Missing boy’s dad suspects stepmom

PORTLAND – The father of a 7-year-old Portland boy missing for more than a month told a judge he believes the boy’s stepmother is involved in the disappearance, according to a court document released Thursday.

The father, Kaine Horman, also said in his request for a restraining order against Terri Moulton Horman that investigators told him that he had been the target of a murder plot by his wife in late 2009.

The decision to obtain a restraining order late last month “was based on a lot of information provided by law enforcement,” Kaine Horman said Thursday. He declined to elaborate.

Before Kyron Horman’s disappearance on June 4, Kaine Horman said, his relationship with his wife was “a nice clean slate, as far as I can tell.”

Desiree Young, the boy’s biological mother, said Thursday at a news conference that she suspected Terri Horman’s involvement soon after the boy was reported missing.

“I’ve known her a long time,” Young said. “I know she’s lying.”

Investigators have not named Terri Horman, a former teacher and bodybuilder, as a suspect or a person of interest, but in recent weeks they have focused their investigation on her. They distributed fliers asking for information on her whereabouts the day the boy vanished.

A call to Terri Horman’s lawyer was not immediately returned Thursday.

Police have said she was the last known person to see the boy. She told police she left him at his school, about two miles away from their home, after an early morning science fair.

Late last month, Kaine Horman moved out of the couple’s home in the countryside west of downtown Portland, filed for divorce and got the restraining order against his wife – including a provision that she not have access to firearms or ammunition.

That restraining order was unsealed by a judge on Thursday, following requests by a coalition of news organizations, including the Associated Press, that it be made public.

The order contained the first publicly released suspicion by Kaine Horman that his wife was connected to Kyron Horman’s disappearance.

“I believe respondent is involved in the disappearance of my son Kyron who has been missing since June 4, 2010,” Kaine Horman’s petition reads. “I also recently learned that respondent attempted to hire someone to murder me. The police have provided me with probable cause to believe the above two statements to be true.”

The sheriff’s office has refused to confirm details of the alleged murder-for-hire plot and did so again Thursday.

Kaine and Terri Horman were married in April 2007 and have a 19-month-old daughter, who is now living with Kaine Horman. Terri Horman also has a teenage son from the first of two previous marriages.

At the start of the search, Terri Horman organized friends to pass out fliers. She also appeared at two early news conferences with other members of the family. She has not appeared at press conferences since.

The boy’s parents on Thursday reiterated their contention that Terri Horman isn’t cooperating with investigators – despite assurances from a local sheriff that she is – and continued to call on her to tell investigators the truth.

“She needs to do the right thing, being honest,” Young said.

“Whatever that truth is,” Kaine Horman added.