Lombardi's_kid_brother Posted July 15, 2015 Share Posted July 15, 2015 My mom grew up in wheaton. She has always claimed that wheaton plaza was the biggest shopping plaza in the country when it was built. Before the mall craze. I may be confusing plazas, but was this the first "mall" Lerner built? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kosher Ham Posted July 15, 2015 Share Posted July 15, 2015 I don't know that it was the biggest mall, but maybe. That's a little before my time of remembrance. Perhaps... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westfield_Wheaton In DC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Major Harris Posted July 15, 2015 Share Posted July 15, 2015 It wasn't a mall originally. Biggest plaza I may be confusing plazas, but was this the first "mall" Lerner built? No clue. My mom waxes nostalgic about wheaton all the time. Epping road is where she grew up. Cabin John park (not sure if that's wheaton) is a place she loved taking us Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kosher Ham Posted July 15, 2015 Share Posted July 15, 2015 It wasn't a mall originally. Biggest plaza So a strip mall basically. You have two anchors...it's a mall. I remember when they didn't have a roof. Certainly no food court. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Major Harris Posted July 15, 2015 Share Posted July 15, 2015 So a strip mall basically. You have two anchors...it's a mall. I remember when they didn't have a roof. Certainly no food court. I guess. Keep in mind, I'm going off of childhood memories of my mom telling me about her childhood. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOF44 Posted July 15, 2015 Share Posted July 15, 2015 Back then Mall wasn't even in the vernacular. It was a Shopping Center. When Malls first arrived what was unique was the stores were inside! Amazing! Now we have entered the "Town Center" era. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chew Posted July 15, 2015 Share Posted July 15, 2015 Cabin John park (not sure if that's wheaton) is a place she loved taking us Played a lot of baseball there from age 8 to 18 lol. Me and my friends were shot at outside wheaton plaza (bro got hit three times but lived) back in '98. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoSkins0721 Posted July 15, 2015 Share Posted July 15, 2015 Back then Mall wasn't even in the vernacular. It was a Shopping Center. When Malls first arrived what was unique was the stores were inside! Amazing! Now we have entered the "Town Center" era. Exactly. Montgomery Mall & Tysons Corner opened in the '60s after Wheaton Plaza opened. The kidnapping was just so much a part of the area back then. I'm keeping my fingers crossed this person is convicted & the Lyon family can finally get some closure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Clark Fan Posted July 15, 2015 Share Posted July 15, 2015 It wasn't a mall originally. Biggest plaza No clue. My mom waxes nostalgic about wheaton all the time. Epping road is where she grew up. Cabin John park (not sure if that's wheaton) is a place she loved taking us cabin john is in Rockville/Bethesda...but only a 15 minute drive ( I Lived right next to cabin john park,,,and in the woods by my house that murderer, hayden clark, killed and buried a college girl there, awful story in itself).....as a kid I was scared to go to wheaton plaza because of the missing girls and overall the mall/plaza was creepy with the likes who hung around there.... This is wonderful news and wonder what the final break was that allowed them to final charge Lloyd with the murderers. I guess they were able to do some good old fashion police work by pitting the welch family members against each other promising they would be charged unless they spoke....I am happiest though for the Lyons family and although it does not bring the girls back they deserve closer and to know what this POS did do their children. As a father of a 6 year old I use this story as a reminder to my daughter NEVER to talk to strangers and that the only people she is to ever go with is her mother, myself, her grandparents or my girl friend. I have even made her practice screaming at the top of her lungs just in case... I might of scared my daughter with the story of the Lyons girls but that's my point. I couldn't live how the Lyons have all these years and not knowing...Unreal.. On side note, glad Lloyd is being charged in VA as they are not afraid to execute someone, unlike the wonderful state of MD. Fire up old Sparky because Lloyd your going to be on the hot seat very soon!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
USS Redskins Posted July 15, 2015 Author Share Posted July 15, 2015 I have 2 daughters ages 10 and 6 and any day that they don't come home on time I admit I freak a bit. I cant imagine the fear those poor girls had to endure the last few days of their lives... for 40 years they have been in my thoughts and I am so glad they will finally get some justice. It seems a young cold case investigator put together a mug shot of Welch from the 70's and an eye-witness sketch... that's amazing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocky21 Posted July 15, 2015 Share Posted July 15, 2015 So they finally arrested the prime suspect and the guy folks always thought was the murderer. Good thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sacks 'n' Stuff Posted July 15, 2015 Share Posted July 15, 2015 As a father of a 6 year old I use this story as a reminder to my daughter NEVER to talk to strangers and that the only people she is to ever go with is her mother, myself, her grandparents or my girl friend. I have even made her practice screaming at the top of her lungs just in case... This sounds like a good way to give a kid a complex. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcsluggo Posted July 15, 2015 Share Posted July 15, 2015 i cry everytime i see those girls pictures. i also have 10 12, and 13 year old daughters right now. and they are constantly begging for more freedom, and specifically this weekend the 10 and 12 year old begged to be allowed to walk the 1 mile to "downtown" McLean alone, to "books-a-million" and McLean Hardware, ostensibly to buy something, but really just to get a chance to spread their wings a little. It is hard! but i let them. they need to be able to grow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Clark Fan Posted July 15, 2015 Share Posted July 15, 2015 No, its intended to keep my daughter safe from weirdos like you This sounds like a good way to give a kid a complex. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
balki1867 Posted July 15, 2015 Share Posted July 15, 2015 cabin john is in Rockville/Bethesda...but only a 15 minute drive ( I Lived right next to cabin john park,,,and in the woods by my house that murderer, hayden clark, killed and buried a college girl there, awful story in itself).....as a kid I was scared to go to wheaton plaza because of the missing girls and overall the mall/plaza was creepy with the likes who hung around there.... Speaking of Hayden Clark, he also killed a 6-year-old girl in 1986. After he was convicted of the other murder, he confessed to the 6-year-old as well. He led police to an enbankment right off Route 29 in Silver Spring where she was buried. Most of the descriptions of the scene describe a playground literally 50-100 feet away. My best friend from growing lived in the townhouses near that playground and we spent countless hours playing on the monkey bars (and later the basketball court) on that playground. It's so creepy that this young girl was buried a few dozen feet from us waiting to be found. Hadden drove towards Baltimore on old Columbia Pike. When he saw some woods he pulled over to the shoulder of the road and stopped. He had a ready-made story. If the cops came by he would tell them he had to pee and couldn’t wait. Michele Dorr’s killer grabbed the duffel bag, a flashlight, and a shovel from the back of the truck, stepped over a guard rail, and stumbled down a ravine and into the woods. At the base of a tree he dug a grave four feet long, digging until he hit clay. He took the little girl from the duffel bag and began dropping her in. ... In both, cases Clark led police to the remains of his victims -- both buried near their homes in suburban Washington. Police found Dorr's body last week in a shallow grave in a Silver Spring, Md., park, where it was buried after her disappearance in 1986. http://murderpedia.org/male.C/c/clark-hadden.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grhqofb5 Posted July 15, 2015 Share Posted July 15, 2015 No, its intended to keep my daughter safe from weirdos like you Actually, most cases of child kidnapping involve a parent as the perpetrator. Looks like all us parents need to stay away from our own kids, just to keep them safe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
balki1867 Posted July 15, 2015 Share Posted July 15, 2015 Actually, most cases of child kidnapping involve a parent as the perpetrator. Looks like all us parents need to stay away from our own kids, just to keep them safe. It's kind of funny-- I don't have kids but if I did, I'd teach them that if they were scared or in trouble, to go find a random person and tell them to help rather than let someone help them. I'd much rather trust the odds that a random person will help them over some adult who takes an unusually large interest in my kid. Funny random story: When I was 4-5 years old I went to the mall with my neighbor friend (my age) and his dad. We got seperated at the mall and I didn't know what to do so I went outside and sat by the car assuming we'd find each other there. Some lady walking into the mall saw me tried to bring me inside but I kept refusing because she was a stranger. Finally she waited outside with me and her husband went inside and found my friend and his dad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkB452 Posted July 15, 2015 Share Posted July 15, 2015 We moved to Fairfax in Jan 1975 and I remember this very well. I'll never forget this case or the Billy Viscidi case a few years later. http://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1979/01/20/brother-cleared-in-billy-viscidis-puzzling-death/6cdaa362-1387-40c8-af43-3657b93e87e8/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Clark Fan Posted July 15, 2015 Share Posted July 15, 2015 girls name was Melissa Dorr...and as I recall they initially charged the father who after being interrogated for length of time broke down and confessed.....but you are spot on about Hayden and the discovery....she was literally playing with a friend next door while dad was at home doing stuff around the home...Just shows how careful we all have to be as parents and that unfortunately there are some real sickos in the world who need to harm children. Some of you might know from my past postings, but I went thru a custody battle of over 5 years!! I fought just to have my daughter in my life....I was twisted and torn and had many sleepless nights of not knowing if I would ever have custody of my kid. I was lucky though, win or loss my daughter would still be in my life just not in the capacity needed, I can't imagine the unknown these families suffer. Sure puts things in perspective. God bless any family who has suffered or is suffering from what the Lyons have had to endure. Everyone should go home tonight and give their kid(s) an extra long hug! Speaking of Hayden Clark, he also killed a 6-year-old girl in 1986. After he was convicted of the other murder, he confessed to the 6-year-old as well. He led police to an enbankment right off Route 29 in Silver Spring where she was buried. Most of the descriptions of the scene describe a playground literally 50-100 feet away. My best friend from growing lived in the townhouses near that playground and we spent countless hours playing on the monkey bars (and later the basketball court) on that playground. It's so creepy that this young girl was buried a few dozen feet from us waiting to be found. http://murderpedia.org/male.C/c/clark-hadden.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
balki1867 Posted July 15, 2015 Share Posted July 15, 2015 I've read up a little on the case and that sounds about right. Apparently it happened over Memorial Day weekend and her dad wanted to watch the Indy 500. Later on, he basically went crazy from the guilt of ignoring his daughter that day. The killer was related to the friend Dorr went to go visit and basically did it as an act of revenge because he and the friend's father had gotten into an argument earlier that day. Dorr's parents were either going through a divorce or divorced just after the incident so it became and obvious suspicion that one of them was involved. After the dad confessed, Dorr's mother was the one who told the police that she didn't think he actually did it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kosher Ham Posted July 16, 2015 Share Posted July 16, 2015 girls name was Melissa Dorr Michelle Dorr. I know this story very well as I knew most people in the neighborhood. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Clark Fan Posted July 16, 2015 Share Posted July 16, 2015 curious as to what today's press conference reveals....hopefully more indictments for other Welch family members....this family gives me the creepy vibe..like some backass deranged family straight out of a Rob Zombie film. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan T. Posted July 16, 2015 Share Posted July 16, 2015 An acquaintance of the girls who was at the mall described a long haired man who was staring at the Lyons girls so long and so intently that it creeped her out, so she confronted the man. She described the man to investigators, who released a sketch. The mugshot of Welch is from another arrest a year or so later. Reports had come out about an older man with brief case and a tape recorder who was seen talking to the girls at the mall. A week later Welch actually went back to the mall and told investigators he was at the mall at the time, claimed he saw the girls with "tape recorder man," and watched the man force the girls into a car. But investigators gave him a polygraph test. He failed and admitted the information he gave was false. They released him. More recently, Welch's cousin, Henry Parker, told investigators he met Welch near family property on Taylors Mountain in Bedford County in 1975 around the time of the girls' disappearance. He helped Welch unload two Army-style duffel bags out of the trunk of his car. Each weighed 60 to 70 pounds, were stained red underneath and "smelled like death." The bags were thrown onto a fire. Parker said he didn't know what was in the bags and apparently didn't ask. He did say that he ordinarily avoided Welch because "He's trouble. He's trouble all the way around." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
balki1867 Posted July 16, 2015 Share Posted July 16, 2015 More recently, Welch's cousin, Henry Parker, told investigators he met Welch near family property on Taylors Mountain in Bedford County in 1975 around the time of the girls' disappearance. He helped Welch unload two Army-style duffel bags out of the trunk of his car. Each weighed 60 to 70 pounds, were stained red underneath and "smelled like death." The bags were thrown onto a fire. Parker said he didn't know what was in the bags and apparently didn't ask. He did say that he ordinarily avoided Welch because "He's trouble. He's trouble all the way around." I always read stories like this and wonder, "WTF how could you not be suspicious of something?!?!?" but then I remember that everyone of us is a complete super-sleuth badass in the fictional world where we place ourselves in another person's situation. Still, I'm imaging meeting up with my sketchy cousin who asks me to help him move two fairly heavy duffel bags (that smell really bad) into a fire pit. The only rational scenario for not questioning it would be that I was so creeped out by my cousin that I'd be afraid to ask for fear of what I'd find out and what he'd do to me. Still I like to think I'd find a way to fake an injury and GTFO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan T. Posted July 16, 2015 Share Posted July 16, 2015 They've also recovered possible bone fragments and remnants of burned items from that mountain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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