Have You Seen Me? Parents, officials continue search for 67 missing Oregon children

MEDFORD, Ore. — Some have been missing for a few months, while others have been missing for decades. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children reports there are currently 67 missing children across Oregon.

"We're always looking for them," Sgt. Jeff Proulx from Oregon State Police said. "Obviously, the longer it goes, the chances of finding that person are going to be slimmer."

On the corner of N. Phoenix Rd. and Cherry Ln. in Medford, there is a missing poster for Kyron Horman.

"We never thought in a million years that we would be here nine years later," Kyron's mother Desiree Young said.

As hundreds of drivers pass the poster, they are reminded of the 7-year-old boy still not found. The same poster is placed in Young's front yard, as a sign of her continued search for her son.

"As a parent, you never expect this to come to your doorstep," Young said. "You're never truly prepared, but you always think that phone call is just around the corner."

Investigators report Kyron vanished from his elementary school in Portland in June 2010.

"I saw the searchers and I got out of the car and I could hear them yelling Kyron's name with the helicopter overhead," Young said. "It just clicked at that moment that he was really missing, and this is really happening, and that was when the nightmare really started."

With her son's case still open and active, investigated by the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office, the community continues to show their support.

"I was just recently over on the coast," Young said. "It was my husband and my anniversary and we were taking some time out. I walked into a restaurant and there's Kyron's face. I love to see that."

However, other missing children investigations are not progressing, leaving detectives with no tips or leads to follow.

"They just dig and dig, try and get new information, reinterview people that we've already interviewed and gathered more information," Proulx said. "Maybe we missed something the first time around."

The posters and buttons also come at a price, which is a resource that Young said not every family can afford.

"Most of us parents don't have enough money to search for our child," Young said. "It's worth millions of dollars to me. I don't have millions of dollars to put out there to search for my son."

Oregon State Police offers a resource for parents wanting to be proactive, known as the "Who Am I?" child identification kit. The free kit comes with a bottle swab, information card, bag for hair samples and also tips of how to talk to children about safety.

"It has tips in there for kids and parents to discuss these things; if someone were to come up to you and say 'Hey, can I give you a ride?' or 'Do you want some candy?' That kind of typical thing and how to respond to that," Proulx said.

Proulx said the kit comes in handy if a child goes missing in a public setting, like a playground or shopping center. Young said she actually used an identification kit with Kyron months before he went missing. While she said she was hesitant at first, she is happy she did it.

"It was extremely uncomfortable and it was a weird conversation to have with my kids, but you just have to have it because you never know when you're going to be in that situation," Young said.

Any parents interested in picking up an ID kit can get one for free at any OSP office.

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children said since many children are never reported missing, there is no reliable way to determine the total number of children who are actually missing in the United States.