COPS GET BREAK IN 1975 LYON SISTERS KIDNAPPING

Cops in Maryland are fingering a convicted sex offender in connection with the terrifying 1975 disappearance of two young sisters. The mystery has haunted the Washington area ever since.

The Lyon sisters -- Sheila, 12, and Katherine, 10 -- were on their way home from the Wheaton Plaza Shopping Center in March 1975 when they vanished. A composite sketch was widely distributed and tips flowed in, but the Lyon sisters were never seen or heard from again. 

 "It was just stunning. It could have been anybody's kids," said Charleen Merkel, a shopper at Westfield Wheaton who remembers the disappearance well.

They were last seen talking to an older man who had a tape recorder and briefcase. He was never located. 

The girls left their Kensington, Md. home on March 25, 1975 to walk the half-mile or so to Wheaton Plaza, now known as Westfield Wheaton mall. They were on spring break, and wanted to get some pizza for lunch and see the Easter decorations. They had less than $4 with them.

A friend of the girls saw them outside the Orange Bowl restaurant, with an older man who had a tape recorder and a briefcase, according to news and missing persons reports. A sketch of that man was made and distributed, but the man was never located. MORE FROM NBCWASHINGTON

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EVELYN SHANK SHOT TO DEATH IN VEGAS IN 1959

She is the oldest unsolved murder victim in a city that has seen plenty of them during its wild existence. Evelyn Shank was the night clerk at the Travelodge and the victim of a kidnap/robbery, Vegas cops say. Her relief worker arrived to discover the switchboard/desk area unoccupied. When he could not locate Shank he called cops. Detectives learned that $174.50 had been taken from the till and an all-points bulletin was broadcast and road blocks were set up throughout the vicinity.
On February 7, 1959, Shank's body was found. A gunshot to the head delivered death. Cops say a 1949-1950 Ford sedan (possibly dark blue) with the headlights on was seen parked near the front door by the co-worker. When he returned from searching for Shank -- the car was gone. Anyone with information is urged call Las Vegas Metro Homicide Cold Case Detail at 702-828-COLD.

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ACCUSED MARIA RIDULPH KILLER FACES RAPE BEEF FIRST

PROSECUTORS in Illinois say they're going to try Jack Daniel McCullough for a rape charge before trying him in the 1957 kidnapping sex slaying of Maria Ridulph, 7. The onetime police officer, now 71, will be tried January 9, 2012 on the rape beef. He has pleaded not guilty.

 Pretty Maria vanished from her neighborhood on Dec. 3, 1957, triggering massive searches that focused national attention on the tiny farm town but failed to find the missing girl. Her body was discovered five months later in another county.

Despite the attention the case went cold for decades although McCullough was a person of interest at the time and he lived nearby. Earlier this year he was charged in the heinous crime.

In September, prosecutors charged him with raping and taking indecent liberties with a girl, 14, in 1961 and 1962. McCullough — then known as John Tessier — was 22 when the sex crimes occurred.

MORE ON THE MARIA RIDULPH COLD CASE

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MISSING ROBBIE ROMERO'S MOM: IT'S NOT HIM

A TEEN BOY has told cops in Santa Fe, New Mexico, that he is Robbie Romero: a boy who vanished more than 10 years ago when he was 7. Robbie Romero disappeared in June of 2000 as he was walking home from a friend's house. The case was treated as a missing person case and a homicide case, though a body was never found. His mom says it's not him.  ROBBIE ROMERO DISAPPEARANCE

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LEESA JO SHANER'S KILLER CONVICTED AFTER 38 YRS.

BYE, BYE SANTA. He is 57 now and will spend the rest of his days behind bars. Almost 40 years after the May 29, 1973 murder of young wife Leesa Jo Shaner in Tucson, her killer has been convicted. Shaner was waiting at the Tucson International Airport for her husband to return from a business trip when sick William Floyd Zamastil kidnapped, raped and murdered her. Her body was discovered in a remote area four months later. The FBI said in a press release:
“The jury’s verdict in this case may finally bring some peace to the Shaner family knowing her murderer has been held
accountable,” stated U.S. Attorney Dennis K. Burke of today’s verdict.  “Justice has been served by the tireless efforts of our federal prosecutors and law enforcement agents.”

"The FBI is extremely gratified by this verdict," Phoenix Division FBI Special Agent in Charge James Turgal, Jr. stated. "While there can be no real justice for Leesa Jo Shaner's family, at least they were able to witness her killer being called to answer for his crimes,"
The evidence at trial showed that Ms. Shaner left her family home around 9:25 p.m. on May 29, 1973, to pick up her husband from the Tucson International Airport. When her husband arrived he could not find her. The car she drove to the airport was later found in the airport parking lot with the driver’s window halfway down, the car unlocked and her purse inside on the back seat. Despite an extensive search, Ms. Shaner could not be located. 
In September 1973, Ms. Shaner’s remains were found in a shallow grave on Ft. Huachuca, Ariz. Witnesses testified and evidence was presented at trial that Zamastil abducted her from the airport and took her to Ft. Huachuca where he raped, murdered and buried her. Law enforcement officials first became aware of Zamistil’s involvement in Ms. Shaner’s rape and murder in 1979 while he was imprisoned for the rape and murder of a Wisconsin woman.

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JAQUILLA SALES KIDNAPPING: 10 YRS. LATER, NOWHERE

JAQUILLA SALES was just 4 when she was snatched from her grandmother's Wichita, Kansas home on Sept. 5, 2011. Despite an intense search at the time hundreds of cops and volunteers went door to door using dogs but it was as if the little girl had vanished into thin air.
Det. Tim Relph said: "It is really very unique. It's the only missing child that we've had that we haven't recovered one way or the other." Despite dwindling tips, cops are still searching for a solution. The National Center for Exploited and Missing Children has released an age progression photo of Jaquilla.  It’s what she would look like today at 14 years old. Cops have hinted that they believe the girl could be alive.
Her mom Eureka is not giving up hope: "I always have faith that she is alive somewhere, somewhere she's alive. I know she is, I feel it in my heart that she is." Cops say finding children alive after missing for years does happen--although it's rare.  They point to the cases of Jaycee Duggard, Sean Hornbeck and most recently Carlina White who was found 23 years after she was kidnapped. 
 Some people thought a family member had taken Jaquilla, hoping to give her a better life. There were suggestions Jaquilla might have been molested and whoever was hurting her took her to shut her up.

MORE IN THE KANSAS CITY STAR

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SUSPECTED KILLER OF EILEEN ADAMS NEW TRIAL IS OCT. 11

ON OCT. 11, Eileen Adams may finally get justice after nearly 44 years. That's when suspected sex killer Robert Bowman will be retried for the 1967 torture murder of Eileen, 14 at the time of the slaying. The creepy 75-year-old's first trial ended in a hung jury, although one juror said it was 10-2 to convict. There is a gag order on the defense and prosecution.
The grisly slaying had Satanic elements and was shocking beyond belief when it occurred. It stumped cops for years --even after Bowman's ex-wife told detectives she saw Adams hanging naked, Christ-like in her basement. It's believed Bowman kidnapped the girl, held her captive in his basement for several days using her as a sexual play thing then murdered her. Eileen's body was discovered in a Michigan field in January 1968. She had been tied up with telephone and drapery cords. A nail had been driven through her head.

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AZ. COPS: ON VERGE OF CLOSING RANDY PARSCALE CASE

 BAFFLING DISAPPEARANCE may have new hope. Randy Parscale was 10 when he vanished while on a hiking trip with his grandfather and two brothers in Peppersauce Canyon in Arizona on April 7, 1979. Randy wandered ahead of the rest of the group and was never seen again. An extensive search was launched but there was no trace of the boy. However, Pinal County Sheriff's Office detectives believe they may be on the verge of solving the case--but they need the public's help.

But there are some disturbing clues. One of the searchers was able to follow the child's footsteps to a dirt road where they suddenly stopped--as if the boy
had gotten into a vehicle.
 In addition, in 1985 a woman reported that she had found a dollar bill with the chilling phrase: "I'm alive in Phoienix, Ariz. Please help me. Randy Parscale." His case is considered a non-family abduction.
Cops were tight-lipped about why the case may suddenly be on the verge of being closed.
The Pinal County Sheriff's Office is requesting anyone with information about this case to contact PCSO Criminal Investigations Bureau at 520-866-5161 or Pinal County Silent Witness at 1-800-358-4636.

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ROBERT BOWMAN 1967 DNA DEGRADED: ANALYST

A LAB rat testified yesterday in the murder trial of Robert Bowman, 75, that DNA from the 1967 sex slaying of Toledo schoolgirl Eileen Adams had degraded. For more, see the clip.  OR CHECK OUT THE TOLEDO BLADE

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PHILLIP GARRIDO EYED IN 1988 COLD CASE KIDNAPPING

COPS IN the Bay Area are taking a fresh look at Phillip and Nancy Garrido in the unsolved kidnapping of 9-year-old Michaela Garecht nearly 23 years ago. Michaela, cute and blonde, like Jaycee Dugard, vanished in November 1988 and has not been  seen since.
Capt. Darryl McAllister of the Hayward Police said: "This is one of those cases that nags at you throughout your whole career." Detectives questioned the couple last week about the Garecht case. There were many striking similarities between Jaycee and Michaela's case, cops said.

McAllister said: "They could almost be sisters. Both of the interviews lasted over two hours. Neither of the interviews revealed any direct link to the Michaela Garecht case."
However, at the time witnesses say a man snatched Michaela in front of a grocery store, taking her away in a car resembling the one Phillip Garrido had at the time. Sketches of the suspect look like  Garrido. At the time, he was living in a halfway house 20 miles away.
With any luck, Phillip Garrido may still end up with a needle in his arm and a one-way ticket to hell.

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ROBERT BOWMAN'S EX: EILEEN ADAMS HANGED NUDE

THE YOUNG girl was hanging naked and the woman who saw her was sickened--and afraid. The former wife of suspected killer Robert Bowman testified in Toledo at his trial for the kidnapping, rape and murder of Eileen Adams, 14, in 1967. Margaret Bowman told the court they had just moved into their new home when she heard strange sounds in her basement. She said: "I saw a young girl hanging on the wall with mattresses all around her, hanging like Jesus." MORE ON THE ROBERT BOWMAN MURDER TRIAL

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FAMILY WANTS JUSTICE IN 1995 ROSIE TAPIA MURDER

FOR 16 dark years, the brutal rape murder of tiny 5-year-old Rosie Tapia has gone unsolved. In August 1995 the little girl was snatched from her Salt Lake City bedroom as she slept in the middle of the night. Her body was later discovered in the Jordan River. The child had been sexually attacked and brutally murdered. No one has ever been charged in the grisly slaying that stunned Utah.
Her mom Lewine Tapia said: "I miss her so much," said Tapia. "To me it seems like just another day, it doesn't feel like it's been 16 years. I still feel that
she's still real close to me even though I can't see her, I can still feel her. I miss her so much. It's still hard. I don't think it will ever get easier for me unless I find that person who took her."
Detectives always believed that she was grabbed by a neighbor or someone who knew her family.
The family has been heartened by advances in cold case investigations but are begging for help.
The lead detective in the case is convinced the murder can be solved, but officials need help. They ask anyone who might have information to call the anonymous tip line 801-799-INFO.

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MISSING BREEANN RODRIGUEZ' TRAINING WHEELS FOUND

AS AMERICA again holds its breath on the fate of another missing child, cops in Missouri have made another startling discovery in the disappearance of 3-year-old Breeann Rodriguez. Her training wheels for her pink bike have been found. MORE ON BREEANN RODRIGUEZ MYSTERY

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HOLLY BOBO, CELINA CASS, LAUREN SPIERER CASES!

DETECTIVES in three states have apparently hit brick walls in their pursuit of justice. Holly Bobo, 20-year-old Tennessee nursing student disappeared in early April: no sign of her, no resolution.
Lauren Spierer, 20-year-old Indiana University co-ed, vanished June 3, conflicting stories from rich kid friends. Not found. Celina Cass, 11, found murdered one week ago after disappearing the previous week. No arrests. MORE IN CRIME SCENE USA

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EVIL RAPIST JOSEPH T. SAVOY BUSTED 17-YEARS ON

BUSTED

HE tied her up, brutally beat and sexually assaulted her before leaving her for dead and taking her vehicle and leaving her for dead.
Amazingly Joseph T Savoy's victim survived, but for the last 17-years she has been looking over her shoulder as her attacker evaded justice.
But now thanks a DNA match Joseph T. Savoy can no longer avoid justice, thanks to the cold case work of Lt Dwain Grimmett, who reexamined the case.
Back in 1994 his victim gave a detailed description of her attacker, but despite a massive police manhunt, he was never caught.
With DNA technology considerable better now than it was, Savoy, who was already in jail for a very similar offense was caught for his vicious attack. 
 
That combined with the courageous testimony from his victim, meant that he was found guilty of  Aggravated Kidnapping and when he returns for sentencing this week he could receive an additional Life Sentence on top of the 60 year sentence he is currently serving.

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COPS ARREST VICTOR WALL IN HOLLY BOBO KIDNAPPING

IS THERE finally a break in the baffling Holly Bobo kidnapping? Cops in Tennessee have arrested a fugitive sex offender named Victor George Wall, 43, and are questioning him in the troubling disappearance. The convicted child molester is now the main suspect in the snatch of the 20-year-old nursing student. She was last seen April 13 and ever since cops have been stumped. MORE FROM CRIME SCENE USA

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COPS EYEING STEPFATHER IN CELINA CASS MURDER?

THIS SUMMER has been particularly grim for missing girls and women. The focus is now on New Hampshire where Celina Cass, 11, vanished and was then found murdered on Monday. An autopsy was so far inconclusive. All indications are that cops are taking a long look at her stepfather Wendell Noyes, who has a criminal past and suffers from mental illness. Now, they've taken a truck belong to Noyes for forensic examination.
FULL COVERAGE AT OUR SISTER SITE CRIME SCENE USA

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