John Lyon, longtime DC radio host dies, spent decades quietly seeking answers, justice for murdered daughters

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John Lyon, longtime DC radio host dies, spent decades quietly seeking answers, justice for murdered daughters

Neal Augenstein | [e-mail]
July 12, 2025, 2:19 PM

John Lyon, whose 22-year career at WMAL radio in Washington, D.C. coincided with his family’s quiet, determined search for answers in the 1975 disappearance of his young daughters, Sheila and Katherine, has died at the age of 85, according to his family.

“He was a great father, a great model for us,” said Jay Lyon, in a WTOP interview. “The reality is still sinking in.” ... “Like many Washingtonians, we first knew John, or maybe his voice, because of his career in broadcasting, here in Washington,” said John McCarthy, Montgomery County State’s Attorney.

From 1975 through the present, Lyon and has family have chosen to remain out of the spotlight, during the search for 12-year-old Sheila and 10-year-old Katherine Lyon, who were last seen at Wheaton Plaza, in Wheaton, Maryland, during Easter vacation in 1975. John Lyon’s wife Mary, died in June 2024.

In 2017, Lloyd Lee Welch pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree felony murder, in the deaths of Katherine and Sheila Lyon, during trial in Bedford, Virginia, and is serving a 48-year prison sentence at Nottoway Correctional Center, in Virginia. The girls bodies have never been found.

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Neal Augenstein
Neal Augenstein has been a general assignment reporter with WTOP since 1997. He says he looks forward to coming to work every day, even though that means waking up at 3:30 a.m.
[e-mail]
@AugensteinWTOP

Tue Mar 25, 2025: On this day, March 25, 1975, the Lyon sisters went to see the Easter exhibits at the Wheaton Plaza shopping mall.

"No trace of the girls was ever found."

Wed Dec 11, 2024: Man convicted of killing Lyon sisters to start serving time for 1975 murders amid new probe of other crimes

Wed Oct 30, 2024: Investigators return to Virginia land linked to Lyon sisters case

Mon Mar 25, 2024: On this day, March 25, 1975, the Lyon sisters went to see the Easter exhibits at the Wheaton Plaza shopping mall.

Sat Mar 25, 2023: On Tuesday, March 25, 1975, the Lyon sisters went to the Wheaton Plaza shopping mall.

Fri Mar 25, 2022: On March 25, 1975, the Lyon sisters went to the Wheaton Plaza shopping mall.

Thu Mar 25, 2021: On March 25, 1975, the Lyon sisters went to the Wheaton Plaza shopping mall.

Fri Mar 27, 2020: On March 25, 1975, the Lyon sisters went to the Wheaton Plaza shopping mall.

Tue Apr 2, 2019: The Lyon sisters vanished four decades ago. This team didn't give up on the case.

Mon Mar 25, 2019: On this day in 1975, the Lyon sisters went to the Wheaton Plaza shopping mall.

Sat Feb 21, 2015: Maryland cops reveal new leads in 1975 cold case of missing sisters Sheila and Katherine Lyon

In 2021 I had a thread about William Bradford Bishop. That case too came out of Montgomery County.

Tue Mar 23, 2021: DNA Test Surprise Reveals Woman's Father Was Maryland Killer William Bradford Bishop