When 12-year-old Sheila Lyon and her little sister, 10-year-old Katherine Lyon, suddenly disappeared, their entire community wondered if someone within was responsible. Welch molested one girl when she was 8 and sexually assaulted another when she was 6, according to the Post. He said that the man was carrying a briefcase with a tape recorder inside, demonstrating a type of audiocassette player to the teens and children gathered near him, which included the Lyon sisters. Welch confessed that he participated in the abduction but maintained that he did not participate in the sexual assault or the murder of the girls, per attorney Tony Anderson. Lyon Sisters' Disappearance Rocked Maryland Neighborhoods Now, a cold case squad has identified 57-year-old Lloyd Lee Welch Jr., aka Michael Welch, as a person of interest in the case. With Mark Bowden. Who Killed The Lyon Sisters? For those crimes, Welch was sentenced to 12 years in prison, to be served concurrently to his 48-year prison sentence for the Lyon case. She Just Started Her Very Own P.I. Distractify is a registered trademark. Nerissa Bowes-Lyon (18 February 1919 – 22 January 1986) and Katherine Bowes-Lyon (4 July 1926 – 23 February 2014) were two of the daughters of John Herbert Bowes-Lyon and his wife Fenella (née Hepburn-Stuart-Forbes-Trefusis). In 1975 sisters Sheila, 12 and Katherine, 10, walked into Wheaton Plaza Mall in Wheaton, Maryland and were never seen again. Todays Whodunit Wednesday features the 40 year old cold case of the Lyon Sisters, Katherine and Shelias, disappearance. The disappearance of the Lyon sisters was a well-known case in the Washington, DC metropolitan area, in part from the reporting of Mark Bowden who followed the case from the beginning. And he should never be on the streets again” Paul B. Ebert, then a commonwealth’s attorney in Prince William County, Va., said at the time, according to The Washington Post. Lyon Sisters Investigation Leads to Virginia (PHOTOS & VIDEO) UPDATED Sept. 17, 8:15 p.m. Police held a news conference in Bedford, VA today to discuss the 1975 kidnapping of the Lyon sisters. The disappearance of the Lyon sisters was a well-known case in the Washington, DC metropolitan area, in part from the reporting of Mark Bowden who followed the case from the beginning. But when the clock struck 7, and the sisters still hadn’t returned, the Lyon family called the police. A cousin of the man charged with killing the Lyon sisters more than 40 years ago believes her cousin is guilty but insists her father is innocent. Suspect Lloyd Welch tells investigators the sisters were kidnapped in order to sexually abuse them. The Beloved Chicago Meteorologist Died at Age 60. Who Becomes Governor if Andrew Cuomo Resigns for Withholding Nursing Home Deaths? Katherine and Sheila Lyon vanished after walking to Wheaton Plaza shopping mall, north of Washington, D.C., to see friends, eat lunch, and scope out Easter decorations, per the Post. Jan Pigman-Kruse's 2015 Murder Remains Unsolved — What Happened? However, as their remains have not yet been discovered, what happened to them, their cause of death, and the exact manner of their passing remains a mystery. Witnesses told investigators that he put a duffel bag in a fire and that the fire had “the stench of death,” according to the Associated Press. Then, Lloyd made a few self-implicating statements in his subsequent interrogations, which led to him being charged with Sheila and Katherine’s murders, to which he eventually pleaded guilty. The disappearance of the two has been shrouded in mystery with almost no solid evidence available for a long time. Believed to be dead, Nerissa and Katherine Bowes-Lyon have in fact been institutionalized at a psychiatric ward since the early 1940s. Investigation Discovery’s latest two-hour special, ‘Who Killed the Lyon Sisters?’ examines a 1975 cold-case investigation, the details of which continues to shake Maryland and the United States of America to its core to this day. The Lyon sisters are presumed to be long dead. That’s how Lloyd Lee Welch came under the microscope. Welch was prosecuted in the Lyon sisters’ case in Bedford County, some 200 miles southwest of Washington, because authorities established that the remains of at least one may have been buried there. In saying that, though, there are claims that suggest the girls were burned after being slain. In saying that, though, there are claims that suggest the girls were burned after being slain. Thanks to witness statements, it did help the police set up a timeline that they felt was accurate. Powered by WordPress.com VIP. They were due to come back home at 4 but never made it. (Sarah L. Voisin/The Washington Post) Mary and John Lyon … A friend of theirs then saw the girls walking westward down a street near the mall, which was the direct route to their home, somewhere between 2:30 and 3 p.m., and that was the last time they were seen alive. Even with all this, though, the case soon got plagued by false leads and questionable suspects, eventually making it go cold. John Lyon, father of the missing Lyon sisters, is seen during a news conference Wednesday. The girls who weren't saved: Haunted by the 40-year-old Lyon Sisters kidnapping, a writer wonders why the biggest clue went unexamined In 1975, Sheila and Kate vanished from a Maryland mall. Police had questioned Lloyd Lee Welch soon after the Lyon sisters’ disappearance, but eventually believed he was not responsible. 'Uber Girls' Arna Kimiai and Malaysia King Are Turning Themselves In. They hoped that they could find something that might have previously been overlooked, leading to a potential strong suspect. A week later, Welch pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated sexual battery in cases that were uncovered by the same cold-case detectives that worked the Lyon case. An hour later, their elder brother also noticed them at the pizzeria, alone and enjoying their meal. But because he admitted to the girls’ abduction, he was responsible for their murders, as well, under the felony murder doctrine, as the Post reported. Directed by Aaron Bowden. The following week, he pleaded guilty to even more crimes: two counts of aggravated sexual battery. Two composite sketches of him were created and released to the public, and several other witnesses came forward to declare that they had seen him in the mall that day. The scandal, uncovered after Nerissa's death in 1986, was the subject of a 2011 documentary. Investigation Discovery is airing a one-off special to determine who killed the Lyon sisters… It was their spring break, so they planned on enjoying a day out, even having lunch at a pizzeria within the mall called the Orange Bowl. In 2017, Welch, then 60 years old, pleaded guilty to felony murder in the deaths of 10-year-old Katherine Lyon and 12-year-old Sheila Lyon, who disappeared in 1975, as recounted in the Investigation Discovery documentary Who Killed the Lyon Sisters? In 2013, after rereading a … “We just want to say, simply, ‘thank you,’ and it’s been a long, long time, and we’re tired, and we just want to go home,” John Lyon, the father of the girls, said after the sentencing, per the AP. If not for the persistent law enforcement efforts this case would have gone unsolved decades later. Behind bars, as he likely will be for the rest of his life. The neighborhood boy who recalled seeing Sheila and Katherine talking to someone outside the Orange Bowl described the unidentified man to be about six feet tall, 50 to 60-years-old, and wearing a brown suit. Like most of The Crown’s plotlines, the episode is based in a sad reality.Nerissa and Katherine Bowes-Lyon were indeed sent away to Royal Earlswood Hospital in 1941. He then confessed to having made the whole thing up but was not questioned further until more than 38 years later. At … If you need support, call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673 or visit RAINN.org to chat online one-on-one with a support specialist at any time. Lyon Sisters Murders: Tooth Found At Suspected Burial Site - Bethesda-Chevy Chase, MD - Potential evidence in coming murder trial for the 1975 murders of the Lyon sisters from Wheaton is … 'Who Killed the Lyon Sisters' will air on Investigation Discovery on Saturday, November 28, at 9/8c. But it wasn’t until 2015 that Welch was charged for the killings, after cold-case detectives in Montgomery County, Md., learned that extended family members reported witnessing Welch carrying two large duffel bags on the family’s property in Bedford County, Va. What's Casey Anthony up to These Days? The two victims spoke out about Welch in court during his plea hearing, with one calling him “the dirt I walk on every day.”. Its status as a cold case bothered detectives over the years, especially Chris Homrock. Three people charged with covering-up murder of sisters Sheila and Katherine Lyon who vanished from a Maryland mall 40-years ago. According to authorities, the girls were abused and murdered, and prosecutors said Welch burned the remains of at least one of the girls. During the second investigation, the detectives recovered an old 1977 mugshot of Lloyd, only to discern that he bore a strong resemblance to the other possible suspect – the one who had been inappropriately staring at the sisters. © Copyright 2021 Distractify. Filed Under: Lyons Sisters Disappearance THAXTON, Va. (AP) — The disappearance of two young Maryland sisters shook the suburbs of Washington, and remained an … Katherine and Sheila Lyon disappeared on March 25, 1975 at … Pic credit: ID. On March 25, 1975, Sheila and Katherine, daughters of John and Mary Lyon, and residents of Kensington, Maryland, walked half a mile from their home to the Wheaton Plaza shopping mall (now Westfield Wheaton) to see the Easter exhibits that had been set up there. Sisters Katherine and Sheila Lyon vanish from a Wheaton, Maryland mall in 1975, launching a 40-year search for the girls. “With the whole package, I think justice is being served,” Ebert said at the time. The Lyon sisters are presumed to be long dead. A flurry of recent reports surrounding the disappearance of the Lyon sisters have been published this week as Virginia and Montgomery County officials announced the … Where Is Robert Blake Now, 15 Years After He Was Acquitted of His Wife’s Murder? Investigation into 1975 slayings of Sheila Lyon… This case was one of the largest police investigations in the history of the Washington, DC metropolitan area. On March 25, 1975, 12-year-old Sheila and 10-year-old Kate Lyon vanished while at Wheaton Plaza. However, a girl around Sheila and Katherine’s age then talked to the detectives and gave them a completely new possible suspect. Katherine and Sheila Lyon vanished after walking to Wheaton Plaza shopping mall, north of Washington, D.C., to see friends, eat lunch, and scope out Easter decorations, per the Post. Kirk Franklin's Son Just Released Damaging Recordings of the Gospel Singer, What Happened to Mike Hamernik? Nerissa Bowes-Lyon and Katherine Bowes-Lyon, first cousins of Queen Elizabeth, were secretly incarcerated in the Royal Earlswood Asylum for Mental Defectives in 1941. The extensive search and investigations for Sheila and Katherine revealed nothing about the location of the girls. False, because when the investigators made Lloyd take a lie detector test, he failed. People may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. In 1963, the Bowes-Lyon family reported to Burke’s Peerage, the guidebook to the British aristocracy, that both of the sisters had died, Nerissa in 1940 and Katherine in 1961. But what exactly happened to the Lyon sisters, and who was behind it all? The disappearance of the Lyon sisters also caused parents, who were once happy to let their kids be, to now refuse to let them out of their sights, worried that something terrible might befall upon them. A composite sketch of him was curated as well, but it was never widely spread to the public. In 1975 Sheila and Katherine Lyon walked the 1/2 mile from their home to the Wheaton Plaza shopping mall to view an Easter exhibit and to have lunch. Welch, then 18, participated in the abduction of the sisters, aware that others intended to sexually exploit the girls, as the newspaper reported. Let’s find out. At 1 p.m., a neighborhood boy saw the sisters outside the Orange Bowl, speaking to an unidentified man. FILE - This file handout image provided by the Montgomery County, Md., Police Department shows photos from the original missing person/suspicious circumstances bulletin for … The two Lyon sisters -- Sheila Lyon, 12, and her sister Katherine Lyon, 10 -- disappeared on March 25 in 1975 and have not been seen since. Sheila and Katherine Lyon were abducted and murdered in 1975. Offers may be subject to change without notice. This man was white, in his late teens or early 20s, had long hair, an acne-ridden face, and a prominent scar on his left cheek. And to complete the contrast with the first male suspect, he was also shabbily dressed. Where is Lloyd Lee Welch Jr. now? © 2021 Cinemaholic Inc. All rights reserved. Welch was sentenced to 48 years in prison and could become eligible for parole in his 80s, but Bedford County Commonwealth’s Attorney Wes Nance said the chances of him getting parole are “very slim or none,” according to the AP. But in 2013, near the 40th anniversary of the incident, a new squad of detectives was assigned to reopen the files. Their mother, who saw them off between 11 a.m. and noon, knew all about it, and she instructed them to be back home by 4 p.m. I was a. teenager when the Lyons sisters disappeared just two counties from my hometown.. For decades the family went without answers, while it didn't focus on the family, it did put to rest the accusations that all to often focus on a family member. Detectives interviewed numerous witnesses and followed various tips. “It’s pretty clear this guy is a pedophile, and a dangerous one. Plot. All Rights Reserved. Welch, then 18, participated in the abduction of the sisters, aware that others intended to sexually exploit the girls, as the newspaper reported. Then on March 29, 1975, sisters Katherine and Sheila Lyons, age 10 and 12, disappeared from a mall in Washington, D.C. As a journalism student in both high school and college, despite not having the easy access to news that we have nowadays with the internet, I followed both stories closely, over the years. She described how the young girls had confronted a man who had been staring so intently at them that it made them uncomfortable enough to act. 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