Richard Thanks for all your post very informative. I was 9 years old and lived in Silver Spring when this occured will never forget it. Has there been any updates to the POA who claims he was in the car with the Lyon Sisters on 25mar1975 and do have any feelings on his claims??
This is a case which will remain forever etched in the minds of those who experienced it in 1975, and others who have come to learn of it since.
To my knowledge, there have not been any official police updates on the case for the past few weeks. There was, however, a Washington Post article which appeared in this past Satruday's Metro Section, written by Dan Morse. In it, he summarizes the case - which he has been following rather closely over the past year. There is a link to his article in the Thread on Links and Media here in the Lyon case topic.
In the article, Mr. Morse mentions the MCP investigators who are working on the case, but states that they could not comment on the case at the time.
I wish that I could see their case file and read what Lloyd Welch has actually told investigators. It appears from recent news articles and police statements that Lloyd Welch actually contacted MCP on Tuesday, 1 April 1975 to state that he had information on the case. He stated at that time that he had seen the girls get into a car with a man unknown to him. Police questioned him and gave him a polygraph test and concluded that he was lying, and disregarded his information until 2013 when they found his 1975 interview summary in their files.
Whether they simply ran across that interview summary or were pointed to it by other information or through a possible witness, I do not know.
Investigators began to visit and question Lloyd Welch in his Delaware Prison in 2013. According to a summary they wrote to obtain search warrants, they claim that Lloyd had subsequently stated that he had actually gotten into the car with the girls, and that also present in the car were his Uncle, Richard Welch, and his 11 year-old cousin, Thomas T. Welch II.
Those police statements indicate that Lloyd claimed that he was dropped off at his house (presumably on Baltimore Ave in Hyattsville, MD) and that his uncle continued on with the girls. Some time later, the police statements indicate, Lloyd went to his Uncle's house (again presumably in Hyattsville) and walked in on his Uncle in the act of molesting one of the girls. The Police document states that Lloyd claimed to have never seen the girls after that.
MCP declared Lloyd Welch, Jr. a "Person of Interest" in the case in February 2014. His uncle, Richard Welch, Sr. was later (in October 2014) declared a Person of Interest as well.
Without seeing all that is in MCP files, or without knowing what leads the current investigators are pursuing, I am at a loss to comment on their efforts. I certainly hope that they are on the right track and that this and potentially other related cases might soon be resolved.
This coming Wednesday will mark the 40 year anniversary of the girls' disappearance. I know that many people are thinking of the girls and praying for a conclusion to this very long and sad case.