It was unclear when the boy was reported absent. Robb Cowie, Portland Public Schools communications director, said school officials were asked by law enforcement not to comment on any details because it might impede the investigation. He said not all elementary schools use the automated call system that notifies parents when children are marked absent. He did not know whether Skyline used it.
Witnesses said Kyron arrived at the school with his stepmother, Terri Moulton Horman, on Friday morning, perhaps about 8 a.m. Parents had been invited to attend Skyline's annual schoolwide science fair, an event scheduled for 8 to 10 a.m., according to the PTA.
The stepmother said she last saw Kyron at about 8:45 a.m. walking down the hallway toward his classroom, according to a sheriff's office news release.
It was not clear, however, whether Kyron, like every other student in the school, then participated in a classroom-to-classroom inspection of other science projects.
Parent-led groups of about four students walked among the classrooms, said Gina Zimmerman, president of the Skyline PTA.
"You were supposed to stay with your group," Zimmerman said. "I don't know what group he was in."
However, the sheriff's office news release says school staff did not see Kyron after 8:45 a.m. and that he did not make it to his classroom.
Terri Horman called 9-1-1 about 3:45 p.m. Friday to report Kyron missing after he failed to return home at his usual time on the school bus.
Zimmerman could not believe Kyron would have just walked off the school grounds on his own.
"He's not the type of child who would just go out of school and go wandering around," said Zimmerman, whose 8-year-old daughter, Madi, is in Kyron's class and has known the boy for three years.
