Station Wagon--Late 1960's or 1970's

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Here is a Washington Post Article regarding the recent search for a Station Wagon in Virginia:

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Va. investigators search for station wagon in 1975 disappearance of Lyon sisters - The Washington Post
Washington Post Article
By Dan Morse
November 20, 2014

Authorities investigating the disappearance of two girls from a Wheaton shopping center nearly 40 years ago appealed to the public Thursday afternoon for information about a station wagon that might have been used in the abduction of the sisters.

Investigators specifically want to speak with anyone who knows about a station wagon, built in the late 1960s or early 1970s. The car might have been driven to Bedford County, Va., in 1975, and once it arrived, someone might have tried to hide it, perhaps in a barn or shed.This is not the first time a station wagon has surfaced as a potential clue in the infamous case of Sheila Lyon, 12, and Katherine Lyon, 10, who were last seen March 25, 1975.

On April 7, 1975, a Prince William County man reported seeing two girls bound and gagged in the back of a moving station wagon in Manassas. That led police to search for a 1968 Ford station wagon with 1975 Maryland tags, according to press accounts at the time.

In a statement Thursday, the Bedford County Sheriff’s Office said a station wagon, which “has been associated with the crime,” was seen in Bedford “shortly after the abduction of Sheila and Katherine Lyon.” ...

... Officials did not describe the car’s color or other characteristics, but they indicated that people should call if they remember seeing such a car being towed from a piece of property.

“This vehicle may have been hidden in, or removed from, a barn, shed or outbuilding,” the sheriff’s office said.

Russ Hamill, assistant police chief in Montgomery County, Md., said detectives are hopeful that someone has information about the car. “We believe it may still be located in the Bedford area,” he said....

LINK:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local...890b88-70c1-11e4-893f-86bd390a3340_story.html
 
The Origional Station Wagon story...

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There has been some speculation and mis-information regarding a vehicle or vehicles which might have been used in the abduction of the Lyon sisters recently. Recently vehicles like a Blue Pinto Wagon, a Chrysler New Yorker Sedan, a White and a Black Van, etc have all been mentioned.

Going back to 1975, there were only two vehicles ever mentioned by MCP in news stories. They were both Ford Station Wagons. One was a Blue Falcon Station Wagon with bumper stickers all over the back. This was the first one mentioned during the first week of April and only appeared once in the Washington Post. Later MCP located such a vehicle being driven by a woman with two daughters who were the same age and general description of the Lyon sisters.

The other was said to be a Tan or Beige 1968 Ford Station Wagon. Here is what I said about it back in 2005 in the origional Lyon sisters thread:

(quote) The 1968 Beige Ford station wagon with Maryland license plate DMT-6?? played a big part in the story of the Lyon sisters. This car was not seen until two weeks had passed from their disappearance. The source was an IBM executive who claimed to have seen such a car being driven by someone who resembled the TRM suspect sketch (which had already appeard several times in newspapers and on television). His report was that he saw the car during 7:30 morning rush hour traffic in Manassas, VA and that there appeared to be two girls in the back tied up. He stated that he tried following it, but that the driver ran a red light and got away. The story of the Beige Sation Wagon fueled the public imagination and interest and became part of the Lyon Sisters story.

Police interviewed the IBM man several times and he never changed his story. He did not appear to be trying to gain attention or fame, but simply reported what he felt he saw. All combinations of the license plate were run and police checked out each car and owner, with no luck. They also checked with other states which had similar color plates with similar letter-number combinations. (unquote)

Here is some information regarding Maryland license plates for passenger cars:

In 1971 a blue plate with white letters/numbers was first issued. It had two letters followed by four numerals. There was a place in the lower right hand corner for a sticker which indicated what year the plate was to expire. The latest sticker on any of these Blue and White Plates was 1975.

Those Blue and White plates were all to expire in 1975, and Maryland had come up with their replacements which were White with Red letters and numerals. Some have referred to these as "Bicentennial Plates" because in 1975 most of the 50 states came out with new plates (some rather elaborate) to celebrate the country's 200th birthday in 1976.

Maryland's new plates, however, were simple ones with no kind of design, emblem, or motto. They had three red letters followed by three red numerals on a white back ground.

The three letter combination did not stand for any particular area, but batches of these plates were distributed to various local DMV offices throughout the state of Maryland, probably beginning with AAA and going up through the alphabet as new plates were produced and distributed. Local DMV offices had just begun issuing these plates in 1975, and as a result, there was no complete central registry yet by April 1975 of what individual had what plates. The records were paper copies and they had not all yet been forwarded to the central registry.

Because of this, the DMT-6xx plate records had to be searched for by hand at three different DMV offices, and a listing of those car owners and registered vehicles was compiled. That list today should be in MCP case files.

No vehicles fitting the description of the Tan Station Wagon could be found in those records and all DMV-6xx plates and their owners were accounted for.

Mdeitz posted information on these threads stating that he too, had seen the same station wagon incident in Manassas, and that he attepmted to follow the Station Wagon and that he saw a girl resembling Sheila Lyon in it. His description of the vehicle was slightly different. He too thought that it was a Ford Station wagon, but perhaps a few years newer (like about 1970?) and that it appeared to have been repainted because the interior color did not match the exterior. But still, his description was that of a full size Ford Station Wagon. He believed that he saw a Virginia inspection sticker on the car's windshield, but did not notice the license plates.

I would note also, that most large size Ford Station wagons of the late 1960's and early 1970's (most notably the Country Squire models) featured fake Wood Paneling on the sides and tailgate. This was of a Dark brown woodgrain color framed by lighter tan woodgrain trim. If the Manassas station wagon was such a vehicle, it might explain why the IBM man described it as "Beige" or "Tan".

I once owned a White full size Mercury Station Wagon with wood grain trim and people would sometimes refer to it as a "brown" car.
 
You owned a Mercury station wagon? Interesting.

While everything had to be searched for by hand in 1975, they actually did have records of who owned which vehicle, and which vehicle had which plates issued to it, so finding the owner of a vehicle by the plate number was no problem. However..........I think the owner of the vehicle that transported the girls will have more problems with testimony and fingerprints found on evidence already in possession of police than old license plates.
 
winterrayne said:
Hi, yes we are about the same age, i went to highschool with him that's how i know him. He was either one or two grades ahead of me. I've yet to get out my yearbooks ( which i keep meaning to do) they are in a messy extra bedroom also known as the storage room lol. I was fairly good friends with him. I skipped alot of classes (mostly in 11th grade i think, which makes me think he was one year ahead) and he would be walking down the hall and we would look at each other like " yes I'm skipping this period" and outside we would go lol. We would go hang in the woods or at the mall. He didnt skip as much as me though. I remember him being really smart, seemed to have a high iq particularly compared to others i hung out with.
With his age, i know he had nothing to do with the Lyon sisters, and i can't imagine that he ever would have known about it, unless some family member said something to him. But i don't think that's something you tell someone that much younger than everyone else involved. I did remember something else, we went boating one time and i swear it was a family members boat and it was kinda in the county (although coming from hyattsville everything else looks country) and it took a while to get there. He let me drive the boat because i was scared to death with someone else driving. On the way home, i wanted to stop and get a chicken, luckily they were sold out. My mom would have loved me bringing home a chicken lol. The point i was trying to get at was... i was wondering if they checked out family members with boat access, near water. I don't remember at all where it was though.
Click to expand...

Possibly Adelphi? Perhaps cars were pushed into water.........
 
The following appears about page 3 of the News stories and Links thread, but since there is now a separate thread about the station wagon, I thought I would copy it here. These stories were in the news in April 1975, 40 years ago:

News Stories about trhe Beige 68 Ford Station Wagon

Here are some news stories published in the Washington Post Newspaper in April 1975 concerning the reported sighting of a 1968 Beige or Tan Ford Station Wagon.

Keep in mind that these stories were written based on police press conferences during the time of the initial investigation, just two weeks after the girls disappeared.

These three articles describe the car only as a 1968 beige Ford station wagon, and discuss the search by police for the Maryland tag DMT-6xx. The tags would have been white with three red letters, a space and then three red numbers.

The witness is described in the first article as a "corporation executive" and in the third article as "an IBM employee".

Note: The girls were ages 12 and 10 when they went missing on 25 March 1975. The ages stated for the girls as 13 and 11 in these articles were because their birthdays had occurred at the end of March just days after they went missing.


--------------------------

Lyon Sisters Possibly Seen in Auto
By Donald P. Baker
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, 8 April 1975 Page A1

A report by a Prince William County man that he saw two young girls bound and gagged in teh rear of a moving station wagon early yesterday in Manassas "raised some optimism" that the missing Lyon sisters are alive, Montgomery County Police said last night.

Area police said last night said they were looking for a beige 1968 Ford station wagon with 1975 Maryland tags, the first four digits of which, police said, are DMT-6. The car's driver was described as resembling a man being sought for questioning in the Lyon case. The witness who saw the car said the last two numbers on the license plate were obscured because the tag was bent, police said.

The search was somewhat hampered, police said, because Maryland motor vehicle records for 1975 tags - the first new ones issued in five years - have not yet been collated and placed on a computer. As a result, police were required to search records by hand for the 100 different possible combinations of numbers.

(Continued on page A 4) 2 Lyon Girls Believed Seen in Auto in Virginia

Last night police reported that none of about a dozen station wagons issued license tags starting DMT-6 could have been the one spotted in Manassas.

Police then began a check expected to take all night, to determine whether any DMT-6 license plates have been stolen.

The reported sighting of the two girls occurred at 7:30 a.m. at the corner of Grant and Center Streets in Manassas by a man identified by Montgomery police only as a "reliable citizen, a corporation executive". Montgomery police said the witness told them he saw one girl raise her head above the window in the rear, and a second girl on the floor. Police said the witness said both girls were tied.

Police said that when the witness tried to get a better look, the driver spotted him and sped off, through a red light, headed west on Rte. 244 toward Interstate 66.

Cpl. Phil Caswell of the Montgomery County police, said the witness was interviewed at juvenile aid headquarters in Wheaton for several hours yesterday afternoon and that detectives were convinced that "what he saw was true. The validity of the sighting checking out positively."
"What we don't know," added Caswell, "is whether the girls he saw were the Lyon sisters."

Capt. Gabriel LeMastra, chief of the Montgomery police juvenile division, said the girls' parents, John and Mary Lyon of xxxx Plyers Mill Rd., Kensington, were notified by police that "it's a possibility" that the report meant that their daughters were alive.

Sheila Mary Lyon, 13, and her sister, Katherine Mary, 11, last were seen two weeks ago today, at the Wheaton Plaza shopping center, one-half mile from their home. They were last seen talking to a man with a tape recorder in a briefcase who was described as well-dressed, white, about 50, with gray and black hair.

The driver of the car seen in Manassas yesterday resembled that description, police said.

Since the girls' disappearance, police have checked out literally thousands of reports that the man or the girls, or both, were sighted at various locations throughout the metropolitan area. Police said last night that yesterday's report was "the most hopeful yet."

The check of the license plate numbers was complicated by the fact that Maryland's tag numbers are not distributed on a geographic basis, so the plates in question "could be registered in Cumberland or Hagerstown or Baltimore," LeMastra said.

Cpl. Caswell, a public affairs officer, said "good leads" were being checked by personal visits to the homes of vehicle owners throughout the state.

Since the girls disappearance March 25, police have concentrated on tracking down known sex offenders and men reported seen interviewing young girls on tape recorders at several area shopping centers. There has been no effort by a kidnapper to collect a ransom, police said, and they consider very remote the possibility that the girls ran away from home.

---------------------------------------------
No New Solid Leads Seen in Lyon Search
Washington Post Page A 16
Wednesday, April, 9, 1975

The Search for the missing Lyon sisters entered its third week last night with Montgomery County police reporting no new solid leads. The girls, Sheila, 13, and Katherine, 11, were last seen March 25 at the Wheaton Plaza shopping center, about half a mile from their home in Kensington.

A report that the girls were seen, bound and gagged, in the back seat of a 1968 biege Ford station wagon in Manassas early Monday touched off thousands of tips, including sightings throughout the metropolitan area.

Police said last night that they had found neither the car nor the license tag, reported as a 1975 Maryland plate reading at least DMT-6.

-------------------------------------------------
Police Widen Search for 2 Md. Girls
Washington Post Page C-2-4
Thursday, April 10, 1975

Montgomery County police continued with what detective Les Cook called "old fashioned police work" yesterday in the search for the missing Lyon sisters.

There have been no new sightings of the girls, Sheila, 13, and Katherine, 11, since an IBM employee told police he saw two girls bound and gagged in a car at a Manassas intersection at 7:30 a.m. Monday.

The man told Prince William County police that the girls were in the back seat of a 1968 beige Ford station wagon bearing a 1975 Maryland license tag with the beginning prefix DMT-6. The last two numbers were obscured because the plate was bent, the man said.

Montgomery County police said last night that they had nearly completed the check of all possible Maryland plates with that sequence of letters and were beginning to check with other states, including North Carolina, Florida, and Colorado which have similarly colored red and white plates using combinations of three letters and thee numbers.

The girls, daughters of WMAL radio announcer John Lyon and his wife, Mary, were last seen March 25 at the Wheaton Plaza Shopping Center, about half a mile from their home in Kensington.​
 
Here are some links to help visualize what Ford Station Wagons looked like in 1968 and 1970.

Note the fake wood grain paneling on these examples. Wood grain paneling was only used on station wagons, and not on sedans or coupes.

A car which was painted white or another light color might be described as "beige" or "tan" by someone who focused his attention on the paneling.

LINK to 1968 Ford Country Squire Station Wagon:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:1968_Ford_LTD_Country_Squire.jpg


LINK to 1970 Ford Torino Station Wagon:

http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj96/Rush8track/1970FordTorinoSquireWagon.jpg
 
You rarely see one of these anymore, and I was surprised to see it. I seriously just happened to drive by this car parked in a yard in Maryland, and I did a double take. A cream colored 1969 Ford Ranch Wagon station wagon in excellent condition with only 52K miles. A 46 year old station wagon in this condition with low mileage is very unusual. I would guess 99.9% of this same year's model have been turned into scrap metal by now. I could see somebody preserving a 1969 Corvette, Camaro, Mustang, etc..., but not a station wagon. I have no idea of any relevance of this car, probably none. I just thought my fellow sleuths might find it interesting. To be prudent, I sent a picture of it along with the VIN and location to LE for their consideration.
 

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RichardLewis said:
You rarely see one of these anymore, and I was surprised to see it. I seriously just happened to drive by this car parked in a yard in Maryland, and I did a double take. A cream colored 1969 Ford Ranch Wagon station wagon in excellent condition with only 52K miles. A 46 year old station wagon in this condition with low mileage is very unusual. I would guess 99.9% of this same year's model have been turned into scrap metal by now. I could see somebody preserving a 1969 Corvette, Camaro, Mustang, etc..., but not a station wagon. I have no idea of any relevance of this car, probably none. I just thought my fellow sleuths might find it interesting. To be prudent, I sent a picture of it along with the VIN and location to LE for their consideration.
Click to expand...

Thanks for sending it in to law enforcement. It looks like it has 'For Sale' written on the windscreen.
 
RichardLewis said:
You rarely see one of these anymore, and I was surprised to see it. I seriously just happened to drive by this car parked in a yard in Maryland, and I did a double take. A cream colored 1969 Ford Ranch Wagon station wagon in excellent condition with only 52K miles. A 46 year old station wagon in this condition with low mileage is very unusual. I would guess 99.9% of this same year's model have been turned into scrap metal by now. I could see somebody preserving a 1969 Corvette, Camaro, Mustang, etc..., but not a station wagon. I have no idea of any relevance of this car, probably none. I just thought my fellow sleuths might find it interesting. To be prudent, I sent a picture of it along with the VIN and location to LE for their consideration.
Click to expand...

Wow!!!!! How odd is that!!!!
 
I was trying to remember what mdietz47 said about cream color and repainting. Do you remember RichardLewis?
 
Let's not forget that LE has also mentioned a second car they have been looking for, a early '70's large, white, 4-door, possibly Chrysler, possibly a New Yorker. That was a huge car in those years, about 19 feet long and the trunk was big enough to hide half a dozen bodies in! I wonder who owned such a car. It seems to me if it belonged to a member of the Welch family there would be a lot of old photos of it and everyone would remember which family member owned such an ostentatious vehicle! Certainly if that was the family vehicle used to transport the girls' bodies to Taylor's Mountain, the folks up there in those parts would remember such a flamboyant car!
 
This may be an "out there" possibility, but unless LE checks, you never know. Like the artist's sketch, it could have been right there all the time.

I read the book Ghost Burglar (co-authored by one of the detectives on both the Bernard Welch case and the Lyon Case), the true story of Bernard C. Welch, Jr., primarily a thief and rapist con-man who: 1) used many fake identities to avoid being caught; 2) purchased magnificent homes in Great Falls, VA, and Duluth, MN, under the assumed name of Norm Hamilton; 3) fatally wounded a Washington D.C. surgeon who returned unexpectedly and surprised Welch/Hamilton in the process of burglary; 4) traveled extensively in the eastern and midwest US to dispose of stolen items; 5) had a 1970's blue wood-sided Ford Station Wagon stored in the garage of his Great Falls, VA, home when he was arrested; and, 6) had tried to give that station wagon to his girl-friend's father in Duluth, MN, shortly before he was caught in 1980. He is now deceased. From all indications, that station wagon was confiscated by LE; and if it was, the VIN should be contained in the paperwork from that case. The VIN should be able to identify any owners in the life of that vehicle as well as the disposition of that vehicle after Bernard Welch's arrest. Additionally, since the vehicle was registered in Great Falls, Va, it would have had a VA Inspection Sticker as noted by the 1975 witness in the Lyon case, and Great Falls, VA, is relatively close to the I-66 area where the sighting was made. While Bernard Welch was known to have resided and committed crimes in the central part of VA, there is no indication that Bernard Welch Jr. is related to, or had any contact with, the Welch family from Hyattsville, MD or anyone thought to be connected to the Lyon case. Bernard Welch led a very extravagant life funded by his thefts and knowledge of antiques, coins, guns, etc.

If the vehicle found in Bernard Welch's garage is the vehicle being sought and had been painted tan and suffered as much blood damage as has been reported from Welch family witnesses, Bernard Welch could have easily afforded an eccentric complete refitting (simply to store and "hide" the vehicle being sought until it could be disposed of possibly on a trip to Duluth, MN.) Bernard Welch was known to be a hunting enthusiast, and such blood damage could have easily played into an explanation of hauling game if anyone had questions.

Are these actions of restoring-and-hiding verified facts? NO! They are only possibilities with absolutely no verification that Bernard Welch had any contact with anyone connected to the Lyon Sisters. But, if the vehicle was impounded by the LE, there should be a record which SHOULD BE ABLE TO BE CHECKED AND VERIFIED just to be sure--even if it only serves to rule out the possibility that it could be true! Nothing ventured, nothing gained!
 
I still think that car may be in one of those junkyards you see on the mountain in google earth views. But the prior post also seems to be a good lead to follow.
 
If Patricia Welch, who is on the docket for April 26, decides to tell the truth about all the details here, she should be able to tell the court exactly what she and her husband did with their station wagon after they decided not to drive it anymore. Since the case is now about proving or disproving the guilt of family members, that is the only station wagon that matters, here.
 
Schipperke Quote: "If the vehicle found in Bernard Welch's garage is the vehicle being sought. . ."

Siriunsun Quote: "If Patricia Welch, who is on the docket for April 26, decides to tell the truth about all the details here, she should be able to tell the court exactly what she and her husband did with their station wagon after they decided not to drive it anymore. Since the case is now about proving or disproving the guilt of family members, that is the only station wagon that matters, here." (underline emphasis added)



Hello? What other station wagon do you think we are talking about?
 
Schipperke said:
Schipperke Quote: "If the vehicle found in Bernard Welch's garage is the vehicle being sought. . ."

Siriunsun Quote: "If Patricia Welch, who is on the docket for April 26, decides to tell the truth about all the details here, she should be able to tell the court exactly what she and her husband did with their station wagon after they decided not to drive it anymore. Since the case is now about proving or disproving the guilt of family members, that is the only station wagon that matters, here." (underline emphasis added)



Hello? What other station wagon do you think we are talking about?
Click to expand...

It's hard to tell. Years ago, someone thought he saw the girls in a station wagon in Virginia, with VIRGINIA tags. That would obviously not have been Richard Welch's station wagon, as his station wagon had Maryland tags. Above is a comment from you, Shipperke, casually discussing a station wagon belonging to someone named "Bernard Welch", who, at this time, is UNCONNECTED to this case. The station wagon previously owned by Dick and Pat Welch is currently the only station wagon that needs to be searched for evidence.

I don't think the court in Bedford will be inclined to worry much about "Bernard Welch's" station wagon, unless he bought it from Dick.
 
Well, if LE takes the time to check the files, we might one day know whether or not this is the same station wagon. The court does not do investigations; LE does--and this one should be on-going until the end IMO.

I disagree that this was "casual" information unless one is completely satisfied that they have all the answers they need to get the result-they-desire from a trial or they believe that the search for information should cease BEFORE the verdict is in. Getting full and truthful information from a hesitant witness, sometimes depends on knowing what questions to ask as well as sometimes asking questions when you already know the answer.

To my knowledge, LE is still seeking the public's assistance in locating this vehicle. The answer of whether or not it is the same station wagon should already be in the hands of LE. It should be just a matter of checking old records to rule it out or in--and maybe open another possible lead. It is very similar to making a decision on whether or not to make a witness-sketch-produced-in-response to LE requests for public assistance and then follow any leads received. (Now, where was it that happened?) If records of the VIN from the confiscation show it is not the same vehicle--one possibility closed with minimal investment. Nothing ventured; nothing gained. Why would anyone want to leave the "stone unturned" when the investment is so minimal?

Of course, everyone knows that as long as the gag order is in place, no information related to any investigation on this case is going to be released to the public whether they make the effort or not. The name, timing, proximity locations, and other circumstances mentioned in my post certainly seem enough substantive reason to give this vehicle a "minimal" time investment, if only to rule it out! But, again, it will be totally at the discretion of LE. I only raised the issue here for "CASUAL" discussion by the readers who have expressed an interest in possible connections to the case. If it piques anyone else's curiosity, fine.

EVERYONE is free to form his/her own opinion, and I am not going to defend mine any further than this.
 
There IS one person who is free to testify truthfully about where the station wagon went when the family turned in the tags, and that is Patricia Welch. I'll bet the court will gratefully take any truthful information she can give, regardless of any gag order, and I would also bet that she has that information.
 
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