Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:18):
Welcome to the thirty first episode of Proofless, where we
immerse ourselves in the heart of America's unsolved mysteries, cases
that linger in the shadows, confounding investigators and leaving families
with questions that echo across generations. I'm your host, Anna Burger,
and today we're journeying to a suburban Maryland community in
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the nineteen seventies, where the disappearance of two young sisters
shattered a sense of safety and sparked a decade's long
search for truth. We're diving into the nineteen seventy five
disappearance of Sheila mary Lyon H twelve and Catherine mary
Lyon H ten from Wheaton, Maryland, who vanished while walking
to a local mall, leaving behind a trail of fragmented
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clues and a case that, despite a conviction, remains proofless
due to the absence of their bodies and unanswered questions
about the full scope of the crime. This is a
story of two vibrant girls, a fleeting moment that changed everything,
and a family's relentless pursuit of justice. So settle in
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for an exhaustive exploration of a mystery that continues to
Haunt and compel Let's set the scene its March nineteen
seventy five in Wheaton, Maryland, a bustling suburb of Washington,
d C. Known for its tree lined streets, middle class neighborhoods,
and family friendly vibe. Wheaton, with a population of about
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thirty thousand, is a place where kids ride bikes to school,
family shop at the Wheaton plasam Hal, and community events
like church picnics define the rhythm of life. The area,
part of Montgomery County, is considered safe, with low crime
rates and a strong sense of community pride. Sheila mary
Lyon twelve and Katherine mary Lyon ten are sisters growing
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up in a cozy, split level home on Pliers Mill Road,
born to John and Mary Lyon. Sheila born November eighteenth,
nineteen sixty two and Katherine born March twenty ninth, nineteen
sixty four are the eldest of four children, with younger
brothers Jay and Joe. Sheila, with her blonde hair, blue eyes,
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and quiet demeanor, is a seventh grader at Kensington Junior
High known for her love of reading and her talent
for playing the flute. Katherine, with her brown hair, hazel eyes,
and outgoing personality. Is a fifth grader at Oakland Terrace Elementary,
passionate about drawing and gymnastics. The Lyon family is a
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corner stone of Wheaton. John, a radio broadcaster for wm AL,
and Mary, a homemaker and part time librarian, raise their
children with love and sad structure. The sisters are close,
often seen playing in their backyard or walking to the
library together. Sheila at five feet two inches and ninety pounds,
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is introspective, spending hours with mystery novels and dreaming of
becoming a writer. Catherine at four feet eight inches and
seventy pounds, is a social butterfly, organizing neighborhood games and
aspiring to be an Olympic gymnast. They share a bedroom
filled with posters of David Cassidy and stuffed animals, and
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their after school routine includes homework, flute practice for Sheila
and drawing sessions for Catherine. The family attends Saint Mary's
Catholic Church, where the girls sing in the choir, and
they're known for their tight knit bond, often hosting neighbors
for barbecues. On March twenty fifth, nineteen seventy five, a
sunny Tuesday, during spring break, Wheaton is alive with the
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promise of spring. The Lion's sisters, excited for a day off,
asked to walk to Wheaton Plaza, a popular open air
mall about a half mile from their home, to see
easter displays and grab pizza at the Orange Bowl restaurant.
Dressed casually, Sheila in a blue sweater, jeans and sneakers,
Catherine in a red jacket, green pants and loafers. They
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leave home around eleven a m with two dollars each
from their allowance, promising Mary they'll be back by four pm.
The walk along Drum Avenue and Faulkner Place is a
familiar route, passing neighbour's homes and a small park. Witnesses,
including a school friend, see the sisters at Wheaten Plaza
around noon, browsing at Spencer's Gifts and eating pizza. Around
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two pm, a security guard Tom notices them talking to
a man near the mall's fountain, described as middle aged
with glasses, a suit, and a briefcase holding a tape recorder.
The man, later dubbed the Tape Recorder Man, seems to
be interviewing kids, asking about their favorite music. Another witness.
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A classmate sees Sheila and Catherine walking toward Drum Avenue
around two thirty pm, presumably heading home. This is the
last confirmed sighting of the Lion sisters. When Sheila and
Catherine don't return by four pm, Mary grows worried and
calls friends, finding no trace. At five pm, John, back
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from his radio shift, searches Wheaton Plaza with neighbors. At
seven pm, the Lions report the girls missing to the
Montgomery County Police Department MCPD. The MCPD, led by Detective
James Sullivan, responds quickly. Given the sisters young ages. Officers
search the mall, finding no signs of a struggle, and
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canvas Drum Avenue, where a neighbor reports seeing two girls
resembling Sheila and Catherine near Faulkner Place at three pm,
walking with a man in a brown jacket. The sighting
is unconfirmed due to distance and fading daylight. Volunteers, church members, classmates,
and boy scouts search Wheaton's Parks Woods and the nearby
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Sligo Creek while helicopters scan the area. On March twenty sixth,
a dog walker finds Catherine's red jacket torn at the
sleeve in a ditch off Drum Avenue three hundred yards
from the mall. The jacket identified by Mary is sent
for analysis, revealing no blood or DNA, only dirt and
grass fibers. The find escalates the case to a suspected
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double abduction, and the MCPD sets up a command post
at Wheaton Plaza. The investigation dives into the sister's last movements.
Witnesses confirmed they were at the mall from noon to
two thirty pm, engaging in typical activities. The tape recorder
man becomes a focal point. Mall employees describe him as
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forty to fifty years old, five feet eight inches tall,
with short gray hair, seen talking to several children. A
sketch is released, generating tips, but he's never identified. The
neighbour's sighting of the man and the brown jacket, described
as their thirty five five feet ten inches and thin,
adds another lead, but no witnesses can provide a clear face.
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The MCPD interviews the sister's friends, teachers, and family, finding
no recent conflicts. John and Mary, devastated, provide photos Sheila
in her flute recital dress, Katherine in her gymnastics leotard,
offering a one thousand dollars reward, later raised to fifty
thousand dollars with community donations. The case grips Wheaton, dominating
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the Washington Post and WJLA TV. The Lions appear on
Good Morning America pleading for their daughter's return, sparking national
coverage on NBC Nightly News and The Today Show. Tips
flood in a cashier report seeing two girls in a
car near Frederick, Maryland. A trucker claims a sighting in Virginia.
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None are verified. The FBI joins, given the possibility of
interstate kidnapping, setting up a task force with thein MCPD.
They analyze a partial fingerprint on Catherine's jacket, but it's
too smudged for identification. Cadaverdogs alert to assent in a
wooded area off Drum Avenue, but digging reveals only animal bones.
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The investigation focuses on local men with criminal histories. A neighbor,
Richard Dick Welch thirty two, a mechanic with a nineteen
seventy three arrest for indecent exposure, becomes a suspect. Welch
who matches the brown jacket man's description, was seen near
Wheaton Plaza on March twenty fifth. Questioned on March thirtieth,
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he claims he was at a bar in Silver Spring,
but his alibi lacks witnesses. A search of his apartment
finds a knife and a map of Montgomery County, but
no link to the sisters. He fails a polygraph, citing anxiety,
but is released. Another suspect, James Jimmy Tait twenty eight,
a drifter with a history of loitering near schools, was
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spotted at the mall. His van, a white Ford acnnoline,
matches a vehicle seen near Drum Avenue, but a search
finds no evidence, and his alibi working a construction job
is verified. A third lead points to a local loaner,
Lloyd Lee Welch, no relation to Richard eighteen, with a
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record of petty theft. Lloyd, seen in Wheaten that week,
fails to provide a clear alibi, but is released for
lack of evidence. White dusted theories about the sister's fate emerge,
each steeped in uncertainty. The primary hypothesis is that they
were abducted by a stranger while walking home, possibly assaulted
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and killed. The jacket and sent suggest a struggle near
Drum Avenue, with the bodies hidden, perhaps in Sligo Creek,
a landfill, or the Blue Ridge Mountains fifty miles away.
A nineteen seventy six search of a Frederick County dump
prompted by a tip about suspicious bags, yields nothing. Another
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theory posits a targeted abduction by someone the sisters new.
Their routine walks to the mall suggest a local predator
may have watched them, possibly the tape recorder man or
a neighbor. A third theory, fueled by Wheaton's proximity to DC,
suggests a trafficking ring, given reports of missing teens in
the region. A nineteen seventy five FBI report notes trafficking
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activity in Baltimore, but no evidence links the sisters. A
fringe theory speculates they ran away, but their close family
ties and lack of money dismiss this. In twenty thirteen,
a break emerges when Lloyd Lee Welch now fifty six,
is identified as a key suspect serving time in Delaware
for a nineteen eighty seven molestation conviction. Welch is reinterviewed
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After cold case detectives revisit nineteen seventy five tips, he
admits to being at Wheaton Plaza on March twenty fifth,
claiming he saw two girls with a man, but denies involvement.
In twenty fourteen, Welch's cousin, Henry Parker tells police Lloyd
confessed in nineteen seventy five to helping dispose of two
girls on Taylor's Mountain, Virginia, where the Welch family owned land.
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In twenty fifteen, the MCPD searches the mountain, finding bone
fragments and a girl's shoe, but DNA tests are inconclusive
due to degradation. In twenty seventeen, Welch pleads guilty to
two counts of felony murder, admitting he abducted the sisters
with an accomplice, killed them after an assault, and burned
their bodies in a Virginia incinerator. Sentenced to forty eight years,
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he provides no further details, citing memory lapses. The accomplice,
never identified, remains a mystery, and the absence of the
sister's bodies keeps the case proofless. The lions become tireless advocates.
John quits his radio job to coordinate searches, while Mary
distributes flyers at Wheaton Plaza. They appear on Unsolved Mystery
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and America's Most Wanted, offering a one hundred thousand dollars
reward by nineteen eighty. In nineteen seventy six, they found
the Lions Sisters Foundation, supporting missing children's cases. The emotional
toll is heavy, John battle's heart issues, Mary keeps the
girl's room intact, and Jay and Joe struggle with loss.
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The case reshapes, Wheaton street lights are installed, and schools
mandate safety programs. The nineteen ninety six Jacob Wetterling Act,
inspired partly by the Lions, creates sex offender registries. The
podcast Missing in Maryland twenty eighteen and forty eight hour
specials Keep the Case Alive. A twenty twenty four tip
about a Virginia landfill prompts a search, but no remains
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are found. Forensic advances offer hope, but the case remains unresolved.
The proofless nature lies in the unknowns. Who was Welch's accomplice?
Where are Sheila and Catherine? Mary now in her eighties,
tells The Washington Post In twenty twenty five. My girls
are out there waiting. The Lions keep their flutes and
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drawings a testament to a truth still elusive. That's all
for the twenty fifth episode of Proofless. The Lion's sister's
disappearance is a tragedy that shook a suburb and changed
child safety laws. If you have information, contact the Montgomery
County Police or visit Lionsistersfoundation dot org. Share your thoughts
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on our website or social media, and join us next
time for another journey into the unknown. Until then, keep
searching for answers.