this am I read a post in GD about the case. Followed a link to oregonlive and read the article you've posted. Then I got curious and read some other articles at oregonlive. I found this article very helpful in understanding the family dynamics.
Kyron Horman's blended family: Friends describe a close, supportive group
Published: Saturday, June 19, 2010, 5:36 PM Updated: Saturday, June 19, 2010, 6:46 PM
Lynne Terry, The Oregonian
snip~~
The dark-haired and redheaded women standing side by side at a news conference in the Kyron Horman investigation share a longtime bond with the 7-year-old boy gone missing. With a nation looking on, they shared their grief under the glare of television.
The mother, Desiree Young, 38, and stepmother, Terri Moulton Horman, 40, were friends long before the beaming and bespectacled 7-year-old went missing from Skyline School in northwest Multnomah County. Since his June 4 disappearance, his blended family has hunkered down out of public view, emerging only as a group. Neither mother has spoken publicly, and the dads have read only prepared statements.
But details of their relationship have emerged in multiple interviews by The Oregonian with friends and family. ~~snip
http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2010/06/kyron_hormans_blended_family_f.html