Kyron Horman Update: Massive Renewed Search Near Missing 7-Year-Old's School
PORTLAND, Ore. (CBS/KOIN/AP) A new tip from an unlikely source in the search for missing Oregon boy Kyron Horman has investigators searching an area near the Portland-area elementary school where he was last seen.
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Multnomah County Sheriff's spokeswoman Lt. Mary Lindstrand told the Oregonian they're following up on leads and tips, but would not officially say what led them to search for the boy Saturday and Sunday.
But according to CBS affiliate KOIN, it was a tip from Dede Spicher, a close friend of Kyron's stepmother, Terri Horman, who is thought to be the last person to have seen him alive, that prompted the renewed search.
Over the weekend, dozens of probers from several agencies scoured an area two miles from the school in a massive ground search.The seven-year-old vanished June 4 after attending a science fair at Skyline Elementary School in the Portland area.
The search also included property where Spicher was working the day Kyron disappeared. Spicher reportedly disappeared from her gardening work that day from about 11:30am until 1pm, according to information her employer and another worker gave investigators, The Oregonian reported.
"It looks like Dede's opening up," Bruce McCain, former captain of the Multnomah County Sheriff's office, told CBS' "The Early Show."
Spicher is said to have helped Terri Horman buy an untraceable cell phone, and lived with her for a few weeks after Kyron's dissappearance.
"...This is not a search-and-rescue," McCain told the morning show. "This is a forensic search for criminal evidence, more than likely, something very specific that Dede told them about. It could even very well be one of these untraceable cell phones."
Terri Horman hasn't been named a suspect in the case, but Kyron's parents believe she is involved in their son's disappearance.
Kyron's father, Kaine Horman, says he's living with the burden of guilt over having brought Terri into Kyron's life, saying, "It's my job to protect him ... and someone ... got him on my watch."
Saturday, hundreds of people gathered at Kyron's school, releasing balloons with messages of hope that the lost boy might soon be found.