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95-452: The murders of Katherine and Sheila Lyon were the abduction , sexual abuse and murder of two sisters – aged 10 and 12 respectively – who disappeared from a shopping center in Wheaton , Maryland , on March 25, 1975. Described as a crime which shattered the innocence of the suburbs of Maryland, the disappearance of Katherine and Sheila Lyon initiated one of the largest police investigations in

190-475: A Jew dies, a watch is kept over the body and Tehillim are recited constantly, until the burial service. In Christianity , especially the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic traditions, a vigil is often held when someone is gravely ill or mourning. Prayers are said and votives are often made. Vigils extend from eventual death to burial, ritualistically to pray for a loved one, but more so their body

285-492: A drunk driving crash caused by his own father, whom he claimed had repeatedly molested him as a child. Between the mid-1970s and the early 1990s, Welch had traveled extensively throughout the United States via his employment as a ride operator for a carnival company which had frequently installed rides and booths close to shopping malls. Investigators also revealed that, although physically attracted to adult females, Welch had

380-610: A joint venture of the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC) and NCMEC, the Global Missing Children's Network (GMCN) is a network of countries that connect, share best practices , and disseminate information and images of missing children to improve the effectiveness of missing children investigations. The Network has 22 member countries: Albania, Argentina, Australia, Belarus, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Mexico,

475-539: A mug shot taken of Welch in 1977 pertaining to a burglary closely matched the 1975 composite drawing of the young Caucasian man whom witnesses stated had leered at the Lyon girls within the Wheaton Plaza shopping center shortly before their abduction. Having learned that Welch (b. December 30, 1956) had accrued an extensive criminal history between 1973 and 1997 for offenses including rape, domestic violence, and assault with

570-550: A plea bargain in which he admitted to participating in the girls' abduction, but not their sexual assault and murder. He was sentenced to two concurrent terms of 48 years' imprisonment. The bodies of Katherine and Sheila Lyon have never been found, although authorities believe their bodies were burned and buried upon a remote mountain in Bedford County , Virginia . Furthermore, prosecutors have named other members of Welch's family – including his uncle – as persons of interest in

665-429: A black robe was placed as a symbol of his willingness to die for his king. In some countries, including the United States and Australia, vigils are held in public spaces as a form of peaceful protest or public mourning. Examples include the numerous public vigils during the protests against police violence and war as well as public vigils for victims of mass shootings, which can occur as a remembrance or commemoration of

760-430: A child leaves the country with the child or children in violation of a custody decree or visitation order. Another related situation is retention where children are taken on an alleged vacation to a foreign country and are not returned. While the number of cases which is over 600,000 a year consists of international child abduction is small in comparison to domestic cases, they are often the most difficult to resolve due to

855-408: A child rather than adopting . The crime is often premeditated, with the woman often simulating pregnancy to reduce suspicion when a baby suddenly appears in the household. Historically, a few states have practiced child abduction for indoctrination , as a form of punishment for political opponents, or for profit. Notable cases include the kidnapping of children by Nazi Germany for Germanization ,

950-635: A close, middle-class household on Plyers Mill Road. Their father was a well-known and popular radio personality at WMAL-FM , a local radio station operated by the then-owner of ABC affiliate WMAL-TV (now WJLA-TV ) and the now-defunct Washington Star . By 1975, the oldest Lyon sibling, Jay, was 15 years old; the youngest sibling, Joseph, was nine. Sheila was 12 years old, and Katherine ten. Sheila attended Newport Junior High School; and Katherine Oakland Terrace Elementary. Both sisters were days away from celebrating their thirteenth and eleventh birthdays and both had known their parents had planned to take them for

1045-428: A computer data employee at an Aspen Hill firm between April 24 and July 31, 1975, and that he had been interviewed for this position on April 1, investigators were unable to determine his whereabouts on March 25. Ultimately, investigators were unable to establish any definitive link between Coffey and the sisters' disappearance. He was never charged in relation to the case. By 2013, many of the original investigators on

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1140-462: A devotional exercise or ritual observance on the eve of a holy day . Such liturgical vigils usually consist of psalms , prayers and hymns , possibly a sermon or readings from the Holy Fathers , and sometimes periods of silent meditation . The term "morning" means that the observance begins on the evening before. In traditional Christianity, the celebration of liturgical feasts begins on

1235-426: A direct link between these reports and the Lyon disappearance. Although the media devoted considerable attention to the sisters' disappearance and press interest in the case remained intense for several weeks, no conclusive leads as to the girls' whereabouts emerged. On May 23, 1975, Maryland Lieutenant Governor Blair Lee ordered 122 National Guardsmen to participate in a search of a Montgomery County forest for

1330-410: A former Delta Commando, responded to a desperate mother's plea to locate and recover her daughter from Jordan in the 1980s. Feeney successfully located and returned the child. A movie and book about Feeney's exploits lead to other desperate parents seeking him out for recovery services. By 2007, both the United States, European authorities, and NGO's had begun serious interest in the use of mediation as

1425-475: A high divorce rate. Unfortunately, when children are taken from or to a country that is not a Contracting State of the Hague Convention Treaty, or when neither of them is, there is not much that can be done to bring the child back to their country of habitual residence. Another factor that hasn’t been evaluated enough is the increasing number of cases when a child is taking by the mother and the father

1520-550: A knife and was serving a 29-year sentence within the James T. Vaughn Correctional Center for the molestation of a 10-year-old girl in Delaware , detectives secured a prison interview with Welch. This interview was conducted on October 16, 2013, and lasted eight hours. Initially, investigators feared Welch would refuse to speak with them; however, on the first day of formal interview, Welch spoke for many hours – beginning his conversation with

1615-496: A light-colored Peters Jacket. Shea's eyewitness description contrasted sharply with the initial, middle-aged suspect. Aside from the major differences in facial features, hair and clothing, the young male leering at the sisters and the middle-aged man encouraging children to speak into his microphone were several decades apart in age. The composite drawing of the younger male suspect, however, appears not to have been widely disseminated as investigators devoted greater focus upon tracing

1710-500: A means by which some international child abduction cases may be resolved. The primary focus was on Hague Cases. Development of mediation in Hague cases, suitable for such an approach, had been tested and reported by REUNITE, a London Based NGO which provides support in international child abduction cases, as successful. Their reported success lead to the first international training for cross-border mediation in 2008, sponsored by NCMEC. Held at

1805-406: A minor takes place. The French Penal Code describes the fact of "without order of a constituted authority and except as ordered by law, to stop, to remove, to detain or to kidnap a person" punishable by twenty years of imprisonment. If the victim is mutilated or permanently disabled as a result of the kidnapping, the offense is punishable by thirty years of imprisonment and by life imprisonment when it

1900-451: A parent may refuse to return a child at the end of an access visit or may flee with the child to prevent an access visit or fear of domestic violence and abuse. Parental child abductions may result in the child be kept within the same city, within the state or region, within the same country, or sometimes may result in the child being taken to a different country. Most parental abductions are resolved fairly quickly. Studies performed for

1995-493: A security guard he had seen a man matching the police description of the suspect at the premises on March 25. Welch corroborated existing eyewitness accounts of seeing the girls converse with this individual carrying a tape recorder and microphone, also describing overhearing the man state to the sisters he "recorded people's voices and put them on the radio." According to Welch, the older sister had giggled upon hearing this. Welch's statement further elaborated he had subsequently seen

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2090-408: A sexual penchant for adolescent female children, and that he had been arrested and convicted of the rape of underage girls in three states in the years following the Lyon sisters' disappearance. By July 2014, Welch – who had largely remained consistent in his accounts to investigators the Lyon sisters had been "abducted, raped and burned up" – had revised his statement to concede that the day after

2185-447: A single human tooth, a section of charred wire (potentially originating from Sheila's wire-rimmed glasses), and remnants of a beaded necklace or bracelet similar to one habitually worn by Katherine – all recovered from the precise location of the 1975 fire neighbors of the Welch family recollected. The sections of bone fragments recovered were too degraded to permit any form of DNA analysis ;

2280-417: A small army of mobile citizen band (CB) radio users to scour the vicinity of the sighting with a running commentary, but these well-meaning, yet somewhat amateur efforts failed to yield any tangible results as a search for matching plate numbers failed to locate any vehicle matching the known description. Other contemporary press reports indicate that a man matching the sketch of the middle-aged individual at

2375-831: A special meal for their birthdays. According to their mother, neither girl "[could] wait" for the upcoming occasion. March 25, 1975, was the second day of school spring vacation; as such, the four Lyon children woke at approximately 10 a.m. Shortly after eating breakfast, the Lyon brothers visited a local basketball court; Katherine and Sheila opted to walk to the Wheaton Plaza shopping center (now Westfield Wheaton ) to browse Easter exhibits and meet friends who frequently socialized at this location. Upon hearing of her daughters' plans, Mary Lyon suggested: "Why don't you stop off and get some pizza?" The girls left their home between 11 a.m. and midday; each had approximately $ 2 to her name (the equivalent of about $ 11.60 as of 2024), and both were told to be home by their 4 p.m. curfew . At

2470-456: A strong suspect, Welch insisted he was the individual he had seen abducting the Lyon sisters. Asked his personal opinion as to what fate he believed had befallen the girls, Welch replied: "My opinion is that [Mileski] killed 'em and raped 'em ... he probably burned 'em. I don't know." In his second interview with investigators, Welch acknowledged observing the girls leave the shopping center. He further elaborated he had known Mileski, and that

2565-487: A teenager – witnessed Welch and his pregnant partner, Helen Craver, arriving at this property with a bulging "army green duffel bag" emanating a pungent odor he had claimed sourced from spoiled beef. Akers also stated she had been asked by Welch to assist in washing two bags of bloodstained clothing but she had refused. Child abduction The term child abduction includes two legal and social categories which differ by their perpetrating contexts: abduction by members of

2660-440: A timeline of the sisters' movements on the afternoon of March 25. This timeline of the children's movements prior to their disappearance was released to the public: On the day following the first media circulation of the composite drawing of the middle-aged man carrying a briefcase with a tape recorder – April 1, 1975 – an 18-year-old Appalachia native named Lloyd Lee Welch Jr. traveled to the shopping center to specifically inform

2755-886: A variety of related laws at the state and municipal levels. With the passage of the Amber Hagerman Child Protection Law of 1996, the US developed the AMBER Alert system, which broadcasts cases of suspected kidnapping when the child is believed to be in a motor vehicle and the vehicle licence plate is known, and the National Sex Offender Registry . Some laws, such as the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act , aim to prevent stranger abductions through public sex offender registries which include an offender's address. Vigil A vigil , from

2850-684: Is common in parts of Africa. The Lord's Resistance Army , a rebel paramilitary group operating mainly in northern Uganda , is notorious for its abductions of children for use as child soldiers or sex slaves . According to the Sudan Tribune , as of 2005 , more than 30,000 children have been kidnapped by the LRA and their leader, Joseph Kony . A very small number of abductions result from women who kidnap babies (or other young children) to bring up as their own. These women are often unable to have children of their own, or have miscarried , and choose to abduct

2945-494: Is never left alone. During the Middle Ages , a squire on the night before his knighting ceremony was expected to take a cleansing bath, fast , make confession , and then hold an all-night vigil of prayer in the chapel , preparing himself in this manner for life as a knight. For the knighting ceremony, he dressed in white as a symbol for purity, and over that was placed a red robe to show his readiness to be wounded, over which

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3040-568: Is preceded or accompanied by torture or "barbaric acts". See the Child Abduction Act 1984 , the Child Abduction and Custody Act 1985 and the Child Abduction (Northern Ireland) Order 1985 . In Scotland there exists the common law offence of plagium, 'child-stealing', referring to a prepubescent child, an offence against property rather than against the person, despite that children are no longer considered property. The United States has

3135-781: The Catholic , Lutheran , Anglican , and Methodist Churches. In the Eastern Orthodox Church an All-Night Vigil (consisting of Great Vespers , Matins and the First Hour ) is held on the eves of Sundays and all Major Feast Days (such as the Twelve Great Feasts and the Feast Days of important Saints ) during the liturgical year . In the Methodist tradition, Watchnight Vigil services are celebrated on New Year's Eve . When

3230-514: The Latin vigilia meaning 'wakefulness' ( Greek : pannychis , παννυχίς or agrypnia ἀγρυπνία ), is a period of purposeful sleeplessness, an occasion for devotional watching, or an observance. The Italian word vigilia has become generalized in this sense and means 'eve' (as in "on the eve of the war"). A vigil may be held on the eve of a major religious festival ( feast days ), observed by remaining awake—"watchful"—as

3325-421: The U.S. Department of Justice 's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention reported that in 1999, 53% percent of family abducted children were gone less than one week, and 21% were gone one month or more. Parental abduction has been characterized as child abuse , when seen from the perspective of the kidnapped child. International child abduction occurs when a parent, relative or acquaintance of

3420-525: The University of Miami School of Law , Lawyers, Judges, and certified mediators interested in international child abduction cases, attended. International child abduction is not new. A case of international child abduction has been documented aboard the Titanic. However, the incidence of international child abduction continues to increase due to the ease of international travel, increase in bi-cultural marriages and

3515-542: The lost children of Francoism , during which an estimated 300,000 children were abducted from their parents, and the about 500 "Children of the Disappeared (Desaparecidos)" who were adopted by the military in the Argentine Dirty War . In Australia the ' Stolen Generation ' is the term given to native Aboriginal children who were forcibly abducted or whose mothers gave consent under duress or misleading information so

3610-403: The Lyon case had retired or passed away, and although the case continued to receive periodic reviews, little progress had been made. A decision was made to again review the archived case records with view to approaching the investigation afresh. Reviewing every record preserved from the original investigation, Sergeant Chris Homrock encountered Welch's original statement. Critically, Homrock noticed

3705-463: The Lyon sisters. These sightings occurred at approximately the same time as the sisters and other children had spoken into the older man's microphone. A police sketch artist also created a composite drawing based on this eyewitness's description; this depicted a white male in his late teens or early 20s, approximately 5 feet 11 inches (1.80 m), with notable acne on his face, scars on his left cheek, somewhat shabbily dressed, and wearing

3800-565: The Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the US. Each country can access a customizable website platform, and can enter missing children information into a centralized, multilingual database that has photos of and information about missing children, which can be viewed and distributed to assist in location and recovery efforts. GMCN staff train new countries joining

3895-613: The Network, and provide an annual member conference sponsored by Motorola Solutions Foundation at which best practices, current issues, trends, policies, procedures, and possible solutions are discussed. The parents of Madeleine McCann , a three-year-old girl who disappeared from her bed in a hotel in Portugal in 2007, approached ICMEC to help them publicize her case. ICMEC's YouTube channel, "Don'tYouForgetAboutMe," which lets people post videos, images, and information about their missing children,

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3990-503: The Orange Bowl less than an hour after they are believed to have arrived at the shopping center; their older brother, Jay, later informed investigators he had seen his sisters eating pizza together at this same eatery, although his sisters were alone. Jay's sighting of his sisters is believed to have occurred after the girls had spoken with the middle-aged individual. Shortly after 2 p.m., Katherine and Sheila were seen walking home from

4085-627: The assistance of search and rescue dogs , an extensive search of terrain surrounding both the shopping center and the Lyon household was implemented; these search and rescue dogs did detect a trail the sisters had likely taken from the shopping center toward the perimeter of a parking lot adjacent to a department store close to the premises, although the trail ended at this location. Scuba divers also searched lakes and ponds and locations such as storm sewers, vacant lots, rivers and stream beds. Numerous civilian volunteers assisted these official searches, although all efforts proved fruitless. A reward of $ 9,000

4180-480: The bags into a fire which had burned for several days and which neighbors would later recollect had emanated an odor "like you burnt yourself". None of these neighbors had suspected any form of foul play or criminal activity surrounding the fire as the act of residents "burning trash" at this location was commonplace. Sections of Parker's account had earlier been corroborated by Parker's sister, Connie Akers, who informed investigators that at one point in 1975, she – then

4275-475: The briefcase as directed by law enforcement officials, but the briefcase was never claimed. This individual later called John and said he had seen too many police around the courthouse and thus did not attempt to retrieve the ransom. In response, John said he would only follow further instructions if he heard his daughters' voices. This anonymous caller never attempted to re-initiate contact. A neighborhood boy known to both sisters reported to police that he had seen

4370-480: The case that had appeared in the Patriot , were reprinted in newspapers in other states including: Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Virginia and Washington D.C. In 1597, Elizabeth I of England licensed the abduction of children for use as chapel choristers and theatre performers. There are reports that abduction of children to be used or sold as slaves

4465-499: The child permanently. These instances are rare. The earliest nationally publicised kidnapping of a child by a stranger for the purpose of extracting a ransom payment from the parents was the Pool case of 1819, which took place in Baltimore, Maryland. Margaret Pool, 20-months-old, was kidnapped on May 20 by Nancy Gamble (19-years-old) and secreted with the assistance of Marie Thomas. On May 22,

4560-457: The child's family or abduction by strangers: By far the most common kind of child abduction is parental child abduction (200,000 in 2010 alone). It often occurs when the parents separate or begin divorce proceedings. A parent may remove or retain the child from the other seeking to gain an advantage in expected or pending child-custody proceedings or because that parent fears losing the child in those expected or pending child-custody proceedings;

4655-460: The child's home country. The Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction is an international human rights treaty and legal mechanism to recover children abducted to another country. The Hague Convention does not provide relief in many cases, resulting in some parents hiring private parties to recover their children. Covert recovery was first made public when Don Feeney,

4750-436: The children had been taken to Mileski's home, where they had been "drugged up", molested, and murdered by Mileski and two other individuals he claimed in this second interview not to know. Welch claimed that he had observed these events through the window of a basement door and that upon hearing one of the children scream, he had fled from the premises. Raymond Rudolph Mileski Sr. (b. 1936), a resident of Suitland, Maryland , at

4845-545: The community ... The fact that so many people still care about this case means a great deal to us. In February 2014, investigators formally named Lloyd Lee Welch as a person of interest in the case. Investigators revealed Welch, who was eighteen years old in 1975, was an Appalachian native with a violent temper whose family lived insular lifestyles and frequently engaged in incest – both consensual and unconsensual. Welch himself had been raised in both foster care and, later, by his father after his mother had been killed in

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4940-414: The crime gradually proven to be known only to a direct participant. March 25 will mark thirty-nine years since Kate and Sheila were taken from our family. The fact that so many people still care about this case means a great deal to us. Throughout these years, our hopes for a resolution of this mystery have been sustained by the support and efforts of countless members of law enforcement, the news media, and

5035-516: The crime was demonstrated to be financial. She had kidnapped the child with the intention of waiting for a reward to be offered, then would return the child and collect the money. This is a technique favored by many ransom child kidnappers before the use of written ransom demands became the favored method. Nancy Gamble's crime and subsequent trial were reported in detail in Baltimore Patriot (June 26, 1819). The June 26 article, as well as others on

5130-417: The date of their disappearance; this witness claimed that the children were bound and gagged. The driver of this vehicle closely resembled the middle-aged man in the composite sketch released to the public and the eyewitness further claimed that when the driver noted he was being followed, he sped through a red light in the direction of Interstate 66 . The station wagon had Maryland license plates beginning with

5225-433: The earliest ages of child abduction, when child is expansively defined as a viable baby before birth (usually a few months before the typical time for birth) through the age of majority (the age at which a young person is legally recognized as an adult). In addition, embryo theft and even oocyte misappropriation in reproductive medical settings have been legalistically construed as child abduction. Launched in 1998 as

5320-616: The evening before the holy day because the Early Church continued the Jewish practice of beginning the day at sunset rather than midnight. Most likely the best known vigil is the Easter Vigil held at night between Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday . The Midnight Mass held on Christmas Eve is a remnant of this practice. Christmas Eve is a time of reflection for Christians all over the world. Vigils are also commonly observed on Holy Days in

5415-416: The girls for ransom in the immediate aftermath of their disappearance. One of these calls was received from an anonymous male caller on April 4, 1975; this individual demanded that John Lyon leave a briefcase with $ 10,000 (the equivalent of about $ 57,100 as of 2024) inside an Annapolis courthouse restroom. With approval from police, the girls' father left $ 101 (the equivalent of about $ 586 as of 2024) inside

5510-409: The girls seated on a bench outside the Orange Bowl speaking with an unidentified man at approximately 1 p.m. The man had been approximately six feet in height, well-groomed, conservatively dressed, aged between 50 and 60 and wearing a brown suit and was carrying a briefcase with a tape recorder inside. According to this witness, both the Lyon sisters and other children present spoke into a microphone

5605-480: The girls' abduction, abuse and murder, although no other individuals have been charged due to insufficient evidence . Katherine and Sheila Lyon were born in Kensington , Maryland , a suburb of Washington, D.C. , to John and Mary Lyon. The girls were two of four children and the only girls born to their parents, with an older brother, Jay, and a younger brother, Joseph, completing the family. The Lyon children lived in

5700-579: The government could assimilate the black population into the white majority. In Canada, with the Sixties Scoop , indigenous children were systematically removed from their families and culture to be fostered and adopted by white families. Some other abductions have been to make children available by child-selling for adoption by other people, without adopting parents necessarily being aware of how children were actually made available for adoption. Neonatal infant abduction and prenatal fetal abduction are

5795-654: The history of the Washington metropolitan area , although their fate would remain unknown for thirty-eight years, by which time their disappearance had long become a cold case . A re-investigation of the sisters' disappearance in 2013 led detectives to charge a convicted child sex offender named Lloyd Lee Welch Jr. with the first-degree murder of the Lyon sisters. Welch was indicted for their murders in July 2015; he pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree murder in September 2017 via

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5890-498: The individual seen with the tape recorder remaining a primary focus of interest. By the early 1980s, the Montgomery County Police Department continued to receive over a dozen annual public tips; although each was investigated, none of these leads bore fruit. In March 1987, a child molester named Fred Howard Coffey briefly became a serious suspect in the Lyon sisters' disappearance following his conviction for

5985-527: The individual with the tape recorder in the Wheaton Plaza shopping center and considered a likely suspect in the Lyon sisters' abduction indicated the man walked with a slight limp – as had Mileski. Furthermore, Mileski closely resembled the composite drawing. This information, coupled with Mileski's known history of child sexual abuse, had previously made him a strong contemporary suspect. Based on information later given to authorities by prison informants and Mileski's own subsequent claims to hold knowledge regarding

6080-485: The initial attention of several of his victims using devices such as metal detectors and fishing rods to initiate conversation and gain their trust. Although Coffey was younger than the middle-aged individual described by eyewitnesses as initiating conversation with the Lyon sisters and others via his tape recorder, the method of ensnaring children via this modus operandi piqued investigators' interest. Although authorities were able to establish Coffey had been employed as

6175-439: The inquiry upon verification of their alibis. The Lyon family themselves immediately pursued all tangible methods to locate their daughters, including conducting searches around their neighborhood, and printing and distributing missing persons flyers in addition to pursuing leads generated by psychics . Both the family and police received numerous calls from hoax callers, attention-seekers and extortionists claiming to be holding

6270-489: The insistence of a friend, Mary Lyon later visited a bowling alley; she was driven to the bowling alley by her husband, who – working a night shift – woke at midday. The Wheaton Plaza shopping center was located approximately half a mile from the Lyon household. The sisters are believed to have intended to eat lunch at a popular pizza parlor within the shopping center named the Orange Bowl. Both girls were seen by eyewitnesses talking with an unidentified middle-aged man close to

6365-475: The involvement of conflicting international jurisdictions . Two-thirds of international parental abduction cases involve mothers who often allege domestic violence. Even when there is a treaty agreement for the return of a child, the court may be reluctant to return the child if the return could result in the permanent separation of the child from their primary caregiver. This could occur if the abducting parent faced criminal prosecution or deportation by returning to

6460-411: The man forcing the distressed children into a red Camaro with white upholstery before hurriedly driving from the scene. Welch was interviewed at a nearby police station; he provided a six-page statement detailing the account he had outlined and consented to a polygraph test . When informed he had failed this test, Welch admitted he had provided false information. Contemporary case documents indicate he

6555-403: The man was holding, believing their voices were to be broadcast live upon a local radio station. The witness's description of the man carrying a briefcase outside the eatery led authorities to view the unknown person as a prime suspect in the case; he became colloquially referred to by investigators as the "tape recorder man." Two composite drawings of this individual were created. A friend of

6650-516: The middle-aged man holding the tape recorder, whom several eyewitnesses reported having seen in the vicinity of the shopping center on the day of, and day prior to, the sisters' disappearance. Nonetheless, investigators followed subsequent public reports from several individuals who said they recognized either or both of the individuals within the composite drawings. By the week following the Lyon sisters' disappearance, investigators had interviewed and corroborated enough eyewitness accounts to establish

6745-413: The missing girls – again to no avail. Despite intense investigative efforts, the disappearance of the Lyon sisters gradually became a cold case . The girls' parents and older brother commended police efforts to bring a resolution to the case although by the summer of 1975, the family had resigned themselves to the fact the girls were most likely deceased. Nonetheless, police inquiries remained active, with

6840-524: The molestation of three North Carolina children and learning of his impending trial for the July 1979 molestation, beating, and fatal strangulation of ten-year-old Amanda Marie Ray in Charlotte, North Carolina . Via researching Coffey's movements, authorities discovered he had been in Montgomery County in the week following the Lyon sisters' disappearance. In addition, Coffey is known to have attracted

6935-437: The parents, James and Mary Pool, placed an ad in the Baltimore Patriot newspaper offering a $ 20 reward for Mary's return. ($ 491.86 in 2024). When the child was recovered on May 23—through the efforts of members of the community who conducted a search—it was revealed that the child had been badly whipped by Gamble and bore bloody wounds. Both Gamble and Thomas were tried for the crime of kidnapping and found guilty. The motive for

7030-453: The possible combination "DMT-6" (the last two digits being obscured due to the bending of the license plate). The known combination was issued in Cumberland , Hagerstown , and Baltimore at the time. Although this eyewitness report was initially treated as credible – briefly stirring a media frenzy – police later deemed the sighting "questionable". Nonetheless, the eyewitness account inspired

7125-404: The rear of the property and according to Welch, his father and uncle had threatened him, prompting him to simply leave the children at their mercy at this location. Welch further stated he had never again seen the children alive and also claimed that, upon learning of the sisters' murders, he had been forced to participate in destroying all evidence of the crime at the property. According to Welch,

7220-594: The recovered tooth was lost before analysis could be conducted. In December 2014, Welch's cousin, Henry Parker, informed detectives that he had met Welch at a family property on Taylor's Mountain Road in Thaxton, Virginia, sometime in the spring of 1975. According to Parker, he had helped remove two army-style duffel bags from Welch's vehicle; each covered in red stains, weighing "about 60 or 70 pounds and [smelling] like death". Without questioning Welch as to their contents, Parker threw

7315-566: The remains of at least one of the sisters had been placed inside a large duffel bag at this residence, and he had buried the body of the girl (or girls) upon family-owned land on Taylor's Mountain in Thaxton , Bedford County, Virginia. In September 2014, investigators searched both Taylor's Mountain and Welch's uncle's residence in Hyattsville in response to the claims Welch had made two months previous to having witnessed his father and uncle rape one of

7410-478: The shopping center had actually been seen a few weeks prior to the Lyon sisters' disappearance approaching several young girls and asking them to recite an answering machine message typed on an index card into his hand-held microphone. These incidents had occurred at the Marlow Heights Shopping Center and Iverson Mall , both in neighboring Prince George's County . Police never publicly acknowledged

7505-414: The shopping center. This would prove to be the final verifiable account of the sisters' movements. By 5:45, Mary Lyon had begun preparing the family's evening meal of fried chicken; she later recollected feeling slightly annoyed her daughters had not returned home by this time. This annoyance rapidly developed into panic, and by 7 p.m., police were notified of the girls' disappearance. An extensive search

7600-504: The sisters and dismember the other in the basement of the property. The layout of rooms of interest perfectly matched that described by Welch in his latter accounts of the fate befallen to the children, and several items were seized in the search of the property. The FBI 's evidence recovery team assisted police and investigators in their September 2014 forensic search of Taylor's Mountain. The sole physical evidence recovered consisted of several small degraded bone fragments of human origin,

7695-403: The sisters near the shopping center on the date of their disappearance, although he denied being present within the premises; he then expanded his admission to claim to have seen "a guy putting two girls in the back of a car. It didn't look right ... one of 'em was crying." Shown a photograph of a known child sex trafficker named Raymond Mileski Sr., whom investigators had previously considered

7790-432: The sisters – a girl slightly older than Sheila named Danette Shea – also described to detectives how shortly before the sisters were last seen within the shopping center, a young, long-haired man had followed and stared at Shea and her friends for so long and so intently that one of her friends had confronted him, stating: "Why don't you take a picture of us? It'll last longer!" Shea had also observed this individual leering at

7885-450: The sisters' abduction, which he offered to share with investigators in exchange for more favorable prison conditions, authorities searched his former residence in early April 1982, although no evidence was discovered. Mileski died in prison in 2010. In subsequent interviews with investigators, Welch denied Mileski's culpability in the sisters' abduction and murder; he also contradicted several other claims given in his initial interrogation in

7980-470: The sisters' disappearance, he had observed his father, Lloyd Welch Sr. and his uncle, Richard Allen Welch, sexually abuse one of the girls inside a dour, concrete basement. Initially, Welch claimed the basement had been at his uncle's residence, although he later confessed the basement had been at his father's residence in Hyattsville, Maryland . This basement was accessible solely via a single padlocked door at

8075-467: The sisters, whom he identified as Katherine, had been weeping, while another blonde girl sat in the rear passenger seat. Although treated with caution, this sighting was given credibility, thus expanding the search radius. The following day, a witness in Manassas , Virginia , reported seeing two girls resembling the Lyon sisters in the rear of a beige 1968 Ford station wagon at approximately 7:30 p.m. on

8170-447: The sisters; his alternating accounts regarding his participation (or lack thereof); his failing of a polygraph test in one of the first interviews granted to investigators; and the fact his alternating accounts and admissions resulted either from his claims being disproven or challenged led to investigators rapidly viewing Welch as a participant in the crime as opposed to a witness. Furthermore, Welch also inadvertently revealed details about

8265-429: The statement: "I know why you're here; you're here about those two missing kids." In response, Detective David Davis placed a photograph of the Lyon sisters before Welch, stating: "These two little girls here have never been found, and their parents are damn near eighty years old and have no idea what happened to their daughters; that's why we're here to talk to you." In this initial interview, Welch acknowledged observing

8360-475: The time of the sisters' disappearance, lived approximately 17 km from the Lyon family in 1975. Mileski had been convicted of the November 1977 shooting deaths of his 35-year-old wife, Delores, and 17-year-old son, Raymond Jr. in addition to wounding his youngest son following a heated domestic argument. He was convicted and sentenced to forty years in prison for these offenses. Contemporary eyewitness accounts of

8455-411: The twelve subsequent interviews granted to investigators – alternating between instances of denial of involvement in the sisters' kidnapping and murder, knowledge of relatives' culpability in the crime while maintaining his own innocence, and limiting his participation to the planning and commission of the kidnapping. Welch's constantly changing accounts as to whom he had seen abducting and/or molesting

8550-550: The words "polygraph (lied)" written atop the document; this document was filed among the voluminous records compiled by investigators pertaining to the investigation and remained accessible only via a search of police records. On April 6, an 11-year-old boy named William Krebs reported he had seen the sisters inside a white two-door Pontiac sedan driving along U.S. Route 211 in Centreville, Virginia , shortly after they are believed to have been abducted. Krebs remained adamant one of

8645-401: Was also offered for the sisters' safe return. Due to the fact two children had disappeared as opposed to one, investigators suspected more than one individual may have been involved in their abduction. Suspecting a likely sexual motive behind the sisters' abduction, several known pedophiles and sex offenders were questioned in the weeks following their disappearance; all were eliminated from

8740-435: Was immediately implemented and the Lyon family initiated a round-the-clock vigil whereby a family member would be invariably within arm's reach of the family telephone. Police rapidly determined the sisters' disappearance was involuntary, and an intense search to locate the children was immediately implemented. House-to-house searches were conducted, numerous witnesses were interviewed and hundreds of public tips pursued. With

8835-513: Was launched that year as a part of these efforts, and as of November 2014 had 2,200 members. ICMEC reviews the postings to ensure that any child in a posted video is in fact missing, that authorities are aware that the child is missing, and that the images are not inappropriate. Since February 2006, France has adopted a nationwide alert system, Alerte Enlèvement, which broadcasts (via radio, television, street signs and airport and train stations screens) crucial information when an abduction of

8930-400: Was released by police as an unreliable witness – possibly motivated by a desire to collect the publicized reward money for the arrest of the individual investigators considered a strong suspect in the case. Reportedly, Welch received a lecture about lying to police before he was allowed to leave the police station. A one-page report was placed on top of the transcript of Welch's statement, with

9025-505: Was the primary caregiver to a country where the law still maintains old views regarding the roles of women and men within the family, in such cases the child custody is awarded to the mother without any consideration. The stereotypical version of kidnapping by a stranger is the classic form of " kidnapping ", exemplified by the Lindbergh kidnapping , in which the child is detained, transported some distance, held for ransom or with intent to keep

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