I think the convoluted and contrived scenario is the one that places Terri at the top of the stairs at 8:45 a.m. as she has a vision of the back of Kyron’s head almost at the door to his classroom, which is about 100’ away (or more). No one is postulating. The vision is all Terri's. Please see the link.
The hallway would not have been empty of people or objects. Kyron was 3’8” inches tall.
You think it's contrived that Terri, being roughly in Kaine's position in
this clip, can see Kyron at the camera's position? A straight hallway, just looking down it, at such a short distance? I'd be astonished if she claimed she
couldn't see him from that position.
Objects? Why would there be objects in the hallway, that is the main thoroughfare for people walking between the classrooms and the gym? And why is it unbelievable that the hallway wouldn't be stuffed wall-to-wall with people? None of this is unrealistic in the slightest.
This isn't convoluted or contrived.
Desiree is reliable. She will never stop looking for her son. We can bank on that. Justice for Kyron!
It was Desiree's contention that someone in Kaine's position couldn't see to where the camera is, because of "a wall that partially blocks the view" (Boy Missing ch 5)
Look at the clip, where is the wall?
Another curiosity of the book is that Desiree places the stairs at the gym by the "far east end of the hallway" (Boy Missing ch 5), and indeed that is how they were marked on the
map used by Dr Phil for the appearance of the bioparents, and then Terri. Kyron's classroom was also misplaced on that map. Neither Kain nor Desiree remarked on the error, but Terri did. The "stairwell" on the map is the exit to the buses, not the stairwell by the gym.
The book citation is clear that as early as June 6, 2010, eyewitnesses placed Kyron outside the school in the parking lot with Terri. This was information not released to the general public at the time. Please note the word “privately”.
[Pg 76]
Privately, Sheriff Staton shocked Desiree and Tony with other news. He told them Kyron had reportedly been seen by a student and an adult as he left the south entrance of the school with his stepmother. Terri and Kyron weren’t holding hands, but they were walking out together with [the baby]. The sheriff later backtracked on the statement, leaving Desiree and Tony confused.
“Boy Missing—The Search For Kyron Horman” by Rebecca Morris
Actually, that isn't "placing Kyron in the parking lot". Even if this citation is accurate to what Staton actually said (and I don't believe it is) it doesn't say where the witnesses were or that they saw them beyond the south entrance. And then there is Staton's statement to the media on
June 11th:
"The last time this child was seen was inside the school and was never seen leaving the school," Staton told CNN.
As I said, the quote from the book above appears to be built on Staton's message to the media on the same day (June 6th):
He was seen not, he was seen near his classroom, and the last point was down at the south entrance door of the school.
It does not appear to be compatible to Desiree's new statements from 2015.
Publicly, on
June 9th, we had the first of young TP’s media appearances. The second was on
June 14th. The child would certainly have made statements to law enforcement before his media appearances.
But those statements wouldn't change anything, would they? Staton has already, on June 6th, gone public with Kyron having been seen by a student at 9:00.
Does anyone believe law enforcement does not withhold information while they are actively investigating a case and for years afterward? I don’t want to disillusion anyone, but they do—all the time. Thus Sherrif Staton’s June 11th statement. He was probably concerned about lynch mobs forming. This was a high-profile case with people reacting strongly to Kyron’s disappearance. Everyone wanted answers.
Why would lynch mobs form when at no point until then (and indeed at no point until Desiree in 2015) had anyone, much less law enforcement made the claim that Kyron had been seen leaving the school with Terri? Or indeed leaving the school at all?
Released on the 18th of June, in unison with the first MCSO flyer picturing Terri and the F250:
Snipped: [Jun 18, 2010]
“Terri is the last-known person to have seen him before he disappeared,” Multnomah County Sheriff’s Capt. Jason Gates said, contrary to previous reports of someone else who might have seen the boy afterward.
Investigators say Kyron’s family cooperating as search continues
And I agree, by the way. Law enforcement withholds info and misleads the public if they believe it is beneficial to the investigation. Which is where I believe the June 18th backtracking comes from. This is the same day the questionnaire with Terri and the white truck
was released, which apparently caused much confusion among witnesses. Basically, from everything we can see, this is where it stops being an evidence-centric investigation and becomes a suspect-centric investigation. Going from trying to prove what happened to trying to prove Terri did it.
Terri only needed 10 minutes to get to the Fred Meyer, Hillsboro. Leaving the school grounds in the F250 at approximately 8:55 a.m. would have her arriving around 9:05 a.m. In her June 5th email, she said she had a receipt showing she was checking out at 9:12 a.m. That would give her about 7 minutes to go inside, discover the Motrin was out of stock, and buy a few small items to obtain a receipt.
The book confirms the 9:12 a.m. check-out time with CCTV footage showing her leaving the store. An interesting side note is that the book does not confirm the baby was inside the store with Terri. It says the baby was seen in an outdoor surveillance video in her car seat in back of Terri who was driving the F250. Due to the camera angle, no one could see Kyron’s booster seat. No one could confirm Kyron was inside the F250. Yet, Kyron had been seen leaving the school with Terri 20 to 25 minutes prior.
Two important questions arise: 1) Where was the baby when Terri was in the store; and more importantly 2) where was Kyron?
The answers are obvious, I think. 1) With Terri and 2) not in the truck. After all, she took the baby with her into the second Fred Meyer, why not the first? She parked in the middle of a large, public lot, where other customers would drive past. Leaving children alone and visible to everyone would definitely attract attention. But again, the baby causes problems for the actions Terri is supposed to have taken that morning, so she has to be removed from the equation somehow.
Approximately 7 to 10 minutes would be the time the baby was left alone in the F250 if she was not in the store with her mother and if Kyron was not in the F250 with her.
It was a major parking lot in front of a major store, and the truck was right in the middle of it. Forget CCTV, how could Terri plan for no one to notice the children inside?
What would they have charged her with? She was Kyron’s stepmother and had the right to take him from school.
Certainly some combination of kidnapping charges would have stuck because she wouldn’t tell anyone where Kyron was. Yes, they had probable cause for an arrest, and proof beyond a reasonable doubt for a conviction on kidnapping. She would have served a few years in prison.
If they had a clear charge of kidnapping beyond a reasonable doubt, they would take it. Nothing about that would prevent them from adding other charges later on. That's not even mentioning a trial and what information could emerge during it.
However, the goal was to find Kyron. Arresting her on kidnapping charges would not have made her reveal where he was. Or the name of anyone who had helped her. I think by leaving her free and observing her, keeping pressure on her, law enforcement believed they had a better chance of finding Kyron. Unfortunately, it didn’t work and the statute of limitations on kidnapping ran out.
Statute of limitations for crimes against minors is what, six years? Yet the investigation was dead in the water by 2011. By 2013 they were trying to persuade Dede to conduct a sting operation. By 2016 Terri was out of state. At no point did the MCSO realize they weren't getting results with their "pressure tactics"? And what is the ultimate pressure tactic if not criminal charges?
It just does not seem realistic or even precedented to me that LE would choose not to charge a person for the very serious charge of kidnapping if they had proof beyond a reasonable doubt. I've certainly never heard of any similar case.