Missing Lyon Sisters: Police Search Virginia Mountain for Remains

Two Wheaton girls who have been missing for over 30 years from Montgomery County may finally be brought home, authorities say.

New information has led authorities to undertake a “forensic dig” on Taylor’s Mountain in Bedford, VA, Bedford County Sheriff Mike Brown said at a Tuesday news conference. The area is the one-time home for two men -- one a convicted sex offender -- that have been named suspects in the girls’ disappearance, say police.

A Federal Bureau of Investigation evidence recovery team, a Radford University forensic pathologist, and state and local authorities are involved in the search for Katherine Lyon, 10, and Sheila Lyon, 12, Fox News reports.

Eight investigators from the Montgomery County Police Department are also participating, Montgomery Community Media reports.

Sisters Sheila Lyon and Katherine Lyon had gone to Wheaton Plaza (now Westfield Wheaton Mall) on March 25, 1975, but never returned home, Patch previously reported. Police say their mother expected the girls would be home by 4 p.m, but they never arrived.

In February 2014, police named Lloyd Lee Welch, 57, also known as “Michael Welch,” as a person of interest in connection with the kidnapping of the Lyon sisters. Welch, a convicted sex offender charged with sex offenses against young 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, Richard Allen Welch Sr., was named a second person of interest by Montgomery County Police in October 2014. Police say he 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.

“Our mission focus is to bring these children home if at all possible,” Bedford County Commonwealth’s Attorney Randy Krantz told Fox News.

Read Also

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• Puppy Left to Die in Frigid Cold: Police

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