Man convicted of killing Lyon sisters to start serving time for 1975 murders amid new probe of other crimes

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1. Nearly 50 years after Lyon sisters disappeared, Lloyd Lee Welch begins serving time for their murders

Nearly 50 years after Lyon sisters disappeared, Lloyd Lee Welch begins serving time for their murders

Neal Augenstein | [e-mail]
January 8, 2025, 8:40 AM


FILE - Undated photos of Sheila and Katherine Lyon, released by the FBI. (AP Photo/FBI)

Almost 50 years after 12-year-old Sheila and 10-year-old Katherine Lyon were last seen at Wheaton Plaza, in Wheaton, Maryland, the man convicted of killing them has started serving prison time for their murders. ... WTOP has learned Lloyd Lee Welch has been transferred to Virginia’s Department of Corrections from a Delaware prison, where he served 33 years for child sex crimes, to begin his prison sentence for killing the Lyon sisters.

The now 68-year-old Welch was sentenced in 2017 to 48 years in prison for the Lyon sisters’ first-degree felony murders, in Bedford County, Virginia, and a series of 1996 sex crimes against two young girls in Prince William County. ... Welch was transferred Tuesday, according to Delaware corrections officials.

On Wednesday, Welch “arrived at Nottoway Correctional Center to begin serving his Virginia sentence. Nottaway serves in part as a reception center for inmates, which is why (he) is there now. The inmate will be evaluated and then assigned to a permanent facility,” said Kyle Gibson, director of communications for Virginia Department of Corrections. ... “It was a very long time coming, but justice, in some form, was finally served against Mr. Welch,” Bedford County prosecutor Wes Nance told WTOP in December 2024.

The disappearance of the two girls — daughters of former WMAL broadcaster John Lyon and his wife, Mary — during Easter vacation in March 1975 sparked fear in the region and marked a turning point in attitudes about child abduction and safety. ... The girls’ bodies have never been found. ... “Our working theory was that the Lyon sisters’ bodies came to rest in Bedford County,” Nance said. Prosecutors alleged Welch burned at least one of the sisters’ bodies in a fire on the property of his family members on Taylor’s Mountain in nearby Thaxton, Virginia.

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Editor’s note: Updates that Nottaway prison is where Welch is being evaluated for a permanent assignment.

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Neal Augenstein
Neal Augenstein has been a general assignment reporter with WTOP since 1997. He says he looks forward to coming to work every day, even though that means waking up at 3:30 a.m.

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