POOF! Into thin air

"Polly was taken inside of her bedroom. A little girl named Amber Dubois was taken out in front her school last February. Children can be, unfortunately, snatched anywhere."

- Marc Klaas, on Larry King Live last night

In an odd twist, Kyron Horman's father filed for divorce from his stepmother yesterday in Multnomah County Circuit Court. It includes a restraining order. The filing listed Kaine Horman as the petitioner and Terri Moulton Horman as the respondent. KATU also reported that, "The source said the restraining order is a physical restraining order that is meant to protect the couple’s 18-month-old daughter, Kiara."

Read the Horman divorce papers

Kyron's father, biological mother and stepfather issued a statement yesterday. Noticeably absent was his stepmother's signature:

"We have been fully briefed by law enforcement on the on-going criminal investigation. We are in complete support of that investigation. We have asked the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office to facilitate releasing this statement for us due to their access to the media/flash news.

We understand that we have free access to the media but are limiting statements to the media to keep the integrity of the investigation intact.

Any actions taken by the investigation, or by us, are based on the best interests of Kyron and Kiara and comply with the law. Beyond this, we have no comment on the matter.

Desiree, Tony and Kaine"

Since Kyron disappeared from his school on June 4, police have said that Terri is the last known person to see him alive. After a massive search turned up nothing, the Multnomah County sheriff's office labelled the case a criminal investigation.

Last night, Sheriff's spokeswoman Lt. Mary Lindstrand said her office is "not talking about personal issues going on with the Hormans." In other words, the divorce papers mean nothing to them. Although speculation has mounted in recent weeks that Kyron's stepmother might know more about his disappearance than she had initially let on, Lindstrand said Terri Horman is neither a person of interest, nor a suspect.

Meanwhile, her father is staying at her house to lend a hand and to give her much needed support.

Former Multnomah County Deputy District Attorney Jim McIntyre had a few things to say about the investigation.

"The probabilities are that it’s somebody close in – and when I say that I don’t mean immediate family members, I mean that it’s somebody that may or may not know Kyron or know the routine.  It’s usually someone closer in but closer in can include a retail store clerk that sees him all the time that decided to do something," McIntyre stated. He said that maintaining a lead on the right suspect is a key ingredient. "You don’t want to put the investigators off on the track that could be an erroneous track because then the individual who actually committed the offense is gaining time."

McIntyre also warned about the problems associated with joining public opinion. "Jumping on the bandwagon of who the public thinks did it is often a huge mistake," he said. Pointing fingers at the family usually causes them to shut down.

"It’s easy for family members to begin to believe that they’ve become targets when perhaps they’re really just trying to eliminate [the family] and they’re can be a natural friction that can develop and you saw that historically in theJonBenet case which still remains unsolved and that case slipped sideways between law enforcement and the family."

Terri Horman's white truck being impounded twice and the recent questionnaire sent out, McIntyre concluded, "You have to go back to who is the last person who was with Kyron, who was the last person to see Kyron. What was Kyron’s regular schedule and where would he have been.  What was the likelihood of people having contact with him."

On Larry King Live last night, Marc Klaas of the Klaas Kids Foundationsaid, "As I understand it, he does. Let me clarify a couple things. First of all, it's a very rural community. It's a rural school. There are about 300 people at the school. What happened that day, according to her own words, as she was walking the little boy to his class and was very close to the class when the bell rang at 8:45 a.m. She then told him - he told her, mom, excuse me, I'm going the classroom now. She said she waved to him and that was the last time she saw the little boy.

"The problem with that statement is that if she was walking with him, she would have kissed him or rubbed his head or something. Waving doesn't make a lot of sense if you're close to the classroom. So she then turned and went away. One of two things happened, I believe. Number one, she is involved. That's where the numbers take you. That's where the facts as we know them take you. The second possibility is a very high risk snatch by a local pedophile."

The problem with Terri's story is the relative lack of time. If she was walking Kyron to his classroom, he would have been merely seconds away from the door. Had she turned around to leave, how much time would there have been for someone to grab him and run out of the building? Why didn't anyone see a perpetrator? Klaas added, "And I think the best thing to yell is you're not my mom, you're not my dad. Under no circumstances, if a child has any kind an option, you never, ever go with the bad man."

Although the sheriff's office states that Terri Moulton Horman is not even a person of interest, how could someone enter a school undetected and, in a matter of seconds and perfect timing, leave with a young child in tow? This is a far cry from the 31 days Casey claimed, but it becomes more believable if we factor in the entire school day. Remember, he wasn't reported missing until he failed to get off the afternoon bus.