"Tape Recorder Man"

[Richard]

When the story came out about Sheila and Katherine being seen with a Tape Recorder Man holding a microphone, and when a sketch was released, numerous persons claimed to have seen a similar man with a tape recorder and microphone talking to children or young girls at both Wheaton Plaza and at other malls on PREVIOUS occasions.

Here is a list of those sightings which I have compiled from a number of different sources:

White Oak Shopping Center outside of Sears about 4PM afternoon in mid Feb 1975

Wheaton Plaza near Wards Friday evening, 29 Feb 1975

Wheaton Plaza Saturday late morning, 1 March 1975

Iverson Mall Saturday, 22 March 1975

Marlow Heights Shopping Center Saturday, 22 March 1975

Bowie Shopping Center (date not stated, but prior to 25 March 1975)

Wheaton Plaza Monday, 24 March 1975 (seen by three mall employees)

Note: All of these sightings were in Maryland. Iverson, Marlow Heights, and Bowie are all in Prince Georges County, while Wheaton Plaza and White Oak are in Montgomery County.

 

[Richard]

....Here is a list of those sightings which I have compiled from a number of different sources:

White Oak Shopping Center outside of Sears about 4PM afternoon in mid Feb 1975

Wheaton Plaza near Wards Friday evening, 29 Feb 1975.....

Correction; the above line should read Friday evening, 28 Feb 1975, not 29 Feb.

 

[Richard]

This Associated Press (AP) article was printed in the Baltimore Sun on Saturday, 4 April 1975.

I have also posted it in the thread on news articles, but thought that it should go here as well since it concerns the Tape Recorder Man story and sketch.

Note that they quote heavily from a Washington Star article about the interview with "Jimmy" which appeared the day before.

Accompanying this article, on page C-18 of the Sun, was the second TRM sketch. It was marked "PFC D. Morton" and "JAB #2". It retained the same date as the origional sketch which was 28 March 1975, and only a few parts of the origional sketch appear to have been altered - mostly around the chin and mouth.

The caption under the sketch reads: "New police drawing of man last seen with girls."

The article text:
---------------------------------------------------------------

Police make new composite in search for Lyon sisters

Kensington, Md. (AP)

- Montgomery County police said yesterday they have prepared a new compsite drawing of a man with a tape recorder being sought in connection with the search for the missing Lyon sisters.

Sheila Lyon, 13, and her sister, Katherine, 11, have been missing for nine days. They were last seen at the Wheaton Plaza shopping center.

PFC Davis Morton, a robbery squad detective who prepares composites, said four women called police Wednesday night and said they recognized the man in the sketch. They offered to help prepare a new composite.

"I showed the composite to the four women separately and it seemed to be basically the guy they had seen," he said. "They suggested a few minor changes .... Sometimes you're close and sometimes you're way off but I feel better about this one because of the other witnesses."

The origional sketch was drawn from a description supplied by a 13-year-old boy, a friend of the Lyon girls. The boy's name has not been made public at the request of his parents who say they fear retaliation. The Washington Star published an interview with the boy yesterday, referring to him only as Jimmy, which is not his real name.

"It was about 1 or 2 o'clock" Jimmy said. "I was out with a friend. We were down near ... um ... Peoples Drug Store and the Orange Bowl Pizza carryout and we saw the two girls talking to a man with a tape recorder."

"I heard the man ask one question; 'Are any of you two involved in sports?'

"And the... um ... 30 seconds later I looked back. He was walking away toward Ward's (Montgomery Ward's) and the girls were walking the other way toward the fountain," he said.

Jimmy said when he first saw the man he thought he looked like a reporter and "we were joking around that maybe we should go over there and get him to interview us."

"The man was holding a microphone in his hand between the girls and asking questions," he said. "He had a tan briefcase on the ground. It was one of those hard ones that sat up."

Jimmy said the tape recorder was next to the man, outside the briefcase.
He said the man was well dressed in a brown suit and that he had never seen him before or since.

 

[darmela]

I think that's wonderful about the new sketch! Any new and updated information is what is needed.

I've been thinking about TRM for the past few days and was just wondering why he (if he is indeed the perp) would put himself so much in the spotlight at these different malls if he indeed was planning to commit a crime. Wouldn't he be worried about so many people seeing his face and being able to provide a description? It doesn't make sense, in a way. Most kidnappers I've heard of choose to be as inconspicuous as possible so as to avoid detection and identity. But then again, I guess anything is possible. Anyway, these are just my thoughts.

 

[Richard]

Here is a link to a website which discusses the Tape Recorder Man. Notice that most of the article was copied word for word from posts in this thread with a few made up additions (literary license or perhaps his own opinions presented as facts) ...

-------------------------------------
... Perhaps the best lead is the man with the tape recorder. He was never identified, even though investigators requested that he come forward. If you lived in the area at the time, think back and try to remember someone you knew who would take a tape recorder in his briefcase and record young boys and girls at local malls.

Here’s what we know about him:

He was about six feet tall, middle-aged, and wore a brown suit. He carried a brown or tan briefcase. When he opened the briefcase, there was a portable cassette tape recorder inside. The recorder had a microphone attached to it.

Some reports say the Tape Recorder Man, as he was called, said he was recording women’s voices to be used in an answering machine. Some children thought he was a reporter and volunteered to be recorded so they could see themselves on television. An eyewitness who helped police sketch a likeness of the man said that he saw Sheila and Katherine speaking to him.

“Are any of you two involved in sports?” the man asked. The boy moved on and didn’t hear the response.

The boy added that “the man was holding a microphone in his hand between the girls, and asking questions. He had a tan briefcase on the ground. It was one of the those hard ones that sat up.”

Many people saw the Tape Recorder Man and helped police develop a sketch of him. In the weeks before the girls disappeared, he was also seen at the Iverson Mall and the Marlton Heights Shopping Center in nearby Prince George’s County.

Whether he had anything to do with the disappearance of the girls is unknown. But police, who have never let the case go cold, would still like to speak with him....

Source:

Kidnapping, Murder and Mayhem: Who Was the Tape Recorder Man?


LINK:

http://kidnappingmurderandmayhem.blogspot.com/2010/12/who-was-tape-recorder-man.html

 

[Motherof5]

Question about TRM 2.....

Why would a guy come forward and claim that he was doing exactly what "Jimmy" claims to have seen? Why would he want that known about himself even if he had an alibi? Also...the TRM sketch #2 has one thing that can't really be confused with just anyone....the nose. It looks like the nose was broken and the nose in the sketch looks a lot like James Mitchell "Mike" DeBardeleben's nose.

 

[Richard]

Question about TRM 2.....

Why would a guy come forward and claim that he was doing exactly what "Jimmy" claims to have seen? Why would he want that known about himself even if he had an alibi? Also...the TRM sketch #2 has one thing that can't really be confused with just anyone....the nose. It looks like the nose was broken and the nose in the sketch looks a lot like James Mitchell "Mike" DeBardeleben's nose.

You bring up a couple of interesting points. But first, just for clarity - you touch on two separate, but related subjects.

The "TRM sketch #2", as seen in the DoeNetwork case files on Sheila and Kate (and copied on other websites as well), was really only a slight modification of the first sketch. It did not represent a separate person, but was influenced by comments from other people who reported having seen a person that they believed to be the same man on other occasions and at other locations.

The first sketch was made by PFC Davis Morton of Montgomery County Police on 28 March 1975 who was working with "Jimmy", the 13 year-old boy who first claimed to have seen the TRM talking to Sheila and Kate.

That sketch was passed by MCP to the news media and after being printed in newspapers and shown on TV, up to 15 other people came forward claiming to have seen such a man on other days. Some of those sightings were at Wheaton Plaza and some were at other Malls in Maryland - in both Montgomery County and neighboring Prince Georges County.

Police asked those witnesses to look at the sketch and state if they thought it looked like the man they saw. They were also asked if they could suggest changes to the sketch. Most expressed confidence that the sketch was a good representation, but some suggested minor changes. As a result, PFC Morton modified the origional sketch slightly in the chin and mouth area only. He did not even change the number or date of the sketch. It was then re-issued to the media and shown to the public.

At some point, a man living in Prince Georges County made himself known to MCP and stated that he was the Tape Recorder Man reportedly seen by witnesses in Prince Georges County - BUT that he was never in Montgomery County (at least not in his TRM role). Additionally, he supposedly had an alibi for the time and date of the Lyon girls' disappearance. He stated that he had been in an auto accident involving a government vehicle and that he had been at the hospital.

This man has sometimes been referred to as "TRM Number 2" or as the "PG County TRM" in these threads - not to be confused with "TRM Sketch # 2".

Note: MCP never released this information to the press. It only came out when I spoke with one of the case officers several years ago.

Your question is a very good one. Just WHY would someone come forward and state that he was a TRM in PG County, but not in Montgomery County? And a good follow-up question might be, "What do investigators think about him?"

According the officer I spoke with, this individual knew that what he claimed to have done - attempting to "interview" young girls with a tape recorder and microphone - was somewhat weird or kinky. And he felt ashamed of it. He reportedly said that he did not want his family or friends to know about it, but that he wanted to set the record straight for the police, so that they would not be following the wrong track.

Police obviously checked out his alibi story about the government vehicle accident and hospital visit, and tended to buy off on him being the TRM of PG County. But was that right?

It is possible that this guy just wanted to get into the act by making a false confession, coming short of actually claiming to be the origional Wheaton Plaza TRM.

But it might also be true that he had been doing some TRM "interviews" and was afraid that he would now be accused of kidnapping if linked to the Lyon sisters.

Just how strongly the MCP investigated this guy, I do not know. I can almost guarantee that they did not photograph him and show his picture to the many eyewitnesses who had claimed to have seen a TRM on all of those dates and places.

And far from wanting to keep mention of this sort of deviant behavior from is friends and family, the first thing police should have done was try to verify from those same people what kind of guy he was.

Police should revisit that character and see what his record has been since his "confession". Any weird behaviors? Any other confessions? Any cases regarding missing or abused children? Any criminal charges what so ever?

The supposed existence of a second TRM only tends to muddy up the waters and add to the confusion and mystery surrounding the Lyon Case.

As have been discussed many times in these threads, there are a number of possible scenarios for this case. And all involve speculation. In trying to keep an open mind to the different possibilities, I tend to think that this "PG County TRM Number 2" character was nothing more than a hoaxer who made a false confession for what ever reason. His story just does not ring true and too many people felt sure that they had seen the same TRM that was seen at Wheaton Plaza.

I would really like to see the police files on this individual to determine how police felt about him and how his appearance affected the course of the investigation.

 

[Motherof5]

http://www.wboc.com/story/5692140/f...ty-in-wicomico-rape-case?clienttype=printable



It's not the first time Meroney has had legal troubles in Maryland, where he lived and worked from 1972 to 1985.
According to court records in Towson, which is near Baltimore, seven criminal charges were filed against Meroney in July 1984 that included child sexual abuse, assault and rape. ~ Full article....http://ronmeroneywatch.blogspot.com/

 

[Richard]

Ron Merony in Maryland

Not much information is available about Marony's criminal behavior in Maryland, but here is a reference to some:

... A Memphis television anchor accused of committing statutory rape in Wicomico County in 1974 surrendered to authorities in Maryland on Thursday.

Ron Meroney, 69, of Arlington, Tenn., was indicted in December on a charge of statutory rape of a child under 14. He was arrested in Memphis in May.

The Wicomico County state's attorney's office refused to provide details about the incident, and the indictment was sealed. A news release issued by the Wicomico County Child Advocacy Center in May said an investigation uncovered a statutory rape accusation between the months of June and October of 1974.

When Meroney was arrested, he first refused extradition, but later agreed to go to Maryland to face charges. He appeared before a Wicomico County Circuit judge late Thursday afternoon and was ordered to be held at the county detention center in lieu of $50,000 bond, state's attorney Davis Ruark told The (Salisbury) Daily Times....

So, it appears that Merony was, in fact, active in Maryland as a child molester in 1974. Wicomico County, however is on Maryland's eastern shore and quite a ways from Montgomery County. It would be interesting to know if Merony was in Montgomery County - particularly Wheaton - in March 1975.

 

[CanManEh]

I have tried to find a good piece of video about this case with it being so long ago i thought there woulda been some kinda program that did a show about these too but i can find hardly nothing on utube or anywhere else a few one or too minute news clips but nothing of length someone needs to get thiis case on a program out more for the public to watch and see

 

[Motherof5]

If the TRM 2 story was not reported in the media and TRM 2 didn't want it reported in the media because he didn't want his family to know about his activities and he had an alibi....why come forward at all? He wasn't seeking fame or attention as he didn't want his activities known to the public. Why come forward with this story if he could prove he wasn't there and didn't do this? Why not wait to see if LE comes to him and if they do he produces his alibi? I'm sure he saw the TRM sketch.....did he think it looked like himself and wanted to clear up any issues in case LE might show up at his home where his family would be? It doesn't make sense for him to make it up to get into the act when he didn't want his activities known. It just seems like he came forward because he was worried about looking like the TRM sketch. Also...is it possible that LE stopped mentioning TRM because they just met a confessed TRM with an alibi for March 25 1975 ? LE had the face of TRM2 to compare to the TRM sketch....and then they stopped talking about TRM.....why?

 

[Richard]

Bumping this thread up.

With the recent police press conference about a new person of interest, and the previous day's hype and anticipation, there has been some mention of the Tape Recorder Man who was seen talking to Sheila and Kate shortly before they went missing.

I do not mean to try to necessarily connect TRM with this new Person of Interest, but I don't feel that he can just be ignored and disappeared. "Oh, we have a new boy to look at, off with you then."

Some news outlets simply copied old case summaries which include mention of TRM and even showed the old sketches of him during MCP's press conference about Welch.

Actually, I applaud them for getting prepared in advance of the news conference. Who can blame them for wanting to have the sketch on hand when police had leaked to them that Welch looked like "the sketch"? The only sketch previously relased in relation to the Lyon Case has been the one of TRM.

I do wish that they would spend more time researching the case and writing their own summaries instead of just copying the same summary that has been copied over and over on the internet since I wrote it in 1999. I mean, at least use one of my more recent ones!

 

[Copper]

Richard, I completely agree. TRM is too weird and suspicious to suddenly discount as having a hand in the girls' disappearance. At the very least, I am disturbed by the thought that two predators may have had the girls in their sights at Wheaton Mall that day.

 

[Lanatara]

Bumping this thread up.

With the recent police press conference about a new person of interest, and the previous day's hype and anticipation, there has been some mention of the Tape Recorder Man who was seen talking to Sheila and Kate shortly before they went missing.

I do not mean to try to necessarily connect TRM with this new Person of Interest, but I don't feel that he can just be ignored and disappeared. "Oh, we have a new boy to look at, off with you then."

Some news outlets simply copied old case summaries which include mention of TRM and even showed the old sketches of him during MCP's press conference about Welch.


Actually, I applaud them for getting prepared in advance of the news conference. Who can blame them for wanting to have the sketch on hand when police had leaked to them that Welch looked like "the sketch"? The only sketch previously relased in relation to the Lyon Case has been the one of TRM.


I do wish that they would spend more time researching the case and writing their own summaries instead of just copying the same summary that has been copied over and over on the internet since I wrote it in 1999. I mean, at least use one of my more recent ones!

I found this article interesting. It is from October 2013. Could Mileski's accomplice have been Welch?

http://beverly-mtgreenwood.patch.co...de-old-missing-child-case-and-possibly-solved

 

[Richard]

I found this article interesting. It is from October 2013. Could Mileski's accomplice have been Welch?

http://beverly-mtgreenwood.patch.co...de-old-missing-child-case-and-possibly-solved

Possibly the most jumbled and incoherrent article I have ever read. It is a patchwork of many other articles on the case.

I do know Bob Austera, mentioned in the article. He tried to start a Missing Persons website back about 1998 or 1999 and asked me to write a few case summaries for it.

My summary of the Lyon Sisters disappearance was included on it, but he soon closed down his website and passed all of the cases on to "Maryland's Most Missing" in 1999. Mileski was mentioned briefly in that summary, and Austera was initially listed as the Point of Contact for any tips.

In fact, the website and article actually brought in some verifialble information about Mileski, along with a story that he was in some way connected with the case - or knew who had abducted the girls. All that information was passed to MCP case officers. Austera even wrote Mileski in prison and Mileski wrote two letters back asking for a prison transfer in return for his information. Again, all that was passed on to MCP.

Meanwhile, other websites began springing up and my origional case summary was copied and pasted all over the internet, including Doenetwork, and the Center for Missing and Exploited Children site.

I can always recognize when a news article has "borrowed" my 1999 summary information, as they constantly repeat misinformation that I have long ago corrected here on Websleuths and other sites.

For example, I had seen a 1975 article that stated two incorrect pieces of information:

- The first was that the Tape Recorder Man was interviewing other children that day. He was NOT. The origional source stated that he only saw TRM speaking with Sheila and Kate and that he departed in the direction of Montgomery Wards immediately afterward.

- The second error by that same 1975 news article was that they said the girls' brother Jay Lyon saw them at about 2PM "Eating Pizza in the Orange Bowl Restaurant". He had actually seen them some time before 1PM at or near the Easter Bunny Display in Mall Center. The Orange Bowl was a pizza by the slice take out stand, and not a sit-down restaurant.

That second error was a merging of facts by a reporter. The girls had stated at home that they wanted to eat lunch at the Ornage Bowl. Jay saw his sisters near the Easter Bunny display. Another boy, "Jimmy" who knew the girls, stated that he had seen them talking with the TRM at about 2PM by the planter across from the Orange Bowl.

All that aside, I have mentioned in another thread the possibility that Mileski might have met this Welch character in Maryland Prison. Welch entered the prison system in April 1982, and coincidentally that was when Mileski first came to light as a potential suspect/person of interest with MCP. In fact that month, they dug up his former back yard in Suitland, MD looking for possible graves, but found none.

 

[Lanatara]

Yes the article is written in an odd way. I was hesitant to post it due to the strange syntax but thought it had interesting information anyway. Thank you for your response.

 

[Richard]

Yes the article is written in an odd way. I was hesitant to post it due to the strange syntax but thought it had interesting information anyway. Thank you for your response.

If one looks at all of the potential suspects discussed in these threads, most seem to be loners. Each of their known crimes appear to be a "one-man-act", that is - without accomplices.

There seems to be one major exception, and that is Mileski. Now Mileski did indeed work alone when he killed his son and wife in the basement of his home, but he had a number of social and work associates.

Differing accounts indicate that Mileski knew the abductor of the Lyon sisters. One of those accounts comes from Mileski himself, who claimed to have met the perpetrator in a Maryland prison.

Other accounts indicate that either Mileski abducted the girls, or joined in with another who was the abductor.

Is it possible that Sheila and Kate were abducted by more than one person acting together? Could TRM have been part of such a plan? Or was he simply a weird guy who just happened to be in the mall at the same time?

With the recent MCP identification of Lloyd Welch as a person of interest, one has to consider him either as the lone stalker or abductor of the girls, or possibly of him being part of a team effort to abduct them. Or of just happening to be there coincidentally.

Coincidences do occur. But others have asked, "what are the chances that a weird guy would make contact with the girls, walk away, and then some other person abduct them? What about the chances of TWO weird guys making contact and then yet a third person abducting them?

Could those two separate contacts (The Tape Recorder Man, and the Long Haired Man) with the girls have been connected?

 

[Richard]

It was on Tuesday, 1 April 1975 (39 years ago) that the sketch of the Tape Recorder Man first appeared in newspapers, and the story about him interviewing the Lyon girls came out.

Police had been contacted late in the day on Friday, 28 March 1975 by the mother of "Jimmy" with information that her son told her about seeing Sheila and Katherine being interviewed by a "reporter" on the day they went missing. His parents took "Jimmy" to MCP headquarters where police interviewed him for 2 and a half hours. During that time, he described the man with the tape recorder and the sketch was made by PFC Davis Morton.

Police did not immediately release that sketch, but instead went to Wheaton Plaza Shopping Center the following two or three days and asked various store personnel if they had seen the man. No one that they spoke to remembered having seen him.

Late in the day on Monday, 31 March 1975, MCP held a press conference during which they released the sketch. It appeared on some television newscasts that evening and in the newspapers the next morning.

After the news media published the sketch, three different people who worked at Wheaton Plaza called police to state that they had seen such a man, but each recalled having seen him on Monday, 24 March 1975 - the day before "Jimmy" had seen him talking to Sheila and Kate.

Additionally, other callers to the police hot line reported having seen someone who resembled the sketch at other shopping malls and on other dates with a tape recorder trying to record the voices of young girls. Reports had him at Wheaton Plaza on at least two other occasions (besides 24 and 25 March), outside Sears at White Oak Shopping Center in Montgomery County, and in Prince Georges County at Bowie Shopping Plaza, at Iverson Mall and at adjacent Marlow Heights Shopping Center.

The several sightings at Iverson and Marolow Heights all took place on Saturday, 22 March 1975. Persons approached by this individual were all young girls, some were sales clerks, others were shoppers. They told of a strange man asking them to read from a hand printed index card "for his answering machine message".

Each of the callers was interviewed by MCP and each was asked if the man resembled the sketch. All agreed that he did. When asked if anything was different, some suggested changes in the mouth area. Based on that input, a second sketch (very close to the first) was released a few days later.

Following the encounter with Sheila and Katherine, the Tape Recorder Man was never seen again with a tape recorder or trying to interview girls. He vanished shortly before the girls did.

There were numerous sightings of this strange man before his reported encounter with Sheila and Kate, and none afterward. While some surmise that he decided to ditch his TRM act because of all the publicity, it should be noted that the sketch and story did not appear until a full week after the girls went missing.

If he was just a harmless or hapless old guy pursuing a weird "hobby", why did he disappear without a trace the same day that the Lyon sisters did? Why did he not continue with his tape recording and interviews on other days or at other locations? There certainly was a lot to talk about at Wheaton Plaza in the days following the disappearance of Sheila and Kate, and he would have fit right in with all the news reporters then on the scene.

 

[steveP120]

Coincidences do occur. But others have asked, "what are the chances that a weird guy would make contact with the girls, walk away, and then some other person abduct them? What about the chances of TWO weird guys making contact and then yet a third person abducting them?

It's not as unlikely as one might think, because one of the events, the abduction (or other crime), happened with 100% certainty.

The correct question to ask is what is the chance of one weird guy making contact at a mall (eye contact or talking to them for a minute) with two young girls on any given day, enough contact so that a police sketch could be drawn? I would guess one in ten or 10%, although it may be higher or lower.

The chance of two independent weird contacts each with a 10% chance of happening both happening on the same day is .1 times .1 or 1%.

The one-in-a-million event, the girls never making it home and never being found, already happened, but it skews the perception of the odds.

If the third event, the crime, was independent of the first two events, there would still be a 1% chance of the other two events independently happening.

If the third event , the crime was related to one of the first two events, (the person was the same) there would be a 10% chance of the other event independently happening.

Expanding the definition of "weird event" to include many other things and expanding the time from that day to that week or month would increase the odds of a "weird" coincidence happening by chance to the point where some coincidence that day or that week would have been likely.

 

[Richard]

It's not as unlikely as one might think, because one of the events, the abduction (or other crime), happened with 100% certainty. ...

... If the third event , the crime was related to one of the first two events, (the person was the same) there would be a 10% chance of the other event independently happening.

Expanding the definition of "weird event" to include many other things and expanding the time from that day to that week or month would increase the odds of a "weird" coincidence happening by chance to the point where some coincidence that day or that week would have been likely.

My post was not about random weird events, but rather specifically about perverts or predators approaching the two girls prior to their disappearance. And I do consider the Tape Recorder Man to be a pervert and a predator, not just a random guy with a strange hobby.

While, obviously in this case, one really cannot determine accurate mathematical "odds" (using equations related to randomness, chance, and probability), one has to wonder how one or two encounters with predators might be connected with that "one in a million" abuction which probably occurred.

My point in bringing up the question (asked previously by others) is that here you have this extremely rare occurance of not one but two girls disappearing without a trace in broad daylight from a relatively safe environment. And just before they disappeared, they are seen talking to an adult male with a tape recorder, who also disappears about the same time - another "one in a million" encounter. Are those two events connected? Maybe, maybe not. But the chances of the two events occurring separately (ie not connected) within such a short time frame would have to be extremely high.

And now, we are confronted with yet another possible predator (LHM and/or Welch) Could all three events be connected?

Depending on Welch's actual age, his behavior patterns in 1975, and other factors, his attentions toward the Lyon sisters that day might have been considered "weird" or they might also have been perfectly normal.

Don't misunderstand what I am saying, I do consider Welch to be a pervert and a predator, based on what little we know about him today.

But back on 25 March 1975, there were a number of known people who noticed and watched Sheila and Kate at various times: going to the Mall, while at the Mall, and while walking home. Welch - if he actually was there and following or watching them - was not the only one noticing and paying attention to the girls.

Here are some others:


1. Mrs. Sarah M. Biosca, age 67 in 1975, a retired seamstress, noticed and recognized Sheila and Katherine Lyon at Beckers Leather Goods store, at about 11:45 AM.

2. Brian McAbee, 18, a clerk at Up Against The Wall, a clothing store featuring jeans and shirts, said he saw Sheila and Kate enter his store a few minutes after they had been in Beckers Leather Goods (aproximately 11:55 AM).

3. "Jimmy", age 13, knew Sheila from school, reported seeing both girls near a planter by the Orange Bowl Pizza take out, "around 1 or 2 PM" talking to TRM.

4. Unnamed Male Friend of "Jimmy", age 13, was with "Jimmy" riding bicycles that day and he also saw the girls talking to TRM.

5. Jay Lyon, age 13, brother of the girls, saw them at Mall Center near the Easter Bunny Display and Fountain, around 1PM.

6. Another boy (Unnamed), age 13, stated that he saw Sheila Lyon near the Easter Bunny listening to children. He recognized her from school. (aproximately 1PM)

7. The Easter Bunny (name, age, and sex unknown) saw Sheila and was sitting with her.

8. David Reed, age 12, knew both girls from having seen them at the community swimming pool, the previous summer, and who attended school with them, saw them near Drumm and Faulkner walking toward the mall. His reported estimate of time did not match with MCP timelines.

9. Boy (Unnamed), referred to by police as "Over 15", claimed to have seen the girls walking down Drumm, near Devin between 2:30 and 3:00 PM, while he was riding with a male friend in a car. Said he knew Sheila from school.

10. Boy (Unnamed) age between 16 and 18, Driver of the car in which "Over 15" was riding, corroborated the 2:30 - 3:00 PM sighting, but claimed that he did not know the girls personally.

I do not mean that any of these people should be considered suspects. I only mean that quite a number of people noticed and recognized the girls that day.