Update – Thursday – 8 a.m.
Police believe they're close to finding out the truth about what happened to the Lyon sisters, two young girls who have been missing from Montgomery County since 1975.
Montgomery Police Major Case Division Commander Darren Francke said in a press conference in Bedford County, Va., Wednesday afternoon that police have zeroed in on a location on Taylor Mountain near Thaxton, Va., where he believes police may "find out the truth about what happened to those girls."
He said they're looking for evidence that will hold Lloyd Lee Welch and his family members responsible in the girls' disappearance. Welch was previously identified as a person of interest in the case. He declined to name the specific family members police are investigating.
He said investigators plan to be at the site over the weekend looking for evidence. Local news reports from the area say police have been focusing on a cemetary near a piece of land once owned by the Welch family on Taylor Mountain.
"Investigators are confident that they're getting closer to report to the Lyon family the truth of what happened and to bring to justice each of those who was responsible," said Virginia Commonwealth Attorney Randy Krantz, at the press conference.
A Montgomery County Police mugshot of Lloyd Lee Welch from 1977.
Original Story – Sept. 17 – 9 a.m.
Montgomery County Police announced Tuesday that detectives have been sent to Bedford County, Va., to pursue a lead in the disappearance of two young Kensington sisters nearly 40 years ago.
The new lead is based on a previous police investigation that identified Lloyd Lee Welch, a former carnival worker and convicted sex offender who is currently in prison, as a person of interest in the disappearance of 10-year-old Katherine Lyons and her sister, Sheila, 12.
Police said they determined that Welch, 57, had a possible connection to Bedford County at the time of the young girls’ disappearance in 1975. A CBS affiliate in Roanoke, Va. reported that officers from Montgomery County and Virginia are searching a wooded area on Taylor Mountain Road in Thaxton, Va. Neighbors said one of Welch’s uncles previously owned an acre in the area where police are searching, according to the report. Bedford County, Va., is located in the central part of the state, west of Lynchburg.
The Lyon sisters were last seen just after 2 p.m. on March 25, 1975, walking between Wheaton Plaza, now Westfield Wheaton, and their Kensington home.
Police said Welch was at Wheaton Plaza at the time of the girls’ disappearance and was seen paying attention to the girls while at the shopping center.
The girls’ disappearance has baffled investigators and is one of Montgomery County’s most notorious cold cases. County police working with the FBI identified Welch as a person of interest in the case in February.
Police said Welch traveled extensively throughout the U.S. as a ride operator for a carnival company that often set up at malls. He has multiple convictions for sexual offenses against young girls and has been incarcerated in a Delaware prison since 1997 for one of the offenses, according to police.
Correction: An earlier version of this story reported the CBS affiliate was located in Bedford County when in fact it's in Roanoke. It has been corrected.