John Lyon's radio career coincided with his search for answers in his daughters' disappearance

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.

In the 1970s, John Lyon was a personality on Washington’s AM radio powerhouse WMAL, with its “middle of the road” format — later dubbed “adult contemporary.”

“He was always very cheerful on the air,” said former WMAL colleague Tom Gauger, during the 2017 WTOP podcast, “The Investigation Continues: Lyon Sisters.”

“He is probably the most flexible broadcaster I’ve ever known. He could sing, he could entertain, he was a good disc jockey. And he loved to appear with his band, The Gross National Product,” Gauger said.

“He used to take me and all of his kids to the radio station,” which at the time was located on Greentree Road, in Bethesda, said Jay Lyon. “On Christmas morning, we’d be there in the morning.”

Lyon said his father later brought his grandchildren (Jay’s children) to WMAL, when it was located on Jenifer Street, in Northwest, D.C.

“This was his dream job,” said Jay. “Everybody knew who he was.”

John Lyon’s life changed in March 1975.

Former WMAL colleague, newscaster Gary Reals, speaking in the podcast, remembered the atmosphere when co-workers learned that Lyon’s daughters had disappeared. “It sucked the air out of not just WMAL radio, but of the entire metro area.”

Despite the tragic uncertainty facing his family, Lyon was a constant presence on WMAL.

“Living with that notoriety, of having his daughters missing, and then maintaining his radio career, I don’t know how he did it, but he did it — somehow he was gracefully able to pull that off,” said Jay.

Lyon’s 22 year career at WMAL lasted until 1990, when the station changed to a talk format. “The business was changing dramatically,” recalled Jay.

McCarthy said he met John Lyon during his early years prosecuting cases for the county, in the 1980s, when Lyon was volunteering with the county’s Victim Services Center.

“I did not realize that the John Lyon who was assisting my victims, case after case, sitting in court, helping people who were going through the court system was the John Lyon from the Lyon sisters case,” McCarthy said.

To this day, McCarthy was moved by Lyon’s focus on supporting crime victims.

“You’ve got to remember when this was happening, we had no idea what happened to the (Lyon) girls. They were still missing and been for many, many, many years. And yet, here he was, coming to court all the time trying to assist other crime victims,” McCarthy marveled.

In April of 2014, McCarthy and then-Montgomery County Police Chief Tom Manger announced that Lloyd Lee Welch was a person of interest in the girls’ disappearance.

“John and Mary were present, they didn’t want to be on stage, they were literally hidden from public view, but they wanted to be there, to listen to what was happening that particular day,” recalled McCarthy.

With his daughters missing, John Lyon helped support other crime victims

On Sept. 12, 2017, John and Mary Lyon, and their children were in a Bedford, Virginia, courtroom for the plea and sentencing. Moments after the sentencing, John Lyon spoke for the family.

“He thanked the men and women of the Montgomery County Police Department who had been instrumental in working on that case for so long,” recalled McCarthy, who stood feet away during Lyon’s statement.

Speaking from a podium, in his familiar baritone, John Lyon voiced his thanks to the department’s cold case unit: “The last two or three years or so, they have treated Sheila and Kate as if they were their own sisters, or daughters.”

“We just want to say, simply, thank you. It’s been a long, long time,” with a sad chuckle reflecting an understatement, given the decades of mystery that transfixed and frightened the region. “We’re tired, and we just want to go home.”

Now, with his parents’ passing, Jay Lyon said he’s thankful for his father’s efforts, “to protect our family and privacy as much as possible, to have normal lives.”

In 2025, families of missing children often turn to social media and other ways of communicating with the public, in hopes of raising awareness. “They weren’t trying to seek attention — it was a different time,” said Jay.

He expressed admiration for his parents goals of “trying to live your life, as much as possible,” with the knowledge that the Lyon sisters disappearance remains one of the most memorable cases ever.

“It was so tragic, it’s pretty amazing, that they dealt with this with a lot of dignity and grace,” said Jay Lyon.

According to the family’s obituary notice, visitation will be Monday and Tuesday, with John Lyon’s funeral Tuesday morning, at St. John the Evangelist Historic Church, in Silver Spring, Maryland. 

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