Lloyd Lee Welch was formally charged July 10 in Bedford County, Virginia, for the deaths of Shiela, 12, and Katherin, 10, Lyon, who were last seen at at Wheaton Plaza, now known as Westfield Wheaton Mall.
Police announced more than a year ago that they had identified Welch, a convicted sex offender, as a person of interest in the long cold case. He remains in a Delaware prison and officials say they will begin the extradition process immediately.
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The link mentioned an announcement.Setting aside that he is a convicted sex offender already I am curious as to what specifically led to this charge.
ReplyDelete1:07-I was following reporter's tweets during the news conferences and while officials at today's news conferences couldn't comment on if forensic evidence had been found at the Welch family property in Bedford County VA, when Welch first was announced as a person of interest it was reported that forensic evidence linking the girls to the property had been found. Because of the charges against him now being filed, it is unethical for the state to comment on the evidence.
ReplyDeleteThis forensic evidence coupled with Welch the convicted sex offender, being in Wheaton at the same location where the girls disappeared is what brought the Bedford Co grand jury indictment against Welch.
It's like either he is a major player in the Lyon sister's disappearance or he is the most unluckiest person in the world to have all this on him and him be completely innocent.
A female relative and a male relative are involved in someway with lying or covering up something another indication all isn't right w/Welch.
Thank God Montgomery County solves old murders, Salisbury Maryland and surrounding counties don't care about unsolved homicides, and the missing some go back to the 70"s check it out it's true.
ReplyDeleteNo bodies, no witnesses but must have been a DNA link somewhere along the lines. DNA testing for cold cases takes a long time. They wouldn't just randomly pick this guy out of thin air and charge him unless they felt there was concrete evidence he did it.
ReplyDeleteAccording to recently filed police affidavits Lloyd Welch recently told investigators that he was at the shopping mall the day the sisters disappeared and that the next day he saw his uncle sexually assaulting one or both of the sisters at the uncle's house in Hyattsville MD. The uncle was a security guard at the mall at that time.
ReplyDeleteThe uncle Richard Allen Welch owned/owns (not sure of status) the Bedford County Va property where investigators have determined the girls were taken.
Richard's wife Patricia was charged with perjury related to her grand jury testimony.
I think so too 2:04. Something was found that connects the girls to the Bedford County VA property. This prompted Welch's status to be elevated to an official Person of Interest over a year ago. This also prompted extensive searches of the property and nearby mountains.
ReplyDeleteSomething of great evidential value was found.
Even this, though compelling as it is---- because the sisters had no reason to be at or even near the property---doesn't necessarily prove that they were murdered, so my guess is that someone-a family member maybe the uncle or aunt-is coming clean with what they witnessed.
I've looked over some media reports and I would bet it is aunt Patricia Welch who supplied investigators with the missing pieces. She was arrested but never officially charged with lying to the grand jury back in Dec. She waived her right to a preliminary hearing and a grand jury was scheduled to hear her case this month. Too much of a coincidence.
ReplyDeleteShe had this perjury charge hanging over her head. Lying under oath, though rarely prosecuted is a serious offense (unless you are Bill Clinton then it's ignored.)
1:55-Some time ago a local agency made a statement indicating that cold cases in our area would be reopened.I'm not sure how that went or if it fizzled,but that's the last I heard of it.A year or so ago maybe?
ReplyDeleteNot quite true 1:55. The Western Shore counties have many many cold cases that will go unfortunately unsolved.
ReplyDeleteIt just so happened that Welch had been arrested for burglary near the area at around the same time the sisters disappeared.
Detectives then found that Welch was serving time in DE for sexual offenses and had been either convicted or suspected of others. They then zeroed in on him and were able to connect more of the dots.
If he hadn't been arrested for the burglary and the sexual offenses, none of this would be happening today.
In Baltimore City the majority of the murders go unsolved.
"Anonymous said...
ReplyDeleteThank God Montgomery County solves old murders, Salisbury Maryland and surrounding counties don't care about unsolved homicides, and the missing some go back to the 70"s check it out it's true.
July 15, 2015 at 1:55 PM"
I'm not quite sure you know what you are talking about considering the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office Homicide Cold Case Division has 36 PAGES of unsolved murders they are working on.
This is just the Sheriff's Office. The MD State Police Cold Crimes and the Montgomery County Police Dept are assigned many others.
The reality of murder is that quite a few never get solved.
There are several old homicide cases on the shore...they remain "Open" cases. In the past 30 years I recall only 2 that remain unsolved in Worcester. ..Somerset has many. DNA has helped in cases where some was available at the scene. We have solved many cold Sex Offense cases as the data base continues to expand. It is said that "Justice delayed is justice denied"...but with DNA, criminals are eventually found out.
ReplyDeleteCorrect 10:35 but only if the perpetrator left DNA, it was found, saved and stored. The reality is DNA is found in very few cases and even if it is a lot of times it's useless because it comes from someone the victim knew. For example a hair found in a victims car who was killed in that car. If the hair belonged to a person (who is the suspect) who or even might have been previously in the car, that particular DNA is useless. Or the hair could have been transferred there since the victim and the suspect knew each other and had prior contact with each other.
ReplyDeleteDNA while wonderful, it's usefulness is over rated by the public.