Sex Offender Admits Taking Lyon Sisters in 1975: Court Records

Two sisters who have been missing for almost 40 years from Montgomery County were taken by a convicted sex offender and later sexually assaulted by his uncle, investigators say in newly unsealed court documents.

The information was contained in search warrants executed as Montgomery County Police, the FBI and sheriff’s deputies search for traces of sisters Sheila Lyon, 12, and Katherine Lyon, 10, of Wheaton on Taylor’s Mountain in Bedford, VA. The area is the one-time home for convicted sex offender Lloyd Lee Welch, 58, and his uncle, Richard Allen Welch Sr., 69, who have been named persons of interest in the girls’ disappearance, say police.

The girls walked to Wheaton Plaza (now Westfield Wheaton Mall) on March 25, 1975, but never returned home, Patch previously reported.

The Washington Post cites documents that say Lloyd Welch told detectives he took the girls when he left the mall the day they disappeared, and that he later saw his uncle sexually assaulting one of the sisters.

“We are unable to provide additional information or comment on the content of the recently unsealed search warrants as this is still an ongoing and active investigation,” said Montgomery Police Chief J. Thomas Manger. “Our department and our partners in Virginia remain committed to determining what happened to Katherine and Sheila Lyon. We believe that there are people, including family members of Dick and Lloyd Welch, who have information that would further this investigation.”

In February 2014, police named Lloyd Lee Welch a person of interest in connection with the kidnapping of the Lyon sisters. Welch, who was charged with sex offenses against girls in several states, has been in a Delaware prison since 1997, according to police.

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

His uncle was named a second person of interest in the abductions in October 2014. The elder Welch was a security guard in the Wheaton area during the time of the sisters’ disappearance, Patch previously reported.

Investigators believe Richard Welch owned property at Taylor’s Mountain in the Thaxton area of Bedford County, WJLA TV reports.

Montgomery County Assistant Police Chief Russ Hamill Hamill said he thinks “there’s a good chance” the girls are on the mountain.

In an earlier letter to the Post, Lloyd Welch denied any involvement in the disappearance of the sisters. Richard Welch’s daughter told the newspaper the allegations are a lie.

Anyone with information about the case is asked to call Montgomery County Police at 240-773-5070.

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