. As far as we know, the incidences of children being abducted from school are ... ZERO, out of millions of children going to school every day.
Chill, Hillsboro mom. There aren't legions of weirdos dashing into schools and stealing children.
I should add, I have a 10-year-old son, so I understand the emotions behind Hillsboro mom's attitude. But overreacting to the Horman case, and being overprotective of our own children, is a ticket to raising fearful, irrational citizens. Let's be real with our kids.
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I agree there is a misplaced fear of the Boogie Man. I commented on air about my experience with an amber alert for my nephews. Now after my personal experience I'm very skeptical about that system and how it's being used.
We're so eager to find a "bad guy" to pin it on, when sometimes there is no "bad guy" But that doesn't make for an exciting story.
In my family's case the amber alert system was used to alert the public when there was no need and the info that was put out was completely wrong. I'm skeptical now about the info that is put out in these kind of cases.
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The reality of a MP investigation is so different from the TV or movie myths about what can be done. Good show.
Very valuable to hear the perspective of a law enforcement pro about this.
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Question for Emily or Christian - Have they searched the pond near the school for Kyron?
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The current speaker (I think he's from PPS?) pointed out something integral that other callers and writers seem to be forgetting: incidents like this are extremely rare in schools. It's heartbreaking and traumatic for the family and community when something like this happens to a child. But in listing out all the suggestions about what should be done to keep kids safe, we aren't seeing how that adds up to a climate of fear. I am not advocating complacency, but I also don't want to accept that all parents ought to walk their children into their classrooms and see them sit down in their seats before leaving the building every day. I can understand parents' heightened apprehension so immediately after Kyron's going missing, but I don't see that level of vigilance being sustainable. I see it leading to a mob mentality, one of paranoia that is not an adequate or prudent response to the realistic level of threat.
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Why are there no cameras at all outside doors and any other points of interest at all of our schools?
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Cameras. Dirty convenience stores and junky warehouses even have cameras. It makes sense that schools are monitored. Also, put the school reception desk near the front door. Like a hotel. When someone enters, the administrators immediately sees who it is when they enter, and can monitor who leaves. We seem to be putting metal detectors to catch kids like criminals, how about catching criminals entering schools?
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As both a PPS substitute teacher and a parent of a PPS student, I have some observations regarding school safety.
Some(but not all!)teachers count heads during attendance and throughout the day.However there are times when students fall through the cracks. One of these times is during lunch and recess transitions. It is often not the child's teacher who takes the class from the lunchroom to the playground. Teachers often leave their classes with lunchroom monitors so they can return to their rooms to eat and prepare for the afternoon. Do monitors have a headcount for each class? The answer to that question is usually NO! Monitors or principals often take groups out to recess. Sometimes students have left the cafeteria to use the bathroom or for some other reason. These students are left behind and unaccounted for for an indefinite period of time. I don’t want to think about what might happen if there was a fire in the building.Students are also locked out of the school because the teacher didn’t notice that they were not with the rest of the class.
Many students participate in classes outside of their homeroom(P.E., Library, Special Ed, ESL etc.) These teachers often do not take roll or have an attendance sheet. There is definitely the possibility of students being unaccounted for during these times. I have also noticed that Special Ed teachers often do not check on students who don't arrive for pull out classes.
Suggestions for PPS:
Teachers, it is your responsibility to carry around a head count of students and check periodically to be certain that you are not missing anyone.
Students should only be allowed to leave the classroom with a buddy.
Lunchroom monitors as well as other staff who care for students in place of their regular teachers(special ed, ESL,P.E., music, etc.) should always have a copy of that day’s attendance list and should take roll when the students are delivered to them. In the morning, the school secretary could make copies of class lists when they are delivered to the school office after attendance is taken and all staff would be responsible for picking up this attendance sheet for the class that they would be working with on that day.
When teachers take students back to classroom, they should line them up and count them before they go back into the building and again once they return to the classroom.
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I would like to thank Think Out Loud for bring to light this important subject. Unfortunately this is all too common an occurrence. On any given day there are over 100,000 active missing persons cases, not to mention the many, many more that have fallen out of the public spotlight.
Unfortunately, there are not nearly enough resources for the families of the missing. I was upset to see unkind inferences made about the case on various websites. I wish that people were more interested in helping and less in being "armchair" detectives. One of the best things that the public can do is to spread the word. Each time a missing persons face is passed along, the chance of finding them increases.
For people who wish to actually help in the search for missing persons, here are a few important resources in addition to Facebook and Myspace.:
http://www.namus.gov/
http://www.projectjason.org/
Finally, to Kyron's family, know that you are in our prayers.
Zakk, brother of Emillie Hoyt, missing since Dec. 2005
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=12221886604
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Comments are now closed.
It seems to me, that if school officials saw Kyron Horman at the Science Fair at his school, but marked him absent when class began, they should have notified his mother IMMEDIATELY. The sooner they had begun the search, the more likely they would find him. I really do hope, especially for the Family's sake, that they find him alive and well, and that there is never any thought of this becoming a recovery mission.
"The Portland Public School district has announced changes to its protocol for notifying parents when a student is absent." Just in time for summer break! Great timing! Sorry, Portland Public Schools, but this sounds a bit like fixing the corral gate after all the cattle have been stolen and driven across state lines.