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The Mysterious Case of the Lyon Sisters

Investigators are conducting a forensic dig on Taylor Mountain in Virginina in connection with the disappearance of sisters Sheila and Katherine Lyon.

UPDATE (January 12th, 2015):

Investigators are conducting a forensic dig on Taylor Mountain in Virginina in connection with the disappearance of sisters Sheila and Katherine Lyon, 12 and 10, who went missing on March 25th, 1975.

According to NBC affiliate NBC Washington, an FBI evidence recovery team and a Radford University forensic pathologist have joined state and local investigators in the search efforts. Authorities said the search is expected to take two days, weather permitting.

Officials did not say what, if any, new evidence prompted investigators to search the new location, but when asked if it appears human remains will be found, Bedford County Sheriff Mike Brown told NBC4, "We would hope so."

ORIGINAL ARTICLE (November 23rd, 2014):

Cold case investigators have been examining new clues in the case of Sheila and Katherine Lyon, 12 and 10, respectively, who went missing on March 25th, 1975 while visiting the Wheaton Plaza shopping center.

Police announced last week they believe a station wagon could hold the clues behind the disappearance of the Lyon sisters.

Last Thursday, November 20th, the Bedford County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement that they are asking for the public’s help identifying a late 1960s or early 1970s vintage station wagon they say was “associated with the crime”. No further description was given, but police said they believe it “may be hidden in, or removed from a barn, shed, or outbuilding.”

In February, police named convicted sex offender 57-year-old Lloyd Lee Welch Jr. a person of interest in the infamous disappearance of the young sisters. Police said Welch is currently serving a prison sentence in Delaware for an unrelated case, but they believe was at the Wheaton Plaza shopping center on the day the girls went missing.

More recently, police also named Lloyd’s uncle, Richard "Dick" Welch Sr., a second person of interest in the case. Police believe Richard Welch Sr. had worked as a security guard in the Wheaton area in the 1970s. However, neither man has been charged in the case, and police have declined to comment on the evidence they have gathered.

According to NBC affiliate NBC Washington, detectives zeroed in on Taylor Mountain in Southwest Virginia earlier this fall where they were looking to recover evidence that would help “hold those that harmed the girls responsible in a court of law.” Detectives have also been investigating a property owned by the Welch family in the same area.

If you have any information about the station wagon detectives are looking for or any other information about the case, please contact the Bedford County Sheriff’s Office at (540) 586-7827.