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A smile for the camera, and he vanished into thin air

US schoolboy Kyron Horman disappeared one morning in June. Both of the child's natural parents suspect his stepmother of wrongdoing, but, as tongues continue to wag, she has gone to ground. Jacqueline Vaughan reports

Seven-year-old Kyron Horman stands in front of his science project about the life of the red-eyed tree frog, in his school at 8.45am on Friday 4 June. Within the next 75 minutes, he would vanish

Stepmother Terri Horman, who has refused to help police with the case

Teri Horman five years ago as a bodybuilder

Kaine Horman and his ex-wife Desiree Young: the agony goes on

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In the last picture Kyron Horman stands proudly in front of his school science project on the red-eyed tree frog. His new teeth growing, the seven-year-old grins and says cheese for his stepmother ,Terri Moulton Horman, at his Portland, Oregon elementary school at 8.45am on Friday 4 June. He wasn't present for roll call at 10am.

The accounts of the second grade student's disappearance are every parent's nightmare. He vanished from the apparently safe haven of school in broad daylight between the science fair and his classroom. The picture, which Horman put up on her Facebook page just hours later, is the only evidence that police have to go on. Nobody has seen Kyron since.

Over the last four months shock has turned to frustration as police have failed to find any trace of the little boy and the lack of evidence has failed to nail mounting suspicions over the stepmother's role. The tale has taken many bizarre twists in the intervening months with the emergence of infidelity claims and a murder-for-hire plot. And the stepmother is saying nothing.

When she did speak to police, former bodybuilder Horman said she last saw the bespectacled diminutive child walking down a corridor towards his classroom. His teacher recorded him as absent and nobody was alerted until Kyron didn't get off the school bus that afternoon.

"It's like a portal opened up in the school and Kyron just vanished into it," said Kyron's biological mother, Desiree Young, who shared custody of the boy with his father Kaine and his new wife, Terri. Desiree has also remarried, to police officer Tony Young. In a blended family, typical of many in modern times, the two couples seemed to get on well enough and Kyron moved easily between both parents' homes.

The first hint of discord came just weeks after his disappearance when the Youngs and Kaine Horman issued a press statement reiterating their co-operation with the police. Terri Horman was notably absent. Hours later it emerged why, when Kaine issued divorce proceedings and sought a restraining order to keep her away from him and their 20-month-old daughter Kiara. The reason for his action was stated in court papers: "Respondent attempted to hire someone to murder me."

Just two weeks later Kaine issued contempt-of-court proceedings against Terri revealing that she had begun an affair with an old high-school friend of his in the aftermath of Kyron's disappearance. The couple had been 'sexting' – exchanging hundreds of text messages including sexually suggestive pictures – while the frantic father searched for his son.

Terri, who was by now the sole focus of media attention, hired a top criminal lawyer and closed her mouth. Pictures emerged of her five years ago as a pumped-up bodybuilder contrasting with her current slovenly suburban housewife image. The media had a field day and Terri went to ground.

By August her best friend DeDe Spicher could be found in an exclusive interview with People magazine defending Terri. She claimed that Terri had been gardening at home on the day Kyron went missing although she could not be located at her property and did not answer calls to her mobile phone.

Asked if she thought Terri Horman had anything to do with the boy's disappearance, she said: "I just really don't. In my heart, I really don't. In all of these years [as her friend], I have not seen anything that would lead me to believe that she is capable or motivated in any way to do something like this." Spicher was later called before a grand jury hearing to give evidence. Their deliberations are continuing.

Meanwhile, in her absence, friends, neighbours and former colleagues have been painting a contradictory picture of Terri, a woman who had a master's degree in education but never got a teaching job. Most cannot believe that a woman who dedicated much of her life to caring for children could possibly be involved in a crime against a child. Her former husband Kaine is not so sure: "I know a lot of things now that I didn't before. Now, I think there is a huge problem. I don't know what she's not capable of at this point."

Her attitude changed in the past year after Kyron entered second grade, he said. His teacher used a system to rate the kids on their behaviour. Green was good, yellow signalled moments of inattention, blue meant trouble and red sent them home.

Kaine said the teacher called parents about a blue or red card. But he said his wife was the only parent who asked for daily accounts from the teacher. "Terri wanted notification whether it was green, yellow, red or blue," he said. "Every day she wanted it. That, to me, is extremely excessive."

He said when Kyron brought home anything but a green card she wanted Kaine to discipline him by grounding him in his room for the evening, eliminating play time or not letting him watch movies. "There was no room for error," Kaine said, adding that the couple frequently argued about disciplining Kyron. At the same time, Terri fired off long emails to Kyron's mother, Desiree Young, peppered with complaints.

"She was venting about the teacher and why she should have her job," Desiree said, "and she was venting about Kaine – everything."

Despite repeated pleas, Terri has refused to help Kyron's family or police. While trying to keep their missing child in the news, Desiree Young has been to the forefront of the media campaign. She still believes that her son is alive but that he has been "stashed" somewhere by Terri. Last month a special task force took over the investigation which had been previously headed by the Multnomah County Sherriff's office. They have no new leads. The agony for Kyron's family goes on.

www.bringkyronhome.org