Missing Lyon Sisters: Investigators Search Virginia Property

Although the Lyon sisters disappeared from Montgomery County in 1975, authorities are still investigating the cold case and there was new activity this week.

Police are combing through a Bedford County property, in southwest VA, that once belonged to the family of Lloyd Lee Welch, also known as Michael Welch, a person of interest named earlier this year, according to Montgomery County Police.

Sisters Sheila, 12, and Katherine, 10, had gone to Wheaton Plaza (now known as Westfield Wheaton Mall), but never returned, Patch previously reported.

The Bedford County Sheriff’s Office released a statement Wednesday concerning the case:

“The Bedford County Sheriff’s Office, the Virginia State Police, the Bedford County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office and the Montgomery County, Maryland, Police Department are jointly investigating the 1975 abduction of sisters Katherine and Shelia Lyon. Recent developments in the investigation have led law enforcement to the Taylor Mountain area of Bedford County. Anyone having information concerning this matter is asked to call 540.586.7827.”

In February, Montgomery County Police said that Welch was “noticed paying attention to the sisters the afternoon they disappeared.”

Montgomery County detectives are searching for evidence that may link Welch to the girls’ disappearance, according to Montgomery Community Media.

Since 1997, Welch has been in a Delaware prison, Patch reports. Police say he is a convicted sex offender with multiple offenses against young girls in several states.

Investigators declined to say how Welch became connected to the cold case.

Welch worked as a carnival ride operator and traveled the United States “extensively” from the 1970s to mid-1990s, Patch reported. His job often brought him near malls.

Neighbors of the Bedford County property say the search seems to be focused in two family cemeteries on the property, according to WBAL.

“We have all been haunted by the disappearance of the Lyon sisters,” Montgomery County Police Chief J. Thomas Manger previously said. “Even though so much time has passed, we have not forgotten that those young girls deserve justice, and their family deserves closure. We’re hoping one of you has information that will help us provide both.”

Anyone who may have encountered Welch may call investigators at 1-800-CALL-FBI or can submit a tip online.

>>Sheila Lyon (left) and Katherine Lyon (right) have been missing since 1975. Photo Credit: FBI