Kyron Horman Wall of Hope moves to permanent home outside Xtreme Edge Gym in Beaverton

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kyron Horman's face and a plea for help greets people driving by The Edge Gym on Northwest Cornell Road in Beaverton, where his father frequently works out. A group of volunteers moved the Wall of Hope, a makeshift memorial to the missing boy who turns 9 in two weeks, to a grassy spot between the road and the parking lot Saturday morning.

 

In little more than a couple hours, about a dozen from the local chapter of the American Fence Association and father Kaine Horman cut down the fence from the Tualatin Valley Fire and Rescue station on Skyline Boulevard, where it stood for a year, and rebuilt it at its new permanent home. The wall was formerly a chunk of fence from the Skyline School, the last place Horman was seen.

 

A few firefighters from the station showed up to help before being called away for an emergency. They kept the wall in good condition and lit it up during Christmas time last year.

 

"I'm a dad and most of us are parents and it's really a heartbreaking story, so we wanted to help out," spokesman Brian Barker said, as he held his two and a half-year-old daughter.

 

As a group of men unwrapped a segment of chain link covered in laminated hearts with hopeful messages and stuffed animals, gym owner Bob Briede teared up. In the days following Horman's disappearance, he collected donations for the Hormans and organized the supply of food and water for searchers, but he's never seen the fence up close.

 

"(Kaine) asked if we can put up the wall here and I was heartfelt, I was honored," Briede said. "I said, 'Yeah, this is a no-brainer.'"

 

Kaine Horman drove past the wall at the fire station every day and visited twice a week, but now he can sit on the bench and walk between the segments of fence in what is now Kyron's park whenever he works out.

"This is going to get closed at some point," he said.

 

Horman spends every weekend at events like drag races and fairs to keep his son in the public eye. He said it's great to have a more visible spot for the wall, but neither he nor the fire department thought it would need to be moved again.

 

"We thought we would be done," Horman said. "We thought this whole thing would be over."

 

The Multnomah County Sheriff's Office was not immediately available for comment on the investigation.

 

Horman was last seen by his stepmother Terri Moulton Horman on June 4, 2010, after a science fair.

 

The Multnomah County Sheriff's Office disbanded the Kyron Horman task force in July, but one full-time detective works on the case, with more help coming and going as needed. 

 

-- Molly Harbarger: 503-294-5923

 

(OregonLive.com)