Mother of missing Kyron Horman sues boy's stepmom for $10 million

The mother of Kyron Horman, a missing Portland, Ore., boy, filed a $10 million civil lawsuit Friday against Terri Horman, Kyron's stepmother, in connection with the boy's disappearance two years ago, NBC station KGW reported.

Desiree Young's lawyer, Eldon Rosenthal, said at a Friday news conference covered by KGW that the statute of limitations for filing a civil lawsuit in the case was two years. Monday, June 4, will be the two-year anniversary of Kyron Horman's disappearance from Skyline Elementary School.


The lawsuit asks the court to compel Terri Horman to disclose Kyron's location, KGW reported. It also includes two claims, one for custodial interference and one for intentional infliction of emotional distress.

See the original story at KGW of Portland, Ore.

Terri Horman's attorney, Stephen Houze, told KGW he would not make any public statements regarding the suit until he has thoroughly reviewed the filing.

Rick Bowmer / AP

Desiree Young, the mother of Kyron Horman, stands on the steps of the Portland Justice Center on Friday after filing a $10 million civil lawsuit against Kyron's stepmother.

Rosenthal said the lawsuit would enable him to subpoena witnesses, acquire documents and evidence and "peel away the mystery" of what happened to Kyron.

"My family and I are living through a nightmare that most families cannot even imagine," Young said, tearfully reading a prepared statement. "My Kyron has always been my comfort and my joy. I will forever have a hole in my heart because he's not here."

Multnomah County Sheriff / AP

Kyron Horman vanished after his stepmother left him at his Portland, Ore., elementary school.

"I haven't been able to see my son, hug him, kiss him or tuck him into bed" in nearly two years, she said, according to KGW. "Not a day goes by that I don't think of him.

Kyron disappeared two years ago from Skyline grade school, leading to the largest search effort ever conducted in Oregon.

Terri Horman was the last person to see Kyron alive, investigators said. Horman has retained a lawyer for nearly two years and has refused to talk with detectives, who told KGW that they are still pursuing the case.

More content from msnbc.com and NBC News:

Follow US News on msnbc.com on Twitter and Facebook

Discuss this post

Jump to discussion page: 1 2 3

I do not agree with the headline

It leads one to believe the mother is doing it for purely financial reasons

After reading the article, I have a completely different opinion, and that is she wants this stepmother to talk

Why would you not completely cooperate with authorities unless you are guilty!

Jail this wench until she talks!

  • 2 votes
Reply#27 - Sat Jun 2, 2012 9:12 AM EDT

I followed this story and law enforcement isn't helping her at all. I don't understand how someone can hide behind an attorny, like the stepmother is, and go on with their life!

    Reply#28 - Sat Jun 2, 2012 9:23 AM EDT

    Rather than hire a pricey lawyer to sue & get info out of her....hire a cheap thug to BEAT info out of her!!!!

    • 2 votes
    Reply#29 - Sat Jun 2, 2012 9:54 AM EDT

    Maybe if they bleed her dry with law suits she will eventually make a mistake they can hang on her. Remember OJ? got away with murder x2. Where is he now? Have you seen his picture lately? He is looking real nasty. He lost it all and deserved to do so. Though he was never convicted of murder. There is more than 1 way to skin a cat as the saying goes.

    • 1 vote
    Reply#30 - Sat Jun 2, 2012 10:30 AM EDT

    It is so obvious that the step mom killed that little boy just as it is obvious that Casey killed her dgtr. If you can just wait out the police long enough there is no evidence left for an arrest. These people who kill children are the lowest of the low and should be hounded until they confess

    • 2 votes
    Reply#31 - Sat Jun 2, 2012 11:01 AM EDT

    This civil lawsuit is exactly the right thing to do and Rosenthal appears to be the man with a plan. Hormon will soon have a new crew because her present attorney has had his hands full trying to keep her mouth shut---to the authorities anyway. Unless he has had constant contact with her over the last two years, she has done things that she should not have and has not done things that she should have. Rosenthat will do his best to bring all of that to light. A subpoena could have much more impact on one of her "confidants" that "Why don't you stop by the station so that we can have a conversation".

    • 1 vote
    Reply#32 - Sat Jun 2, 2012 11:41 AM EDT

    Terri Horman was the last person to see Kyron alive, investigators said. Horman has retained a lawyer for nearly two years and has refused to talk with detectives, who told KGW that they are still pursuing the case.

    Yeah, not speaking with detectives is completely normal for a person who has nothing to hide right?

    /she knows what happened to him

    • 4 votes
    Reply#33 - Sat Jun 2, 2012 11:51 AM EDT

    This recession has really hurt my Attorney friends, they are all chasing anything they think might pay, this one? Free advertising maybe or needed that $5,000 retainer relly bad!

    • 1 vote
    Reply#34 - Sat Jun 2, 2012 12:14 PM EDT

    Terri Horman didn't just pay $5,000 fee for retainer or get an attorney that wanted free advertising. She paid $350,000 for a powerful attorney. Her then husband filed for a motion to see where she got the money to pay the attorney.

    http://www.kgw.com/news/kyron-horman/Kaine-Horman-seeks-to-make-Terri-pay-legal-fees-99243664.html

    • 1 vote
    #34.1 - Sat Jun 2, 2012 3:03 PM EDT
    Reply

    I find great value in all of the interrogation methods used by the CIA – including ‘waterboarding.” When you start spouting off about constitutional rights remember Kyron Horman, the missing child, and his rights. The stepmother Terri Horman has exercised some of her rights and needs to be persuaded in the right of free speech, waterboarding would open the flood-gate on a wealth of information about the missing boy. The stepmother has found advocates to help her hide behind rights, the little boy has rights and more so than an adult needs advocates to protect his constitutional rights.

    • 1 vote
    Reply#35 - Sat Jun 2, 2012 12:20 PM EDT

    This should have happened 2 years ago... to get Terri Horman to talk. The woman has never answered the questions she needs to answer. I hope they can squeeze her til she does.

    • 2 votes
    Reply#36 - Sat Jun 2, 2012 12:43 PM EDT

    I still remember this story like it was yesterday. I can't believe it's been 2 years. I must say I agree with the waterboarding posts to get the stepmother to talk. I hope Kyron is okay.

      Reply#37 - Sat Jun 2, 2012 12:46 PM EDT

      I hope Kyron comes home. Safe and sound.

      • 2 votes
      Reply#38 - Sat Jun 2, 2012 1:07 PM EDT

      While it looks bad when someone gets a lawyer and doesn't talk - given the number of innocent people being released from prisons because of DA's and cops railroading people for a conviction - well, if the police believe that you did something (regardless of your guilt or innocence) only a fool wouldn't get a lawyer and shut up.

      There are plenty of people who have been released from prison who thought that since they were innocent they couldn't possibly be thrown away for a decade or more.

      I don't know if the step-mom did do something, I suspect that she did, but IMHO, the DA and Police can't always be trusted to find the truth, particularly in a high profile case when the pressure to "get someone convicted" is on them.

      • 4 votes
      Reply#39 - Sat Jun 2, 2012 1:12 PM EDT

      I watched all the adults in Kyron's life at news conferences. The only one who seemed to have a normal reaction to Kyron's disappearance was the stepmom. Dad was really strange. Mom seemed unduly influenced by Dad and looking to blame stepmom *and darn near gleeful about it. Stepdad seemed like a really cold person.

      • 3 votes
      Reply#40 - Sat Jun 2, 2012 7:34 PM EDT

      Having had a child die myself....I will tell you that there is NO normal reaction. You are numb, distraught, and ashamed for any time you might feel any mirth. It is a horrible situation where one can display any sort of reaction. As for this family, they were and are faced with the possibility that Kyron might be dead but are hoping for the best, however, even then, things were/are dire.

      • 2 votes
      #40.1 - Tue Jun 5, 2012 11:44 AM EDT

      Stepdad is a police officer himself and probably is used to remaining emotionless in his appearance because of his job.

        #40.2 - Thu Jun 7, 2012 2:16 AM EDT
        Reply

        The real need is for justice for Kyron not the mom or step mom. It is unfortunate but as he has not been seen for 2 years the odds are that he is dead but the little boy needs to be found anyway and JUSTICE FOR KYRON.

        • 1 vote
        Reply#41 - Sat Jun 2, 2012 7:53 PM EDT

        This is a landmark case, first in the nation.

        This is the first filing under Oregon's landmark child abduction statute, Senate Bill 1041 (2005), known as "Aaron's Law" in memory of my son Aaron Cruz, who died in the course of his abduction.

        My four children disappeared into Utah in 1996 in a Mormon shunning/abduction.

        Aaron's Law provides new tools to parents of kidnapped children. Oregon is now the only state in the nation where abducting a child creates a civil cause of action, vital when law enforcement is unwilling or unable to act.

        The law reaches to those who participated in the crime, including those who provide financial, planning or logistical support to the kidnapping.

        I hope to see the principles of Aaron's Law applied nationwide.

        Best wishes to Kyron's family.

        • 2 votes
        Reply#42 - Sat Jun 2, 2012 8:04 PM EDT

        Thank you for posting. I do remember this. My sincere sympathy on your loss, and admiration for what you've accomplished creating Aaron's Law.

        • 4 votes
        #42.1 - Sat Jun 2, 2012 10:10 PM EDT
        Reply

        @Sally Ann 4595694..... Why / what did you mean that the "bio Mother has a checkered past " ? I wonder why the little boy , Kyron, was living with his Father and step-mother, instead of living with his bio-Mother ??? I have often wondered about that (have never got any answers) ........? As for the Father of Kyron, he has never stuck me as a normal-average man or Father ......Those are the feelings I get, about Kaine (the Father). And as, William of Rites said, Kaine should of stayed with wife # 1 .......it would of been so much better for little Kyron Horman..... Terry is JUST plain deranged, and you can't tell me KAINE, didn't sense something was VERY, VERY wrong, BEFORE little KYRON went missing !!!! What was up with the Father ? ? I think, there are alot of hidden secrets, concerning this whole entire, SAD story....and a little boy had to PAY for it with his life...SUCH ASHAME !!!

        • 2 votes
        Reply#43 - Sat Jun 2, 2012 8:41 PM EDT

        sad to say but police and prosectors will always say that an innocent person with nothing to hide would never ask for a lawyer. 99% of the time if a police officer or a lawyer is ever questioned the first words out of their mouths will be I want a lawyer.

        • 2 votes
        Reply#44 - Sat Jun 2, 2012 9:03 PM EDT

        This whole sad, sad story screams deceit, from everyone involved . . . . . The Father Kaine, is an odd person... if he knew his 2 nd wife didn't care for little Kyron, why didn't he take immediate action, to save his SON ??? Why didn't the BIO-Mother have Kyron is her custody ??? What it comes down to is Kyron, the little boy, had to pay with HIS life, for all the dysfunctional goings on in his family, everyone involved. So, So SAD !

        • 2 votes
        Reply#45 - Sat Jun 2, 2012 9:16 PM EDT

        If I knew somebody was withholding information about my missing child I WOULD get the information from them by any means necessary. Water-boarding would seem like a trip to a spa.

        • 1 vote
        Reply#46 - Sat Jun 2, 2012 9:55 PM EDT

        There's a high price to pay for vigilante justice.

        • 2 votes
        #46.1 - Sun Jun 3, 2012 1:35 PM EDT

        Let me get this straight , If if your child was missing and you knew who had him or her you would do nothing. I bet you would be one of the people that would tell him that it is not his fault and he must have had a bad childhood bless his little heart awwww.

        • 1 vote
        #46.2 - Sun Jun 10, 2012 11:47 AM EDT
        Reply

        Just a thought - wonder why no one, the boy's father, the boy's step-mother (yes, Terri Horman), or the boy's step-father (purportedly employed in law enforcement) didn't sue the school in a civil suit? After all, Kyron was there. And then Kyron wasn't.

        • 4 votes
        Reply#47 - Sat Jun 2, 2012 9:57 PM EDT

        if nothing else maybe the lawsuit will at least reveal where sadly kryons body is for after two years of nothing and the step mother refusing to help sadly kryon might be dead by now. or if by some miracle the lawsuit will at least make the step mother have to talk or face prison time for contempt of court. hopefuly answers finaly of what happen to kryon and maybe the way to bring him home.

          Reply#48 - Sat Jun 2, 2012 10:10 PM EDT

          What makes me laugh at lawsuits like this is the fact that they never get paid. You can take somebody to court and sue them, but it doesn't guarentee you the money. If the person doesn't have the money, they don't have it. And unless the stepmom steals from multiple banks, there's no way she is going to get any of that money. Plus, I don't think there is enough evidence of intentional duress. To prove duress, you need a reasonable reason for it, then you need to be able to prove it. Proving if it was intentional or not is not possible. I doubt even if the stepmom intended for her to be emotionall distressed, she won't admit to it. Based on her clothes, I doubt she has a need for 10 million anyway. The look on her face just helps my theory that the mom is jelous of the stepmom "stealing" her husband, and wants to get revenge. Just because the stepmom was the last to see him does not mean she had something to do with it. Maybe she had something to do with it, maybe she did not. I don't know. We may never know.

          • 2 votes
          Reply#49 - Sat Jun 2, 2012 11:10 PM EDT

          I'm not saying Terry H is innocent, but I'm not going to conclude that she's guilty. If she is, then she should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

          Knowing cops and the (in)justice system, if there is any likelihood that you are going to be suspected of a crime, the best thing you can do is lawyer up and lay low. Innocent people get convicted and spend years of their lives unjustly in prison for crimes they did not commit, just because they are the most convenient suspect.

          I'd like to know what the motive would be for Terry killing her stepson. It might be a "just because", or revenge, but she's currently not a person of interest as far as the police are concerned--or so I have read.

          I'm all in favor of convicting the guilty, but I'm also in favor of not convicting the innocent. Kyron's mother sounds like a flake who's looking for attention. Ten mil? Terry H. probably doesn't have it.

          I still maintain that if there were sufficient evidence, even circumstantial, to prove her guilt, Terry the "evil stepmother" would be in jail. Yeah, I wish she'd talk to the cops, but maybe I would be worried for my safety if I didn't do it and everyone thought I did. I want justice served here, not hysteria catered to. It's easy to say, "yeah, she saw him last, she must have done it," then the witch hunt starts. Guilty or not, if she is arrested, she deserves a fair trial.

          • 2 votes
          Reply#50 - Sun Jun 3, 2012 2:37 AM EDT

          In agreement with your post.We hear nothing about the background of the bio parents but the media and public think they can judge all 3 with the little real public knowledge there is.

            #50.1 - Sun Jun 3, 2012 1:41 PM EDT
            Reply

            She should sue the county mountie's for not useing the right search dogs after five days they should have used cadaver dogs. This is ture remember they used search dogs on three seperate searche's of rocky butte and still missed finding a body on a trail five feet off the path. Our search team only walks on trails but still they should have smelled the body. Search dogs only sniff for living people,and cadaver dogs only search for bodie's. As for terry she is doing the right thing by being quite because the cops always twist everything you tell them. And why did the mother not have her son staying with her,why did kane divorce her what's up?

            • 2 votes
            Reply#51 - Sun Jun 3, 2012 3:09 AM EDT
            Jump to discussion page: 1 2 3
            You're in Easy Mode. If you prefer, you can use XHTML Mode instead.
            As a new user, you may notice a few temporary content restrictions. Click here for more info.