Sheila and Katherine Lyon-sisters missing since 1975 - #1
- Thread starter joellegirl
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I recall seeing portions of that tape on Fox. I believe that the interview was actually conducted a few days before "Bundy Tuesday" the day that Ted was finally executed. Ted was very talkative and, as usuall, full of BS. He blamed alchohol and poronography as I recall, and never once mentioned the fact that he was just plain evil. That tape was available at one time for a nominal price from Dr. Dobson's radio show "Focus on the Family".ShurlT said:
Towards the end, after all of his appeals had run out, Ted was trying to buy some time by giving investigators some information, and volunteering to help them search for some of his victims. This is just my opinion, but I think that Ted was more interested in making his known "score" a little higher, rather than feeling any kind of remorse or sympathy for the families of his victims.
Yes, Bundy did blame alcohol and pronography citing a gradual increase from soft *advertiser censored* to hard *advertiser censored* to eventually wanting to try it himself and then having to be drunk to get up the courage or to anesthetize himself. I didn't know it had been released to the media because the one I saw had a blurb on it by Dr Dobson saying he offered it to the media but they weren't willing to pay. I've never seen it on TV but that doesn't mean a whole lot. Duty often calls one in other directions. Oh me.
Well, I'm having trouble lighting a fire under the person I have to go through to request assistance getting the F H Coffey, Jr. pic cleaned up. Phoned yesterday and today but will have to wait a little longer to hear the decision. The person who probably could do it is going out of state for two weeks or longer I'm told.
The Mom of the man I'm hoping will clean up the Coffey pic has been contacted and wants to know how much is involved. I'm guessing it's not much. If he agrees, will include copies of the Doenet pix and details of the girls disappearance so he can see who he's working for and hope for the best.
The problem with the alteration of photos is that it changes what is there as raw data. True, it might help a person "visualize" what someone might have looked like if that person had changed his appearance after a crime, and before the photo was taken - but there would have to be some compelling reason to believe that took place.ShurlT said:
In your case, you saw a person who resembled the sketch - at another time and location - acting in a suspicious manner. This does not place Mr. Coffey at the scene of the crime (Wheaton Plaza) on the date in question (25 March 1975). It is certainly possible that the person you saw may have been Mr. Coffey. If it was, it would tend to make a case against him a bit stronger circumstantially.
There were only two known persons who actually saw TRM talking to Sheila and Katherine that day at Wheaton Plaza. Their identification of a specific individual as being TRM could be significant evidence in the case. Any improper procedure used to obtain such an identification will result in their testimony being barred from court.
I have never posted any side by side comparisons of the TRM sketches with photos of any potential suspects for a very good reason: to do so would invalidate anyone's subsequent identification of that suspect as TRM. All the defense lawyer would have to say is that the witness COULD have seen such a comparison on the internet, and the witness evidence would be disallowed in court, along with any other evidence gleaned from such an identification (fruits of the poisoned tree). This would be especially true if a photo was altered (cleaned up) prior to being exhibited next to the TRM sketches.
Keep in mind that the drawings of TRM are not (in and of themselves) proof or evidence of anything. They were meant to be simply a tool to locate possible witnesses to the suspected abduction of the Lyon girls, or to find potential suspects based on tips to police.
Mr. Fred Coffey may well be a strong suspect in regard to the girls' disappearance, but he is not the only one. As noted previously, many other individuals have been considered. And the abductor(s) may be completely unknown at this time. It is possible (though not likely in my estimation) that TRM was not involved at all.
Have no doubts about Mr. Coffey being a very dangerous individual who has admitted in public record to having molested over 100 children. He has been convicted of a most heinous murder of a little 10-year-old girl, and was rightly sentenced to death by two separate juries. Legal maneuverings which SPECIFICALLY BARRED a third jury from seeing some evidence against this monster won him a life sentence in North Carolina prisons at taxpayer expense.
To follow up on recent posts, I think these speculations are going too far afield. As Richard points out, you can do all kinds of things with photographs and drawings and vague recollections, but none of this puts Coffey at Wheaton Plaza on 3/25/75. Even if a credible witness could do that, it is not sufficient evidence by itself for an arrest or indictment, unless corroborated by something else. And I don't know what it would take for NC to remand him to Maryland. I don't want to argue the merits of the death penalty, but there isn't much leverage with Coffey now. The best hope is that the credible witness could lead to other circumstantial or material evidence.
I think the Manassas sighting of the station wagon is a waste of time, and trying to tie it geographically to other abductions just obscures the little evidence we have. Particularly in the case of Coffey; it was not his style to drive around two children in rush hour two weeks after abducting them. I believe the witness was honest, but it was either a hoax by the driver or he misinterpreted what he saw. Someone else would have seen something. None of the 100 "DMT 6" plates in Maryland was a match. And Manassas was a long drive from the area of the Beatty murder and Wheaton Plaza. (The Beatty murder occurred just a few hundred yards from where he was working at Vitro. He was almost certainly living in Wheaton/Rockville at the time, and had applied for work at Vitro. Not likely to take time out to travel to Manassas to drive around with bound and gagged children in the car. What would be the motive for anyone to do that?
Again, and I base this largely on my own conversations with the Lyon family - what they would like is to know what happened, and achieve closure. (And in fact John Lyon said something to that effect to the Washington Post on the first anniversary of the disappearance.) A confession, a conviction, or even an execution will do very little for them unless it also involves revelation of the events.
I think the Manassas sighting of the station wagon is a waste of time, and trying to tie it geographically to other abductions just obscures the little evidence we have. Particularly in the case of Coffey; it was not his style to drive around two children in rush hour two weeks after abducting them. I believe the witness was honest, but it was either a hoax by the driver or he misinterpreted what he saw. Someone else would have seen something. None of the 100 "DMT 6" plates in Maryland was a match. And Manassas was a long drive from the area of the Beatty murder and Wheaton Plaza. (The Beatty murder occurred just a few hundred yards from where he was working at Vitro. He was almost certainly living in Wheaton/Rockville at the time, and had applied for work at Vitro. Not likely to take time out to travel to Manassas to drive around with bound and gagged children in the car. What would be the motive for anyone to do that?
Again, and I base this largely on my own conversations with the Lyon family - what they would like is to know what happened, and achieve closure. (And in fact John Lyon said something to that effect to the Washington Post on the first anniversary of the disappearance.) A confession, a conviction, or even an execution will do very little for them unless it also involves revelation of the events.
The picture I have of F.H. Coffey, Jr. is not an actual photograph. It's a print out of a scanned copy of a newspaper picture that was posted to a website on-line by another person so I could see what Coffey looked like in 1975 and whether it resembled the person I came in contact with. Since I don't have access to the actual photograph I can't positively ID the person in the print out as TRM but there are some similarities in certain areas that are not blackened by newspaper printers ink. Right now, I'd have to say, it's not the TRM I saw but the face in the composite is. I had found the picture of Coffey from the NC Dept of Corrections and told Sgt. DeCarlo about that and that I couldn't ID the man I saw from that Photo. If Coffey and TRM are not the same person, then, something really strange was going on in 1975 and thinking patterns about what might have been going on could be missing something.
The last phone conversation I had with Sgt. DeCarlo possibly the week he retired he said he needed DNA. That makes it pretty clear everything else is irrevelant. Since there is no DNA in the Lyon sister's case the only possible way it might be achieved would be if Coffey were actaully responsible for Kathy Lynn Beatty's attack and some lab were able to extract DNA from something found at the scene and that DNA matched Coffey. Then, maybe he could be extradited to MD. If extradition was successful because I'm sure his lawyers would fight it, then, maybe, just maybe, MCP could find a way to connect him to the Lyon sister's disappearance and where they are. To me, this seems the most important thing. Closure for the family. DNA science has advanced so much and been successful in other cold cases there's always a chance something might work.
There were many witnesses that put TRM at Wheaton Plaza already and that hasn't solved the case. I don't think I'd be called as a witness. I have no personaly knowledge about what happened to the Lyon sister's, I was not at Wheaton Plaza the day they disappeared and all I can testify to is there was a second sighting of TRM in MD after they disappeared but it was never reported. The reason being, the way he had acted toward me in the store and when I saw the composite in the newspaper a few weeks later and realized he was the same man being sought in the Lyon sister's disappearance I was petrified that he might have followed us home, knew where we lived and might kill my children or myself. The composit was excellent and looked exactly like him. I've never seen one so well done. I also said to myself, "He's probably seen this and is long gone and he probably thinks I gave it to the police," but the truth is I didn't and didn't know the composite had been run several times before. As far as I know, I had not seen it and was thinking at the time, "Why did they wait so long to publish it?"
It was not easy for me to report what happened in June 2004. Believe me, I paid for it for about 2 weeks because my husband was temprarily away. I carried a rifle and one shell with me days and kept it beside my bed at night with the shell on the table intending to blow his head off if he came thru the door hoping I'd be able to get the shell in the gun in time, steeling my mind so I could get it in, until I was finally able to pull myself togther again. I didn't eat and couldn't sleep reliving and going over and over every detail, pacing the house and seeing his face all the time and him walking down the aisle toward me standing there with that evil look and those ice cold blue eyes. This was not a casual noticing of a man in a store. It turned into a confrontation by his design because he misunderstood what I was doing. It took months to process the memories and it still happens but less frequently. I'm shaking just going into it again.
It was not easy for me to get on this forum and tell what happened but I saw things straying away from the facts of the case surrounding Coffey and the possibility he abducted the girls. By the time I got on that situation had just straightened itself out.
More than once it has been stated on this forum that no other sightings had been reported of TRM in MD and I wanted to let everyone know there was a second sighting after the Lyon sisters were abducted and that he was intending to do it again. I've since learned there were several other sightings of TRM in the Rockville and Wheaton area.
Kathy Beatty was not attacked the day there was an alleged sighting in Manassas. The sighting in Manassass was 7:30 AM, April 7, 1975. Kathy was attacked in late July 1975. Since there's a question whether or not the person in the beige station wagon could make it to New Lison, NJ, Hy 72, by 4:30 PM where the boys disappeared lets use military time.
Per MapQuest the distance from Manassass to New Lisbon is 196.62 mls; drive time is 3 hrs & 37 min.; 7:30 AM to 1600 (4:30 PM) is 8 hours. Subtract 3 hrs 27 min from 8 hrs - you've got 4 hrs 23 min still left.
TRM is a fast thinker. When I caught him peaking in the door with his head turned side ways checking on the location of where my girls were he saw me at the same time and quickly jerked the door open to cover up what he was doing. At the time, I thought he was just doing something stupid, got caught and tried to cover it up like it didn't happen. If he wasn't up to something why did he try to cover it up? What was he doing in a deserted store in a business suit carrying a brief case walking to the back of the store where if he was a salesman, no manager was there to talk to and that close to closing time? If he was a customer why did he turn around and leave after giving me the works instead of going on to shop? For that matter, if he was in his right mind at the time and there for innocent purposes why didn't he just smile back and go on about his business like everybody else did instead of giving me a good look at the kind of monster he could turn into.
To clarify why I posted the double abduction on that day: 1. it has been said previously in the posts to this forum that double abductions are unusual. 2. It looked very suspicious to me that there happened to be a double abduction the same day of the alleged sighting of the Lyon sisters in VA. 3. The only information I had when I began searching online was that which was on the Lyon sister's web page. I began trying to figure out where the man might have taken the girls IF the sighting in Manassass was true. I spent many days and nights trying to go south not knowing where the trail actually would end and not getting an end. There were too many possibilities and no other clues to follow.
After exhausting everything I could think of and getting no place I gave up for a period of time and wasn't going to try anymore, but one night I just couldn't let it go. It kept naggin at me for hours. I couldn't figure out where else to look and happened to pick up my notes and began flipping through the pages and was stunned to discovered I had notated the double abduction in NJ and that it had occurred on the same day of the supposed sighting in Manassass. I sputtered around for a few days trying to decide whether to call Sgt. DeCarlo and tell him what I had found. I finally did and he asked for copies of my notes. It took 2 days to get it together and I sent them to him, probably in August. From then on it was up to him to decide if it had any value. I don't have access to the things le has to investigate deeper into something.
While posting the second double abduction it dawned on me - IF TRM had gotten my daughter that night - there would have been 3 double abduction in a short time. Double abduction are abnormal.
Why was this important? Coffey's father abused him and his sister. After the mother left him and took the children the father would periodically kidnap Fred and his sister from the front yard and take them to a motel where he molested them. Double abduction. Did this influence Coffey to take the two Lyon sisters. Double abduction, IF he was the one.
The alleged sighting in Manasssass was on the radio all day that day. I just happened to listen to it. The beige station wagon was reported seen all over the place nearly all day long, including the 495 Beltway. That's in MD. Hmmm. Was it possible the man in the station wagon was headed south with the girls but when he was spotted he drove north and just happened to see the boys, abducted them to throw the police off. Well, maybe there never was a sighting in VA and maybe someone else took the boys but none of that has been proven yay or nay to this day. Does the NJ police have information about that abduction that hasn't been publicized and by any chance could it connect to the Lyon sisters? Furthermore, do the NJ police know about the abduction of the Lyon sisters in MD during the same time frame? The girls disappeared Mar 25th. The boys disappeared Apr 1st. That's 7 days. Maybe Coffey should be a suspect in this case also? Maybe not. Nobody knows if they have more information than they're saying because it hasn't been published. Maybe they have nothing.
I started out assuming Coffey only snatched little girls and confined myself to that in my search. Probably the only reason I wrote the 2 boys abduction into my notes was because it was a double but I rejected it at that time because they were males. I later learned he also snatched little boys, molests them and kills them, 8 year old Travis Shane King for one. (And, by the way, I saw the other night in newspaper clippings that Coffey was convicted for that.) That was another reason I accepted the possibility the man in the beige station wagon might have taken them. I say might have. I do not say he did. I have not assumed he did. I have not rejected it either and I will not decide either way until some proof comes up to confirm or deny.
I also will not say TRM and Coffey are the same person until I find some proof of that for my own satisfaction. IF it's him, I'll know it. I'll never forget that face but as I told Sgt. DeCarlo and as you two fine gentlemen have stated here - IT WILL NOT SOLVE THE CASE. Only DNA or personal belongs found in his possession will help solve this case and we can all go on forever and not solve it. We just don't have access to everything le has.
Does anybody have any suggestions because another person and myself have discussed this very problem recently.
Also, some one has asked me to add their information to the notes I posted but if everyone feels it's moot, then, I won't. How bout it guys. What do you think? I spent a lot of time on it and am waiting to get their OK that my notes are accurate to the information they gave me. Should I forget it or post it? It's just information - it won't solve the case but it tracks Coffey or TRM's movements in Montgomery County in 1975 prior to and after the Lyon sister's abduction. It just shows that someone was doing a lot of trolling in both Wheaton Plaza and Rockville area and interviewing little girls with a tape recorder and this person was familiar with both areas.
The last phone conversation I had with Sgt. DeCarlo possibly the week he retired he said he needed DNA. That makes it pretty clear everything else is irrevelant. Since there is no DNA in the Lyon sister's case the only possible way it might be achieved would be if Coffey were actaully responsible for Kathy Lynn Beatty's attack and some lab were able to extract DNA from something found at the scene and that DNA matched Coffey. Then, maybe he could be extradited to MD. If extradition was successful because I'm sure his lawyers would fight it, then, maybe, just maybe, MCP could find a way to connect him to the Lyon sister's disappearance and where they are. To me, this seems the most important thing. Closure for the family. DNA science has advanced so much and been successful in other cold cases there's always a chance something might work.
There were many witnesses that put TRM at Wheaton Plaza already and that hasn't solved the case. I don't think I'd be called as a witness. I have no personaly knowledge about what happened to the Lyon sister's, I was not at Wheaton Plaza the day they disappeared and all I can testify to is there was a second sighting of TRM in MD after they disappeared but it was never reported. The reason being, the way he had acted toward me in the store and when I saw the composite in the newspaper a few weeks later and realized he was the same man being sought in the Lyon sister's disappearance I was petrified that he might have followed us home, knew where we lived and might kill my children or myself. The composit was excellent and looked exactly like him. I've never seen one so well done. I also said to myself, "He's probably seen this and is long gone and he probably thinks I gave it to the police," but the truth is I didn't and didn't know the composite had been run several times before. As far as I know, I had not seen it and was thinking at the time, "Why did they wait so long to publish it?"
It was not easy for me to report what happened in June 2004. Believe me, I paid for it for about 2 weeks because my husband was temprarily away. I carried a rifle and one shell with me days and kept it beside my bed at night with the shell on the table intending to blow his head off if he came thru the door hoping I'd be able to get the shell in the gun in time, steeling my mind so I could get it in, until I was finally able to pull myself togther again. I didn't eat and couldn't sleep reliving and going over and over every detail, pacing the house and seeing his face all the time and him walking down the aisle toward me standing there with that evil look and those ice cold blue eyes. This was not a casual noticing of a man in a store. It turned into a confrontation by his design because he misunderstood what I was doing. It took months to process the memories and it still happens but less frequently. I'm shaking just going into it again.
It was not easy for me to get on this forum and tell what happened but I saw things straying away from the facts of the case surrounding Coffey and the possibility he abducted the girls. By the time I got on that situation had just straightened itself out.
More than once it has been stated on this forum that no other sightings had been reported of TRM in MD and I wanted to let everyone know there was a second sighting after the Lyon sisters were abducted and that he was intending to do it again. I've since learned there were several other sightings of TRM in the Rockville and Wheaton area.
Kathy Beatty was not attacked the day there was an alleged sighting in Manassas. The sighting in Manassass was 7:30 AM, April 7, 1975. Kathy was attacked in late July 1975. Since there's a question whether or not the person in the beige station wagon could make it to New Lison, NJ, Hy 72, by 4:30 PM where the boys disappeared lets use military time.
Per MapQuest the distance from Manassass to New Lisbon is 196.62 mls; drive time is 3 hrs & 37 min.; 7:30 AM to 1600 (4:30 PM) is 8 hours. Subtract 3 hrs 27 min from 8 hrs - you've got 4 hrs 23 min still left.
TRM is a fast thinker. When I caught him peaking in the door with his head turned side ways checking on the location of where my girls were he saw me at the same time and quickly jerked the door open to cover up what he was doing. At the time, I thought he was just doing something stupid, got caught and tried to cover it up like it didn't happen. If he wasn't up to something why did he try to cover it up? What was he doing in a deserted store in a business suit carrying a brief case walking to the back of the store where if he was a salesman, no manager was there to talk to and that close to closing time? If he was a customer why did he turn around and leave after giving me the works instead of going on to shop? For that matter, if he was in his right mind at the time and there for innocent purposes why didn't he just smile back and go on about his business like everybody else did instead of giving me a good look at the kind of monster he could turn into.
To clarify why I posted the double abduction on that day: 1. it has been said previously in the posts to this forum that double abductions are unusual. 2. It looked very suspicious to me that there happened to be a double abduction the same day of the alleged sighting of the Lyon sisters in VA. 3. The only information I had when I began searching online was that which was on the Lyon sister's web page. I began trying to figure out where the man might have taken the girls IF the sighting in Manassass was true. I spent many days and nights trying to go south not knowing where the trail actually would end and not getting an end. There were too many possibilities and no other clues to follow.
After exhausting everything I could think of and getting no place I gave up for a period of time and wasn't going to try anymore, but one night I just couldn't let it go. It kept naggin at me for hours. I couldn't figure out where else to look and happened to pick up my notes and began flipping through the pages and was stunned to discovered I had notated the double abduction in NJ and that it had occurred on the same day of the supposed sighting in Manassass. I sputtered around for a few days trying to decide whether to call Sgt. DeCarlo and tell him what I had found. I finally did and he asked for copies of my notes. It took 2 days to get it together and I sent them to him, probably in August. From then on it was up to him to decide if it had any value. I don't have access to the things le has to investigate deeper into something.
While posting the second double abduction it dawned on me - IF TRM had gotten my daughter that night - there would have been 3 double abduction in a short time. Double abduction are abnormal.
Why was this important? Coffey's father abused him and his sister. After the mother left him and took the children the father would periodically kidnap Fred and his sister from the front yard and take them to a motel where he molested them. Double abduction. Did this influence Coffey to take the two Lyon sisters. Double abduction, IF he was the one.
The alleged sighting in Manasssass was on the radio all day that day. I just happened to listen to it. The beige station wagon was reported seen all over the place nearly all day long, including the 495 Beltway. That's in MD. Hmmm. Was it possible the man in the station wagon was headed south with the girls but when he was spotted he drove north and just happened to see the boys, abducted them to throw the police off. Well, maybe there never was a sighting in VA and maybe someone else took the boys but none of that has been proven yay or nay to this day. Does the NJ police have information about that abduction that hasn't been publicized and by any chance could it connect to the Lyon sisters? Furthermore, do the NJ police know about the abduction of the Lyon sisters in MD during the same time frame? The girls disappeared Mar 25th. The boys disappeared Apr 1st. That's 7 days. Maybe Coffey should be a suspect in this case also? Maybe not. Nobody knows if they have more information than they're saying because it hasn't been published. Maybe they have nothing.
I started out assuming Coffey only snatched little girls and confined myself to that in my search. Probably the only reason I wrote the 2 boys abduction into my notes was because it was a double but I rejected it at that time because they were males. I later learned he also snatched little boys, molests them and kills them, 8 year old Travis Shane King for one. (And, by the way, I saw the other night in newspaper clippings that Coffey was convicted for that.) That was another reason I accepted the possibility the man in the beige station wagon might have taken them. I say might have. I do not say he did. I have not assumed he did. I have not rejected it either and I will not decide either way until some proof comes up to confirm or deny.
I also will not say TRM and Coffey are the same person until I find some proof of that for my own satisfaction. IF it's him, I'll know it. I'll never forget that face but as I told Sgt. DeCarlo and as you two fine gentlemen have stated here - IT WILL NOT SOLVE THE CASE. Only DNA or personal belongs found in his possession will help solve this case and we can all go on forever and not solve it. We just don't have access to everything le has.
Does anybody have any suggestions because another person and myself have discussed this very problem recently.
Also, some one has asked me to add their information to the notes I posted but if everyone feels it's moot, then, I won't. How bout it guys. What do you think? I spent a lot of time on it and am waiting to get their OK that my notes are accurate to the information they gave me. Should I forget it or post it? It's just information - it won't solve the case but it tracks Coffey or TRM's movements in Montgomery County in 1975 prior to and after the Lyon sister's abduction. It just shows that someone was doing a lot of trolling in both Wheaton Plaza and Rockville area and interviewing little girls with a tape recorder and this person was familiar with both areas.
The picture of Fred Coffey which you refer to as being published in a newspaper was taken in April 1975 at Vitro Laboratories for his Employee ID Badge. The origional of that photo was in color and it is held in the files of Montgomery County Police. You might be able to see the actual photo if you were to call the current Officers in charge of the investigation.ShurlT said:
Information which tracks Coffey before and after the disappearance of the Lyon sisters would certainly be of interest.
The statements in this forum concerning sightings of an unidentified man with a tape recorder (TRM) do indicate that such a man was seen on several occasions PRIOR to the girls' disappearance. While the same man may well have stayed in the area (Washington DC/ Maryland/ Virginia) AFTER that day, he was never again seen with a tape recorder attempting to talk to anyone. People were looking for a man with a tape recorder, just as they were later looking for a beige station wagon after reports of the Manassas incident. If another sighting of a man with a tape recorder had been reported, it would have been investigated very thoroughly. Also, no subsequent abductions or attempted abductions anywhere in the area are known to have involved a man using a tape recorder.
Thanks for the information about the original picuture. I was pretty sure they had it. At this time, I'm not physically able to travel very far but hope to do some furthur research of newspapers one day. The mind is willing but the flesh is weak.
As I said, the failed abduction of my girls was not reported until sometime around May or June of 2004. If you check probably the first newspaper report of Lyon sisters disappearance you'll find it says something to the effect a man in a brown suit with a brief case and tape recorder was seen talking to the girls. I can tell this is being talked about behind the scenes and people are speculating on various points without having all the details. The man I saw WAS carrying a brief case in his right hand. My understanding of the purpose for the brief case back then was that he carried the tape recorder in a brief case and either took it out to let children talk into it or had it sitting in the brief case while having children talk into it. The two were connected in some way. It's been assumed that because the man I saw didn't have a tape recorder already in his hand I must be mistaken or it wasn't TRM. I don't think so. He entered carrying the brief case by his side and not opened at that time - he looked exactly like the composite except for the hair color and waves combed up and back and puffed out on the sides but this could have been bleached and styled and a little longer possibly due to in between hair cuts. A tape recorder could very well have been in the brief case and didn't necessarily have to be already out and in his hand. The brief case was one of the things that threw me off because it made him look like a business man and that's what I took him for initially.
I have a cheap, small black tape recorder that would fit nicely into a brief case. It's the second one like it I've owned in several years and this particular type has been around for many years. It is not the really small handheld size that can be bought these days but it can be held in the hand or set on a flat surface. It's about 4-5 inches wide and maybe 6-7 inches long maybe a little longer. I can't find it right now to measure. The microphone is in the machine itself and I think at one time years ago a similar machine had a handheld microphone with a cord that attached to the machine. Not exactly sure about that. It could be I'm thinking of another one I had a long time ago which was much larger. The particular machine I'm referring to was selling for about $35.00 in the past 8-10 years and can still be bought through an outfit in PA by catalog. That's where I got the one I have now though the price may have gone up.
I've deeply regretted and grieved that I didn't overcome my intimidation and had reported it in 1975. Since I didn't report it, it couldn't be investigated and as I suspicioned, he was long gone and no one has had a clue to who or where he was until Coffey surface in 1986 and became suspect. Sgt. DeCarlo believed what I told him by phone in the first contact and 2 subsequent phone calls but I knew then and told him in the first phone call, "This won't solve the case but I have to get this done while my memory is still good." I was not referring to the memory of the incident. He knew that and why.
My original search was an attempt to verify the man's height but most important, I thought and still do was his eye color. If Coffey had the same color eyes and was about the same height and if I could find a picture of Coffey I might be able to ID him as the same man. I would have sent it to Sgt. DeCarlo and said this is the man I saw. As it turned out, I did find a picture of Coffey who was too old now to verify him as the same man and his hair has thinned, lays flat and is straight while in the 1975 photo it looks very curly as was TRM's. The forehead and hairline is about right. Can't exaclty tell if his face is long or not. TRM had a long face, broad forehead.
Of course, the muscles around Coffey's mouth have pulled over the years and are prominent. The skin around his eyes sags and has lines. I told Sgt.DeCarlo I had found the picture but couldn't ID him from it. I figured they had picutures of Coffey and the composite so the last phone call I asked, "Is it him?" He said, "We don't think so." I really liked Sgt. DeCarlo and appreciated very much the professional way he handled everything. I felt I could talk to him and that was extremely important to me at the time.
Either way, I'm not going to rule Coffey out as being possibly one and the same as TRM, yet. The recent verification I thought I had from another person has been reconsidered by that person after looking closer at the prison photo so I still don't have confirmation on his eye color.
I'm not done with my research yet and will do what I can but I am loosing ground with my health. More so recently. When and if I find something that I can say, "This is the man I saw," I probably will send it to MCP but it still won't solve the case. It will only confirm or deny that Coffey and TRM are the same person and probably is more important to me than to anyone else but I would really like to know without a shadow of a doubt.
Thanks again, Richard. You've done so much for this site that is important in my mind. Keep up the good work.
As I said, the failed abduction of my girls was not reported until sometime around May or June of 2004. If you check probably the first newspaper report of Lyon sisters disappearance you'll find it says something to the effect a man in a brown suit with a brief case and tape recorder was seen talking to the girls. I can tell this is being talked about behind the scenes and people are speculating on various points without having all the details. The man I saw WAS carrying a brief case in his right hand. My understanding of the purpose for the brief case back then was that he carried the tape recorder in a brief case and either took it out to let children talk into it or had it sitting in the brief case while having children talk into it. The two were connected in some way. It's been assumed that because the man I saw didn't have a tape recorder already in his hand I must be mistaken or it wasn't TRM. I don't think so. He entered carrying the brief case by his side and not opened at that time - he looked exactly like the composite except for the hair color and waves combed up and back and puffed out on the sides but this could have been bleached and styled and a little longer possibly due to in between hair cuts. A tape recorder could very well have been in the brief case and didn't necessarily have to be already out and in his hand. The brief case was one of the things that threw me off because it made him look like a business man and that's what I took him for initially.
I have a cheap, small black tape recorder that would fit nicely into a brief case. It's the second one like it I've owned in several years and this particular type has been around for many years. It is not the really small handheld size that can be bought these days but it can be held in the hand or set on a flat surface. It's about 4-5 inches wide and maybe 6-7 inches long maybe a little longer. I can't find it right now to measure. The microphone is in the machine itself and I think at one time years ago a similar machine had a handheld microphone with a cord that attached to the machine. Not exactly sure about that. It could be I'm thinking of another one I had a long time ago which was much larger. The particular machine I'm referring to was selling for about $35.00 in the past 8-10 years and can still be bought through an outfit in PA by catalog. That's where I got the one I have now though the price may have gone up.
I've deeply regretted and grieved that I didn't overcome my intimidation and had reported it in 1975. Since I didn't report it, it couldn't be investigated and as I suspicioned, he was long gone and no one has had a clue to who or where he was until Coffey surface in 1986 and became suspect. Sgt. DeCarlo believed what I told him by phone in the first contact and 2 subsequent phone calls but I knew then and told him in the first phone call, "This won't solve the case but I have to get this done while my memory is still good." I was not referring to the memory of the incident. He knew that and why.
My original search was an attempt to verify the man's height but most important, I thought and still do was his eye color. If Coffey had the same color eyes and was about the same height and if I could find a picture of Coffey I might be able to ID him as the same man. I would have sent it to Sgt. DeCarlo and said this is the man I saw. As it turned out, I did find a picture of Coffey who was too old now to verify him as the same man and his hair has thinned, lays flat and is straight while in the 1975 photo it looks very curly as was TRM's. The forehead and hairline is about right. Can't exaclty tell if his face is long or not. TRM had a long face, broad forehead.
Of course, the muscles around Coffey's mouth have pulled over the years and are prominent. The skin around his eyes sags and has lines. I told Sgt.DeCarlo I had found the picture but couldn't ID him from it. I figured they had picutures of Coffey and the composite so the last phone call I asked, "Is it him?" He said, "We don't think so." I really liked Sgt. DeCarlo and appreciated very much the professional way he handled everything. I felt I could talk to him and that was extremely important to me at the time.
Either way, I'm not going to rule Coffey out as being possibly one and the same as TRM, yet. The recent verification I thought I had from another person has been reconsidered by that person after looking closer at the prison photo so I still don't have confirmation on his eye color.
I'm not done with my research yet and will do what I can but I am loosing ground with my health. More so recently. When and if I find something that I can say, "This is the man I saw," I probably will send it to MCP but it still won't solve the case. It will only confirm or deny that Coffey and TRM are the same person and probably is more important to me than to anyone else but I would really like to know without a shadow of a doubt.
Thanks again, Richard. You've done so much for this site that is important in my mind. Keep up the good work.
southerngirl
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Steve Huff has a report today about a recently arrested Memphis TV news personality that he thinks bears a closer look in the case of the Lyon sisters...
http://huffcrimeblog.com/
http://huffcrimeblog.com/
georgiagirl
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OMG!! I just read that and the pic of the perp looks just like the sketch of the TRM. chilling....southerngirl said:
marylandmissing
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Stacey Hoffmaster case...
http://www.free-webspace.biz/thevictims/hoffmaster_stacy.html
http://www.nbc4.com/news/2873537/detail.html
CASE #: 1996-102135
DATE: DECEMBER 23, 1996
VICTIM: STACY LYNN HOFFMASTER
DESCRIPTION: FEMALE/ WHITE/ AGE 15
CIRCUMSTANCES
The victims body was discovered under a carpet blanket in a wooded area adjacent to Interstate Route 70. Cause of death was asphyxiation by strangulation. The victim was last seen at approximately 1:30 PM on October 1, 1996. The next day, October 2, a missing person report was filed. During the three-month period after the victim was reported missing, several unconfirmed sightings were reported. However, investigators believe that the victim was murdered on the day she disappeared. The asphyxiated victim was found within walking distance of her residence in an area frequented by homeless and transient persons.
If you have any information that might aid in this investigation, please contact Detective Michael Morgan at 301 624-1259.
http://www.free-webspace.biz/thevictims/hoffmaster_stacy.html
http://www.nbc4.com/news/2873537/detail.html
CASE #: 1996-102135
DATE: DECEMBER 23, 1996
VICTIM: STACY LYNN HOFFMASTER
DESCRIPTION: FEMALE/ WHITE/ AGE 15
CIRCUMSTANCES
The victims body was discovered under a carpet blanket in a wooded area adjacent to Interstate Route 70. Cause of death was asphyxiation by strangulation. The victim was last seen at approximately 1:30 PM on October 1, 1996. The next day, October 2, a missing person report was filed. During the three-month period after the victim was reported missing, several unconfirmed sightings were reported. However, investigators believe that the victim was murdered on the day she disappeared. The asphyxiated victim was found within walking distance of her residence in an area frequented by homeless and transient persons.
If you have any information that might aid in this investigation, please contact Detective Michael Morgan at 301 624-1259.
joellegirl
Active Member
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Very interesting(Steve Huff story), and I do see a resemblance between Meroney and TRM! I really hope MCP look into this!!!
Georgiagirl and Jeb please check your messages.
Thanks to Marylandmissing for posting the Stacy Lynn Hoffmaster case. I was going to ask Richard to post a separate thread for her but couldn't remember her name or enough about the case to give him any information to help him locate the case.
Stacy had a boyfriend. His mother worked at a mortgage company in Frederick. Several police cars showed up at her work place to question her about her son. The mother walked around for the rest of her shift saying, "My son didn't do this. Uh, uh, I know my son didn't do this," over and over again. Several months later, a young girl who went to school with the boyfriend said she thought he had done it and that he was very weird. The day after the police were at the mother's work a woman in the cafeteria was indicating she knew something in relation to the boyfriend and was going to tell the police what she knew but she also said that day was her last day at work and she was leaving the area the next morning so it is not known if she spoke to the police as she indicated. She never said exactly what she wanted to tell them and any questions asked of her during that conversation never got a straight answer but a lot of rambling about something without saying much of anything concrete. The mother told another woman after the police left and things settled down that her son had seen the girl the day she went missing and his lawyer had told him that since he had been in the family's house previously, IF he had gotten any of Stacy's hair or any other type of evidence on his clothing he would be a suspect even if the hair or whatever had been picked up from the couch in their house for example. Nothing ever came of that investigation as far as any arrest being made it seems since nothing was ever printed about it in the newspapers.
After reading this recent information which seems to be more than was in the newspapers at the time, as far as I can remember, I would wonder why a boyfriend would bind his girlfriend in that fashion if they might have argued and it ended in his killing her. This seems to me more likely done by someone who had other motives but who knows what goes on in peoples minds.
Thanks to Marylandmissing for posting the Stacy Lynn Hoffmaster case. I was going to ask Richard to post a separate thread for her but couldn't remember her name or enough about the case to give him any information to help him locate the case.
Stacy had a boyfriend. His mother worked at a mortgage company in Frederick. Several police cars showed up at her work place to question her about her son. The mother walked around for the rest of her shift saying, "My son didn't do this. Uh, uh, I know my son didn't do this," over and over again. Several months later, a young girl who went to school with the boyfriend said she thought he had done it and that he was very weird. The day after the police were at the mother's work a woman in the cafeteria was indicating she knew something in relation to the boyfriend and was going to tell the police what she knew but she also said that day was her last day at work and she was leaving the area the next morning so it is not known if she spoke to the police as she indicated. She never said exactly what she wanted to tell them and any questions asked of her during that conversation never got a straight answer but a lot of rambling about something without saying much of anything concrete. The mother told another woman after the police left and things settled down that her son had seen the girl the day she went missing and his lawyer had told him that since he had been in the family's house previously, IF he had gotten any of Stacy's hair or any other type of evidence on his clothing he would be a suspect even if the hair or whatever had been picked up from the couch in their house for example. Nothing ever came of that investigation as far as any arrest being made it seems since nothing was ever printed about it in the newspapers.
After reading this recent information which seems to be more than was in the newspapers at the time, as far as I can remember, I would wonder why a boyfriend would bind his girlfriend in that fashion if they might have argued and it ended in his killing her. This seems to me more likely done by someone who had other motives but who knows what goes on in peoples minds.
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