Kyron Horman's Stepmother Accused of Attempted Abduction of Daughter

PORTLAND, Ore., July 13, 2010 — -- The Oregon stepmother embroiled in an increasingly nasty battle with her missing stepson's family allegedly attempted to "abduct" her own daughter all while carrying on an affair with her estranged husband's high school classmate, according to new court documents.

Terri Horman could face charges for violating an emergency restraining order that keeps her away from her husband, Kaine Horman, and the couple's 20-month-daughter.

According to court documents filed Monday by Kaine Horman in an attempt to have his wife held in contempt for violating the restraining order, Terri Horman tried to "abduct" her 20-month-old daughter from a gym day care June 28, two days after the emergency restraining order was granted, following a revelation from police that she tried to hire the family's landscaper to kill her husband.

And while the rest of the family was consumed by the desperate search for 7-year-old Kyron Horman, Terri Horman was carrying on an affair with a 37-year-old Michael Cook, a former classmate of Kaine Horman's, according to the documents. The affair purportedly began four days after Kaine Horman moved out and investigators, according to the court papers, said they've "obtained hundreds of text messages, as well as several photographs of respondent [Terri], in various stages of undress and graphic sexual activity."

The court documents accused Terri Horman of sharing sensitive information with her new boyfriend about the police investigation into Kyron's disappearance.

The new allegations came hours after Terri Horman's attorney, Stephen Houze, sent a letter to the judge stating that she would not contest the restraining order that would keep her away from her daughter, or her husband's request to move out of the family's Portland home.

Cook told a local television station that he was planning to hire an attorney, but while there was "inappropriate communication" with Terri Horman, he never had sex with her.

Terri Horman was the last person known to see Kyron before he vanished June 4 from his elementary school science fair. She has not been charged or even named a person of interest in the boy's disappearance or in the alleged murder-for-hire plot against her husband.

Kaine Horman and Kyron's biological mother, Desiree Young, have said they had little doubt that Terri Horman is somehow involved with their son's disappearance. Young has pleaded with Terri Horman to "do the right thing."

Terri Horman and her attorney have declined to comment on the allegations made by Kyron's parents.

Former FBI Special Agent Brad Garrett said investigators' decision to release the damaging court documents was one more sign they were trying to force Terri Horman into cooperating with their efforts to find Kyron.

"What they're trying to do is continue trying to tighten the vice," Garrett said. "When you become more desperate you tend to make more mistakes."

The affair with Cook, Garrett said, has the potential to provide new leads in the boy's disappearance.

"The key, I think, in this case is a new strain of information possibly through Mr. Cook," he said, "or things Mr. Cook could bring into the case."