Kyron search: Dive teams back on Sauvie Island
PORTLAND, Ore. – Dive teams from eight different agencies are back out on Sauvie Island over the weekend, searching for clues to the disappearance of Portland elementary student Kyron Horman.
A spokesperson for the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office says about 50 people are part of the search, including paid workers and volunteers.
Multnomah County Sheriff Public Information Officer Mary Lindstrand tells us the search is only in the water. Inch by inch, foot by foot, in 50-degree water only a few feet deep, dive teams combed Sauvie Island's canals, ponds and lakes – looking for any trace of Kyron Horman.
Near the end of the day Saturday Lindstrand said searchers "found nothing of note" ... that she can tell us about. She also said no new information brought searchers here.
The dive teams continued the search on Sunday, wrapping up around 5 p.m. as the skies turned dark.
"Water temperature is fine – depths are shallow – but the visibility's tough," said volunteer diver Jason Cottle from Skamania County.
The school where Kyron is believed to have vanished from, Skyline School, is just 10 miles from here. Even though the search is focused in the water, instead of on land, when you get a look at Sauvie Island you realize it's still a huge job.
From Google maps you can see Sauvie Island, northwest of downtown Portland, stretched out between the Columbia River and the Multnomah Channel. The north end of the island is mostly water, with huge shallow lakes criss-crossed by drainage canals. All of these waterways make up the 12,000-acre Sauvie Island wildlife area.
This is just one more step in a massive process of elimination.
"Hopefully, when we get this done, they'll know areas where we know we don't have to go back," Lindstrand told us. "But again, we may not finish with what we need to do because, as you know, this island is just covered with water."
This search comes just days after Kyron's father Kaine reiterated to a Multnomah County Court judge that he thinks his estranged wife, Kyron's stepmother Terri, had something to do with his then-7-year-old boy's disappearance from a Skyline School science fair. In the most-recent court filing, Kaine asked a judge to sanction Terri in some way if she refuses to testify in court.
On Monday, Nov. 15, Kaine will talk to reporters outside the Wall of Hope, which was relocated from Skyline School to Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue's Skyline station Sept. 7. We will have a crew at Monday's press conference, and will bring you his comments on Monday.
– KATU Reporter Bob Heye contributed to this report.
Kaine Horman talks to reporters Monday in front of the Wall of Hope at Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue's Skyline station:
Related resources:
- Watch KATU Reporter Bob Heye's report from the scene of the search Sunday
- Images from the scene of Sunday's search
