Mileski - Welch Connection?
There has been a great deal of information released today about Lloyd Welch, along with the announcement that he is a person of interest in the disappearance of Kate and Sheila Lyon in 1975.
While he seems a proper candidate for the position of "potential suspect", I have some doubts. The strongest of those doubts would be first his age in March of 1975, and secondly would be numerous statements about him hitch hiking to get places.
At age 17 and a half, he does not fit the general profile of a well organized, experienced killer who is capable of abducting and murdering two young girls in broad daylight, leaving no trace what-so-ever.
As has been mentioned and discussed by numerous posters over the years, to effect a successful abduction in this case, one would almost have to have a motor vehicle to get the girls out of the area quickly. If Welch had such a vehicle, why was he always hitch hiking?
Is there any evidence that he lived in one of the houses along the route the girls took to their home?
Of course, one could argue that Welch has proven by his subsequent behavior and crimes that he is capable of cold blooded abductions, rape, and murder - but had he evolved to that level by age 17?
Did Welch always work alone, or did he have partners? If he had partners in crime, could he have been part of a team acting together to abduct Sheila and Kate?
Obviously, the police have infomation or evidence which they have not shared with the public to date. So I am hesitant to completely disregard Welch as a potential suspect.
Somebody has talked, and police are anxious to corroborate their information. The first "Re-release" of the Long Hair Sketch last November was a fishing expedition in which police hoped to find other potential victims of Welch. Now they have decided to come out and seek information by specifically citing the Lyon Case. One has to wonder why they have taken so long to even show the sketch to the public.
There are some intriguing coincidences and possibilities, however.
One of the previously considered potential suspects was a guy named Raymond Mileski. Mileski murdered members of his own family in 1977 and was sentenced to life in Maryland Prison. In April of 1982, Mileski was identified as being connected to the Lyon sisters' disappearance in some way by other inmates. His former home and yard in Suitland Maryland was dug up by MCP looking for bodies. None were found.
In 2002, Mileski claimed in two letters that he had met the guy who abducted the Lyon Sisters "in the pen". He identified this person only as "C. D." and stated that he wanted a prison transfer in exchange for his information. Was Mileski only making it all up for a better deal, or had he actually met such a person? Was that person Welch? Note that Welch began his Maryland prison stay in April 1982 - the same month and year that Mileski came to light as a Person of Interest.
Mileski died in prison in 2004. He had gotten the transfer he desired, so it is possible that MCP did in fact speak with him about the Lyon Case.
There is much more information about Mileski in early posts in this forum. One strong "coincidence" is that after the Tape Recorder Man story and sketch was in the news media in April 1975, about 15 other people came forward to state that they, too, had seen such a person at other times and in other malls.
While there were several earlier sightings of a Tape Recorder Man at Wheaton Plaza, there were even more such sightings at Iverson Mall and Marlow Heights Shopping Center in Prince Georges County (just south of Washington DC). Those two malls were only a short distance from Mileski's home and business.
Mileski employed a teen aged boy in his business and the boy (a school drop out) lived in his house with him. Is it possible that he might have known Welch in 1975?
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I posted the above narrative last 11 February 2014 on the day that the news about Welch first broke. It was a banner day for posts on this topic, with this thread alone totalling 8 pages with 191 posts.
In the above post, I stated my belief that if Welch was involved in the abduction of the Lyon Sisters, he might have had partners or had been working as part of a team.
Back in April of 1981, Raymond Mileski (a convicted murderer of his wife and son) had come to the attention of MCP investigators because of stories or claims that he allegedly made to other inmates regarding the Lyon Sisters. His former house and yard were searched for a few hours one afternoon, but investigators found only "bird bones".
In January 2001, an informant called in a "tip" to a Missing Persons website with a long story about how several persons (including Mileski) had been involved in the abduction, murder, and burial of the Lyon Sisters. The story checked our in many details which could be researched. The information seemed to be independant of the previous information obtained from the convicts, although some of it was similar.
The problem was that this information was all second and third hand, and at best it could only be alleged that Mileski had stated that he "knew who the abductors were" or that he may have become involved AFTER the abduction took place.
In early 2001 Mileski replied from prison in writing to a letter from a private investigator. His first letter was rather short but he indicated that he did indeed have information about the Lyon case and that he would share it with police in return for a prison transfer. His second letter (to the private investigator) was longer, more detailed, but somewhat elusive in places. He implied that he had more to tell.
Here is what Mileski stated (in part) in his first letter:
Quote: Yes there is objective and subjective matter on your subject area I could speak to; particularly as to a region -- within which (is) an area, within which is specific acreage that would involve something of a lodge; a place one would go for brief hunting or fishing stays...
In short, I'm probably as sure of who the perpetrator is in the Lyons case as the Md State Police are, having discoursed many times and in close quarters with that person over years at the "Pen"... (C.D. and I were "almost friends")...
Here is what I propose; Have your contact with the State Police place a request to Warden *advertiser censored* - as to my being transferred to the Maryland House of Corrections - this for the duration of my incarceration. This would improve my lot as well as facilitate easier logistics for who of police might be assigned ... to speak with me. ...
When I told my son *advertiser censored*, "I know who did that", I was referring to what I had gathered at the "Pen"...
Ray Mileski, 2-16-01." Unquote.
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It now appears that a investigators are convinced that more than one perpetrator was involved in the disappearance of the Lyon Sisters and they are searching a remote area of Virginia, hoping to find evidence. Could it be that Mileski was giving them acurate information?
Mileski did get the transfer that he asked for and he died later the next year, 2002.
