sheila and catherine lyon were last seen near the old wheaton plaza mall. police just named two persons of interest but so far, no one has been charged. but new information suggests that the remains may be in virginia. >> several police agencies just wrapped up a news conference in virginia outside of roanoke and our maryland bureau chief brad bell is there with the new details just released this noon. brad? >> what's going on is through that mist up there is taylor's mountain southwest of lynchberg and at this moment investigators are literally on their hands and knees digging for clues. we can show you the video of what's going up there right now. investigators tell us they have some new information that poin pinpoints a couple of pieces of ground and they are going over in a very concentrated way those small tiny plots of land and what they're looking for, sadly, is evidence the remains of the lyon sisters. these little girls, 12 and 10 years old sheila and catherine lyons vanished, as you said, from what was called wheaton plaza in march of 1975. they'v

. >> sheila and catherine lyon vanished from the mall in 1975. last february, the police named and imprisoned sex offender lloyd lee welch and thereabout in. that led the police to this patch of land that belonged to the welch family. sources say investigators believe the girls are buried here. a possibility which horrified lifelong neighbors. >> my mind won't even go to what the family went through. you got out and played all over the neighborhood it never thought that a predator pass through. >> searches last fall came up empty. in addition to searching these new spots for evidence which would allow charges to be filed the local commonwealth attorney is appealing for information from neighbors and members of the welch family, which so far according to sources has stonewalled investigators. >> please come forward. you are not just helping law enforcement do its job, you are helping a mother and father have some peace. >> right now the biggest gadget to last two days, but the bedford county sheriff said even though this investigation will affect

sheila and catherine l'enfant plaza -- and catherine lyon were last seen 40 years ago. they are digging in virginia. >> a day of mourning at a d.c. high school when they learned that a classmate had been killed in a shooting. >> tonight, key details about what happened hours before shots were fired. sam ford reports. >> today, bullet holes and evidence tabs are all over the outside of the house in northeast. the 17-year-old dunbar high school student, whose relative to his image on facebook was killed yesterday morning. >> he died right on the porch. >> the man who had listed the party is devastated. he does not want his face seen. he said he first called the police after a robbers stole a kid possibly here's at gunpoint on the porch. -- stole the kids sneakers at gunpoint on the porch. hours later, he had to call the police again after somebody sprayed the porch with gunfire hitting the young man. >> i try to revive him. his i started to set, his mouth dropped open. there are no words when you are holding somebody else's child in your arms and they are dying. >> at dun

sheila and catherine lyon have been missing for decades. the sheriff in bedford county virginia says that he hopes human remains will be discovered in the next two days as they conduct a forensic dig in an area known as taylor mountain. the property is lirked to the investigation, because a person of interesting, lloyd lee walks, his relatives owned that property. there's already been canine searches. today and tomorrow thorgs will you breaking ground to see what they uncover. >> we hope to bring this to a successful conclusion bring the information as to where the children are. >> reporter: the search is expected to take two days today and tomorrow but the weather is hampering those efforts, so it could possibly take longer than that. we of course will be monitoring every development. barb bra? >> thank you, richard. new day we are learning about a number of steps that schools will take to combat neglect. superintendent joshua starr will introduce the plan at a board of education meeting tomorrow. some of the changes call for employees to

sisters shayla and catherine lyon vanished from the wheaton plaza shopping center back in march of 1975. >>> right now the pope is making news as he is welcomed in the philippines. what he said about limiting free speech. >>> plus president obama is making a proposal today that could make some workers in our area feel a little more secure and keep their paychecks more steady. >>> and the oscar nominations are in. we'll look at the movies getting the most attention. >>> mow to a developing story in france. police arrested two people after they drove a car into policewoman guar the french presidential p she is hurt but going to be okay we understand. >>> france is on high alert after a week of vile innocence paris that left almost two dozen people dead. police say this incident is not connected to those attacks, though. police say it was just some kids who drove the wrong way down a one-way street. >>> france says 19,000 of its websites have been hit by cyber attacks since last week's terrorist attacks. today family and friends said good-bye to the victims from the shooting attack at the

for any clue but specifically, they're looking for the remains of 12 and 10-year-old sheila and catherine lyons, the little girls vanished from what was then wheaton plaza in 1975. last february investigators announced that this man lloyd lee welch is a person of interest in their abduction. he is in a delaware prison on child sex charges but his family once lived on this property southwest of lynchburg. they believe but can't yet prove the girls were brought here. lifelong residents say they shudder to believe it's so. >> it's unreal to think something like this happened. i was a teenager and we played all over the mountain. my grandparents had a cabin up there not too far away and it was just like innocence has been robbed! >> now as we continue to work this story this evening, coming up at 5:00 i'll tell you what the bedford county commonwealth's attorney says happens next if they find evidence in this plot of ground. on taylor's mountain, brad bell abc 7 news. >> all right. let's get to an update now on that breaking news we told you about from the top of the hour. the l'enfant plaza metro