walked the route before.
There was no reason for their parents to believe that a routine trip to the mall would become the final ordinary afternoon of their daughters’ lives.
According to police records, the sisters were last seen shortly after 2 p.m., walking between the shopping center and their home.
Four o’clock came.
The girls were not home.
Then 4:30.
Then 5.
As the hours passed, concern turned into an emergency.
Their parents contacted authorities, and Montgomery County police began searching for the missing children.
The investigation quickly expanded.
A massive search produced almost nothing
Police, volunteers and members of the community searched extensively for Sheila and Katherine.
The disappearance generated enormous attention throughout the Washington metropolitan area.
Yet the investigation produced no immediate answer.
There were reports from people who believed they had seen the sisters.
There were descriptions of suspicious people.
There were tips from
