The Lyon sisters, two pre-teens who disappeared from a mall in 1975, were kidnapped so they could be "sexually exploited," an imprisoned suspect in the cold case crime told investigators.
Lloyd Lee Welch, 58, a convicted sex offender who authorities in Virginia on Wednesday charged with two counts of first degree murder, said he witnessed his uncle, Richard Welch, sexually assault one of the girls,
authorities told WDBJ-TV.
"We've never forgotten the Lyon family or the Lyon girls," said John McCarthy, the state's attorney for Montgomery County in Maryland, told the television station as the investigation continued.
Authorities believe Sheila Lyon, 12, and Katherine Lyon, 10, were brought to Bedford County in Virginia after they were kidnapped.
Richard Welch, 70, has not been charged in the case, but his wife Pat Welch has been charged with lying to a grand jury.
Richard Welch, who lives in Hyattsville, Maryland, has been a "person of interest" in the case since October,
reported the Washington Post.
"He remains and will be a primary focus as we move forward, now that Lloyd Welch has been charged," said Randy Krantz, the lead prosecutor in Bedford. "We believe that the purpose of this abduction and ultimate murder of the Lyon sisters was for sexual exploitation purposes."
Authorities think Lloyd Welch, with possibly the help of others, captured the girls at a mall in Montgomery County where girls went to look for Easter decorations, noted the Post. Investigators told the newspaper they don't know where the girls were killed, but they believe their bodies were burned or buried on land the Welch family owns on Taylor Mountain in Bedford County.
"This is a difficult case," McCarthy said Thursday. "No one could ever look you in the eye and tell you that a case that is 40 years old, in its 41st year of investigation, is not going to be a tough row to hoe."
Richard Welch's attorney, Carter Garrett, told the Post that Lloyd Welch could not be trusted as a witness against his client.
"At this point, it begins to appear to me that Lloyd Welch is lying — just like my client has always said he is lying," said Garrett. "If they could get anything to hang their hat on, I believe my client would be under indictment."
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