"Tape Recorder Man"

[zensiert]

This month marks the 50 year anniversary of the disappearance of the Lyon Sisters. It has also been 50 years since the last appearance of the Tape Recorder Man.

He was seen by a number of witnesses at different times and locations before the girls were abducted on 25 March 1975, but not afterward.

Just one of so many unanswered questions about this case. One man is presently rotting in prison for the crime, although I suspect many others involved are roasting in hell.

 

[Richard]

Just one of so many unanswered questions about this case. One man is presently rotting in prison for the crime, although I suspect many others involved are roasting in hell.

I agree. Although the Tape Recorder Man (TRM) was never officially identified, he was a central character to the case.

Many people claiming to have seen him, came forward after his sketch and story was released to the media. Most of them said that they had seen him on earlier occasions, some said at Wheaton Plaza, but most sightings were at other area shopping centers. None knew his name or identity.

On 1 April 1975, a young man approached a Wheaton Plaza Security Officer claiming to have seen TRM on the day the girls went missing. He wanted to collect a reward that was offered for information.

That individual was Lloyd Lee Welch, Jr.

While the TRM sketch was widely disseminated and discussed in the media, another sketch, drawn by the same police artist, was withheld from the public for some 40 years. That other sketch was of a younger man with long hair.

The Long Haired Man (LHM) sketch was based on the story told by a young girl to police that she had seen him following and talking to Sheila and Katherine the day they disappeared.

Lloyd Welch was questioned by Montgomery County Police on 1 April 1975. He gave them his name and address in hopes of collecting the reward, and was dismissed by them.

In 2014, in the course of a cold case review, Welch's name was found in the files and he was located at a Delaware prison. Initially questioned about his knowledge of potential suspect Raymond Mileski, he soon became a suspect himself in the abduction and murder of the Lyon Sisters. Investigators believe that Welch was the LHM seen with the girls that fateful day.

Lloyd Welch subsequently pled guilty to abducting and murdering both girls, and is serving consecutive life sentences. But their bodies have never been found.

It is very likely that Welch was not the lone perpetrator.

 

[Richard]

March 1975 sketch of the Tape Recorder Man, unidentified suspect in the abduction of the Lyon Sisters.