3 accused of impeding probe of 1975 Lyon sisters slaying
BEDFORD, Va. - Three more people are facing charges for allegedly impeding the investigation into the slayings of two sisters who vanished from a suburban Maryland mall 40 years ago, a prosecutor said Sunday.
Leslie Engleking was charged with perjury on Friday by a grand jury in Bedford County investigating the 1975 slayings of 12-year-old Sheila Lyon and 10-year-old Katherine Lyon. Gladys Stangee and Amy Welch-Johnson were each charged with obstruction of justice, Bedford County Commonwealth's Attorney Randy Krantz said.
"The filing of charges against each of the named defendants should emphasize the importance for people with knowledge concerning the crimes committed against the Lyon sisters to not intentionally mislead, misdirect or attempt to deceive the investigators in the search for the truth and the effort to hold those responsible for the abduction and deaths of Sheila and Katherine Lyon accountable," Krantz said in an email to The Associated Press.
All three defendants are relatives of Richard Welch, Krantz said. Welch has been named as a person of interest in the investigation. He has not been charged and has said he is innocent.
Engelking, who is Richard Welch's brother-in-law, and Welch-Johnson, who is Welch's granddaughter, declined comment to The Washington Post. Stangee, who is Welch's sister, told CBS affiliate WDBJ-TV in a recent interview that she did not know anything about what happened to the girls.
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 Lyon 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.
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.
Richard Welch's wife, Patricia, was charged with perjury after testifying before the grand jury in December 2014.
Authorities began searching a rugged mountainside in Virginia for the girls' remains last year but haven't found them.