PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Dr. Phil’s 2-part interview with Terri Horman, the stepmother of missing boy Kyron Horman, aired on KOIN 6 Wednesday and Thursday.
Dr. Phil grilled Terri on her behavior following Kyron’s disappearance in 2010, and even questioned her about graphic sexting with a friend of her husband.
Kyron, 7, vanished from his Northwest Portland school on June 4, 2010. Investigators still get tips from across the U.S. and his family is hopeful he’ll someday be found.
Terri dropped Kyron off at school the day he disappeared. She was the last person to see him. News outlets pressed her for answers at the time, and she said she was forced to lie, claiming “political corruption” with law enforcement in Portland.
“I did not harm my son,” Terri said. “I’m not this monster people are suggesting I am.”
Dr. Phil asked Terri if her marriage was in trouble before Kyron went missing. “I was unhappy, yeah,” she responded, adding that she and her husband didn’t fight.
She was confronted about rumors that she wanted to kill her husband, and that she was even involved in a murder-for-hire plot. She denied those accusations.
Still, Dr. Phil questioned her behavior in the aftermath of Kyron’s disappearance.
“Within 2 months she is sexting with a friend of her husband. And Jenny, when I say sexting I mean graphically sexting with pictures, words and texts the FCC didn’t let us hint at on the show,” Dr. Phil told KOIN 6 News anchor Jenny Hansson in an exclusive interview. “This seemed to me to be really odd demeanor and conduct for someone that’s grieving or worried about someone being missing.”
Terri told Dr. Phil she started texting her husband’s friend “to screw with [him]” because “he was doing the exact same thing with someone else.”
In part 2 of his interview, Dr. Phil asked Terri to talk about her 2 failed polygraphs.
“I told him I was done cooperating,” Terri explained. “I have had it. I can’t believe they’re focused on me. They’re not focusing where they need to be.”
Shortly before the interview aired, Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office and the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office released the following statement:
“Kyron Horman’s parents and members of the public should know that the investigation into Kyron’s disappearance is active, ongoing and includes a recent search effort. Ms. Horman has an open invitation to speak with MCSO.
The Multnomah County District Attorney’s was in contact with defense attorney Stephen Houze earlier this week and was advised that he continues to represent Terri Horman. Mr. Houze requests no contact with Ms. Horman by law enforcement absent his authorization and her consent.”
The sheriff’s office confirmed Wednesday that a weekend search was conducted along Hwy 30 to search for evidence in the Kyron Horman case. The search was also used as a training exercise for Multnomah and Washington County sheriff’s offices.
Kyron’s biological mother, Desiree Young, released a statement prior to viewing the full interview, saying:
“As always I am sure she is trying to deflect the public from thinking that she did it. This is one of her many attempts to divert attention from the real, basic, truth, that we all know. Regardless, the bottom line is that Terri still hasn’t cleared herself with law enforcement. She has cleared herself whether you are talking about her timeline, her actions that day, the multiple lies/versions of her story, or her whereabouts for 2 hours. The basic fact is that Kyron left with her from the school that day, another fact is that she is pinged at a location that she can’t answer for, she is still not cleared by law enforcement.Yet she has the audacity to go on to Dr. Phil and make up whatever story she wants to fabricate, when there is no one there (Kaine, I, nor police) to contradict her story or provide evidence that actually proves she is lying. It is all very easy when you are sitting in front of someone that doesn’t know the truth and doesn’t know scam or the game that she is playing.”