Virginia

Perjury Trial for Woman Charged in Lyon Sisters Case Continued to January

A Maryland woman charged with lying to a grand jury investigating the 1975 disappearance of two sisters will go on trial next year. 

Patricia Jean Welch, 65, was scheduled to go on trial Tuesday. Welch of Hyattsville, Maryland, is accused of lying to a grand jury investigating the case of 10-year-old Katherine Lyon and 12-year-old Sheila Lyon. Welch's trial was continued to Jan. 26, 2016. 

Authorities have named Patricia Welch's husband, Richard Allen Welch, a "person of interest'' in the case. He has not been charged and maintains his innocence. 

In July, police charged Richard Welch's nephew, convicted sex offender Lloyd Lee Michael Welch Jr., 58, with two counts of murder in the case.

The sisters were last seen on March 25, 1975, at the Wheaton Plaza Mall near their home in Wheaton, Maryland, where they went to shop for Easter decorations and eat lunch. According to the indictment against Lloyd Lee Michael Welch Jr., the sisters were kidnapped and taken to Bedford County, about 200 miles away, where they were slain sometime between the date of their abduction and three weeks later.

Their bodies have not been found, although investigators have conducted searches and forensic digs in the area of Taylor's Mountain in the county.

At the time of the slayings, Lloyd Lee Michael Welch Jr. was an 18-year-old traveling carnival worker who had been spending time in the Wheaton area.

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