Sheila and Katherine Lyon-sisters missing since 1975 - #2

[ElGreco14]

Is the case still open? Maybe more specifically, have authorities ruled out ever finding their bodies? I was wondering if the documentary might have stirred someone's conscience and might compel them to finally say something. Or maybe it made things worse for LLW2 (with his fellow inamtes) and he'd gladly exchange more info for, I don't know, prison privileges? My hope is that the girls' remains can be found and brought home before their parents pass away. Though I'm sure their brothers will never give up, either.

 

[ElGreco14]

Is the case still open? Maybe more specifically, have authorities ruled out ever finding their bodies? I was wondering if the documentary might have stirred someone's conscience and might compel them to finally say something. Or maybe it made things worse for LLW2 (with his fellow inamtes) and he'd gladly exchange more info for, I don't know, prison privileges? My hope is that the girls' remains can be found and brought home before their parents pass away. Though I'm sure their brothers will never give up, either.

 

[ElGreco14]

Is the case still open? Maybe more specifically, have authorities ruled out ever finding their bodies? I was wondering if the documentary might have stirred someone's conscience and might compel them to finally say something. Or maybe it made things worse for LLW2 (with his fellow inamtes) and he'd gladly exchange more info for, I don't know, prison privileges? My hope is that the girls' remains can be found and brought home before their parents pass away. Though I'm sure their brothers will never give up, either.

 

[ElGreco14]

Shoot! How do I delete a message?

 

[tilomagnet]

You can click edit -> delete the content;

 

[Fukiyama]

Reading _The Last Stone_ now. Interesting book, definitely. It doesn't say anything about why they released the Long Hair Man sketch awhile before they named LLW as a POI/suspect.

I really think there is more to tell about how they found Lloyd than just his statement magically appearing.

 

[ElGreco14]

I'd appreciate anyone's thoughts on the idea of a conspiracy by some in LE. I mean, how does the ONE piece of physical evidence to possibly tie the crime to Taylor's Mountain...just disappear the day after it was found? It doesn't take a vast conspiracy for that to happen, just one person who has relatives on the mountain (what are the odds at least one person in LE in Bedford doesn't?)

 

[John/Jane Doe]

By any chance, has Katherine Lyon been ruled out of being this Jane doe?

81UFAR

 

[Richard]

While one person has been convicted after pleading guilty of the abduction and murder of Katherine and Sheila Lyon, the case is far from "solved".

The girls' bodies have never been located, recovered, or identified. Many questions remain.

Who was the Tape Recorder Man? How did he figure into the crime?

Why did LE withhold from the public the sketch of the Long Haired Man for 40 years?

Who was the person who contacted the Lyon family to demand a 10 thousand dollar ransom? Was it Welch?

So much of what LE has stated in their narration of how things occurred sounds like early informant stories about Raymond Mileski. How did he play in the eventual identification of Lloyd Lee Welch, Jr.? How was Mileski involved? Who else was involved?

Investigators have expressed beliefs that several other persons were involved in the girl's disappearance and likely murder - but only one was named as a person of interest, and no charges were filed against him.

The case remains open to further investigation.

 

[Richard]

Sheila and Katherine Lyon
Missing since 25 March 1975

 

[VAGenealogist]

Extremely thankful he was tried and convicted. When my mother was a teenager, I’m guessing around 17-18, a member of that family tried to abduct her when she got off the school bus. Would have been around 1951-1952.

 

[SurrealisticSlumbers]

Extremely thankful he was tried and convicted. When my mother was a teenager, I’m guessing around 17-18, a member of that family tried to abduct her when she got off the school bus. Would have been around 1951-1952.

Thank you for sharing that.

 

[VAGenealogist]

Thank you for sharing that.

You are welcome. My mother hid this from me - I just found out a couple of years ago from a cousin. I was shocked.

 

[Richard]

Bumping this thread up. How many other similar abductions or missing children cases might be connected?

 

[IDK]

This may have been posted before, but I was googling and happened to see that Richard Allen Welch died August 11, 2020. I won’t link to the obituary, but it’s out there if interested.
He was never charged with anything, but so much time had passed it would have been hard to make any charges stick, if guilty, IMO.

May Sheila and Katherine continue to Rest In Peace. Precious angels.

 

[Richard]

This may have been posted before, but I was googling and happened to see that Richard Allen Welch died August 11, 2020. I won’t link to the obituary, but it’s out there if interested.
He was never charged with anything, but so much time had passed it would have been hard to make any charges stick, if guilty, IMO.

May Sheila and Katherine continue to Rest In Peace. Precious angels.

Whatever other crimes Richard Welch may have committed, the only potential evidence which linked him to the disappearance of the Lyon sisters was the ever changing stories of his nephew Lloyd Lee Welch, Jr.

Lloyd was the only person ever convicted of kidnapping and killing Sheila and Kate Lyon, and that conviction was the result of a guilty plea, rather than on any forensic evidence. Lloyd Welch, Jr. is a serial liar whose testimony on anything is highly suspect and probably would not have withstood any cross examination in court.

It is very likely (in my opinion) that Lloyd did not commit this crime all on his own, but that he probably was involved with others. Just who those others were is the question.


Lloyd Lee Welch, Jr.
Convicted of murdering the Lyon Sisters

LINK:

The Lyon sisters vanished four decades ago. Here's how the case was finally solved - NZ Herald

It lit up like a murder scene. Someone or something had been slaughtered in this room.

www.nzherald.co.nz

 

[IDK]

I wonder where Lloyd Welch was the summer of 1975?? Sheila and Katherine were kidnapped in 1974 and there were 5 missing girls from Jacksonville, FL the summer of 1975. Jean Marie Schoenberg was abducted by a man with hair “styled like Elvis Presley”. Heartbreaking!

* editing to add it does look like a man was arrested and questioned in some of the cases, but can’t find anything about a trial or conviction.

Unsolved: Three months, five missing girls and the tumultuous summer of 1974

Three months.Five missing young girls.Two bodies found.Two possible serial killer connections.No arrests.

www.firstcoastnews.com

Jean Marie Schoenberg does have her own thread here:

FL - FL - Jean Schoen, 9, Jacksonville, 21 July 1974

(Article dated Monday, November 23, 1998) Jean Marie Schoen was the first little girl to vanish that tragic summer of 1974. In all, there were five girls, ages 6 to 12, who disappeared within a three-month span in Jacksonville. Only two bodies were ever found.* The five abductions -...

www.websleuths.com

 

[Richard]

*...editing to add it does look like a man was arrested and questioned in some of the cases, but can’t find anything about a trial or conviction...

You might be referring to the serial killer Paul John Knowles who was captured after a killing spree. He "confessed" to having abducted and killed the young Anderson sisters. He told investigators where he had supposedly left their bodies, but they were never found. This led some investigators to think Knowles may have lied about killing them - taking credit to boost his "score". Knowles was killed while attempting to escape a short time later.

 

[PGHJW]

https://www.wfxrtv.com/bedford-county/fbi-us-marshal-investigating-cold-case-in-bedford-county/

Isn't this where they searched for the sisters?

 

[IDK]

https://www.wfxrtv.com/bedford-county/fbi-us-marshal-investigating-cold-case-in-bedford-county/

Isn't this where they searched for the sisters?

Yes, on Taylor Mountain in Bedford County. Will try to look for the exact location.