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.

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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. 

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

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.
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