Doe Network

64DFMD - Sheila Mary Lyon

1 Age-Progression
Left: Lyon, circa 1975; Right: Age-progression to age 47 (circa 2009)

Name: Sheila Mary Lyon
Case Classification: Endangered Missing
Missing Since: March 25, 1975
Location Last Seen: Wheaton, Montgomery County, Maryland

Physical Description

Date of Birth: March 30, 1962
Age: 12 years old
Race: White
Gender: Female
Height: 5'2"
Weight: 100 lbs
Hair Color: Blonde/strawberry
Eye Color: Blue
Nickname/Alias: Unknown
Distinguishing Marks/Features: She wears eyeglasses (farsighted).

Identifiers

Dentals: Unknown
Fingerprints: Unknown
DNA: Available

Clothing & Personal Items

Clothing: Sheila was last seen wearing a dark blue sweatshirt and wheat-colored "Cheap Jeans"corduroy pants with a rip in the back of the right thigh repaired with an ironing patch on the wrong side. She was also wearing bright yellow bikini style size 12-14 underpants, a "Teenform" bra size 32", kneesocks with bright horizontal stripes (possibly orange or gold in them), low cut "Gallenkamps" sneakers size 6.5 or 7.5 with dirty white shoe laces.
Jewelry: Unknown
Additional Personal Items: Gold wire rim glasses

Circumstances of Disappearance

Sheila and her younger sister, Katherine , departed together from their family's residence on Plyers Mill Road in Kensington, Maryland on March 25, 1975 between 11:00-12:00. The girls were walking to the Wheaton Plaza Shopping Center in Wheaton, Maryland, which was approximately one-half mile from their home and located on the corner of University Boulevard and Veirs Mills Road. Sheila and Katherine were on spring vacation from school and wanted to see the Easter exhibits at the mall, as well as have lunch at The Orange Bowl Restaurant .

A neighborhood child saw the girls outside the restaurant at approximately 13:00. He told investigators that the sisters were speaking to an unidentified middle-aged man wearing a brown suit. The man was carrying a briefcase with a tape recorder inside. There were also other children around who were speaking into a microphone he was holding. The witness' description of the man led authorities to view the unknown person as a prime suspect in the Lyon sisters' case and a sketch of the individual was created.

The girls' older brother saw them inside The Orange Bowl Restaurant eating pizza together at approximately 14:00. A friend stated that the girls were walking westward down Drumm Avenue, near Devon Street between 14:30 - 15:00. This would have been one of the most direct routes to their home on Plyers Mill Road from the mall and was the final confirmed sighting of the sisters. Their mother had instructed Sheila and Katherine to return to the residence by 16:00; when they did not arrive by 19:00, authorities were summoned and an extensive search was conducted. No evidence of the Lyon sisters' whereabouts could be located. The girls had less than $4 between them when they left home, and after eating lunch, would have had only some change left in their pockets.

A witness in Manassas, Virginia reported seeing two girls resembling Sheila and Katherine in the rear of a 1968 beige Ford station wagon on April 7, 1975. The witness stated that the girls were observed bound and gagged in the vehicle at approximately 7:30 that day. The driver of the station wagon resembled the man seen questioning children at The Orange Bowl Restaurant the day the sisters vanished. When the driver spotted the witness tailing him, he ran a red light and sped west on Route 234 toward Interstate 66 in Virginia. The station wagon had Maryland license plates with the possible combination "DMT-6**." The last two numbers are unknown due to the bending of the car's plate. The known combination was issued in Cumberland, Hagerstown and Baltimore, Maryland at the time. A search for matching plate numbers failed to produce any information.

The girls' disappearances remain unsolved.

1 Age-Progression

Sketches of man wanted for questioning

Investigating Agency(s)

Agency Name: Montgomery County Police Department
Agency Contact Person: N/A
Agency Phone Number: 301-279-8000
Agency E-Mail: N/A
Agency Case Number: W514579

NamUs Case Number: MP1836
NCIC Case Number: M-6053299749
NCMEC Case Number: 793205

Information Source(s)

NCMEC
NamUs

Admin Notes

Added: Prior to 2011; Last Updated: 02-09-2023 - By: kc


Questions or comments? Please contact appropriate member of the Area Team

** Listed information is from the time of disappearance.

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