Fort Worth Missing Trio: Mary Rachel Trlica, Julie Moseley, Lisa Renee Wilson

(Left) Julie Moseley & (Right) Lisa Wilson 

 Mary "Rachel" Trlica

 On December 23, 1974, 17 year-old Mary 'Rachel' Trlica of Fort Worth, Texas set out for some Christmas shopping at the Seminary South Shopping Center, which is now the Fort Worth Town Center. She asked her friend 14 year-old Lisa Renee Wilson to accompany her. They also let 9 year-old Julie Moseley tag along, who was the daughter of a family friend to Lisa. At noon, the girls went to the Army/Navy store to pick up gifts they had on layaway. Multiple witnesses have confirmed that the three girls were in the mall that day. Rachel's Oldsmobile was on the upper parking lot level by Sears.  The presents were found locked inside the Oldsmobile at 6 PM, so investigators believe they made it to the car at some point during the afternoon that day.

Mary Rachel Trlica has brown/blonde hair with green/blue eyes. She is 5'6, 108 pounds and is addressed by her middle name, Rachel. Her front tooth is chipped and there is a small scar on her chin. She is left handed and her maiden name is Arnold. She was 17 years-old at the time she was missing.

Lisa Wilson has brown eyes with brown hair that has red highlights. She has a scar on her thigh and goes by her middle name Renee. She is 5'2, 110 pounds. Renee was last seen wearing red and white sneakers and a pale yellow/green t-shirt with "Sweet Honesty" imprinted on the front. Renee was 14 at the time she vanished.

Julie Moseley has light brown hair with blue eyes. She has scars under her left eye, on the middle of her forehead and on the back of her calf. Julie is 4'3, 85 pounds and was 9 years old when she vanished. 

Over the years, witnesses have come up to claim the girls were hustled in a pick up truck by unknown men the day they vanished. Another witness account claimed that the girls were being forced inside a van, with the driver assuring the witness it was just a family dispute, asking the witness to "stay out of it". Both witnesses did not come forward until 1981, seven years after their disappearances.

Julie Moseley was only 9 years-old when she tagged along to go Christmas shopping with Rachel and Lisa. All three were never seen again. (Photo Credit: Charley Project)

 Initially, police believed the girls ran away, but family members thought otherwise. Rachel Trlica, though still in high school, was married to Thomas Trlica, whom her sister Debra was engaged to before he started dating Rachel. Police believe that Rachel's sister Debra knows more than she is letting on. The families of the missing girls, even her own, also question that, and even wrote a note to her after her interview begging her to give all the information she has about the girls. You can read the families' letter to Rachel's sister Debra at the Missing Trio Website. 

A letter was received by Rachel's husband the day after they all vanished. It stated they had to leave Fort Worth for Houston, but would be back in a week. It also gave directions to where he could pick up her car. Her husband  and Rachel's mother doesn't believe she was the author of the letter, due to the handwriting and use of words being written in a childish scrawl. The letter also addressed Rachel's husband as "Thomas A. Trlica", a formality she never used because she always called him Tommy.

Rachel's family is divided and her brother, Rusty, has hired a private investigator. They believe Moseley and Wilson are deceased, but they think that Rachel is alive, but being kept away from Forth Worth, Texas. There have been sightings of her as recently as 1998.

A photo of Rachel in her wedding dress. She married her sister's ex-fiance. All three were temporarily living together at the time of the girls' disappearance. (Photo Credit: Charley Project)

A twist in this case is that newlyweds Rachel and Thomas had almost been in-laws before. Before Thomas married Rachel, he was engaged to her sister, Debra. A note that can be found on Missing Trio Website indicates Rachel's sister has been uncooperative with investigators. I wonder if somehow she knows more than what she is showing. Rachel married her ex-fiance, and to top that off, Debra had to live with them. I have always thought whomever took the girls knew them, and also knew they were going shopping at the mall that morning. Rachel had asked her Debra to join her that morning, but she declined, stating she wanted to stay in bed for the day. This would also point to Rachel as being the main target of the group, making sense as to why the mysterious letter (supposedly written by Rachel) was only sent to Rachel's residence. I do not think the letter was written by her, it makes the most sense it was written by the person(s) who took the trio. I have also considered that if Rachel did write it, it would make sense she was forced to. I have wondered if Rachel's sister and husband were able to have a secure alibi for the day of the girls' disappearance. Rachel' sister certainly had motive. Having your ex-fiance date your sister would not be easy. She claims it did not bother her because their relationship was not serious, but even having a close friend date on of your exes would be hard. Doing something like that has ruined numerous friendships. I can't imagine what having your sister marry the man you were supposed to would do to that relationship. Also, if Rachel's sister and Tommy were engaged, then there would have to be something serious about that relationship.

An image of how the mall looked before it was transformed into the Fort Worth Town Center in 1986. This is what it would have been built like at the time the girls vanished. (Photo Credit: MallsofAmerica on BlogSpot)

Their have been sightings of Rachel, but overall they are presumed to be deceased. In 2001, a promising lead from a former Sears security guard and Fort Worth police officer gives a chilling account. He claims he witnessed the girls climb into the pick-up truck of a young mall security guard, and that they appeared to be with him willingly. The mall security guard was followed up on, but denies being with the girls that night. In 2001, he was one of five persons of interest being looked at, however, the truth to this account could never been 100% confirmed.

There is always a great possibility they could be alive-maybe they ran away, or were forced into a slavery ring or even brainwashed. Yes, those do seem far fetched. They only reason why I do not strongly believe they ran away is because they had 9 year-old Julie with them, whom Rachel didn't even know until that day. I'm sure if that was their intention, she wouldn't have been allowed to go with. Overall, I do believe that it was someone they trusted, the security guard perhaps, took them with promise of helping them, but that has not his intention. These girls could still be out there. The search is not yet over!! Rachel's brother, Rusty Arnold, continues to follow up on leads in hopes he will find out what happened to his sister and the other two girls.

Update:

Sheila Lyon and Katherine Lyon vanished from Wheaton Plaza Mall in 1975.  (PhotoCredit: FBI.gov)

A recent break in one cold case that mirrors the disappearance of Rachel, Lisa and Julie could provide answers to both cold cases. On March 25, 1975, 10 year-old Katherine Lyon and 12 year-old Sheila Lyon departed their family's Kensingotn, Maryland home from 11:00 AM to noon. The girls were walking to the Wheaton Plaza shopping center in Wheaton, Maryland, which was located one-half mile from their home. The girls planned to see the Easter exhibit that day, as well as get some pizza at The Orange Bowl Restaurant. The girls were seen eating pizza inside The Orange Bowl Restaurant at 2 PM by their older brother. A friend saw them walking westward down Drumm Avenue and Devon Street near 2:30 PM, which would have been on of their most direct routes home. They were expected home by their mother at 7 PM but never arrived. They haven't been seen since. 

An unknown man with a brief case was seen talking to the girls. He was also placed at the Marlow Heights Shopping Center and Iverson Mall both in Prince George's County, Maryland. He approached several young girls and asked them to read  an answering machine message typed on to an index card into his hand held tape recorder. Authorities were able to make a sketch of this unknown man.

Welch was confirmed to have been in Austin, Texas the year the Fort Worth Trio vanished from the mall, and in Wheaton, Plaza the month the Lyon Sisters vanished from a mall as well. He is a person of interest in the Lyon Sister's case. (PhotoCredit: FBI.gov)

Suspects have come and gone, but on February 11, 2014, investigators announced a big break in the case with their first solid person of interest they have had in this case in the past 39 years. Lloyd Lee "Mike" Welch Jr. was at Wheaton Plaza on the day the Lyon sisters disappeared. According to an article on ABCNEWS.com, authorities confirmed at a news conference that Welch was seen paying "close attention to both girls" that day. Welch was a known drifter. He was employed as a ride operator at a traveling carnival. He has had multiple convictions for sexual offenses against young girls and has been incarcerated in a Delaware prison since 1997. He is due to be released in 2027, but has asked to be considered for parole. From 1974 to 1997, Welch was in at least two dozen locations, including Washington D.C. and Texas. In fact, in January of 1974, he was confirmed to have been in Austin, Texas until March 1975, when he was confirmed to have been in Wheaton, Maryland. He was in both areas at the time all these girls went missing from a mall.

Beforehand, there had been speculation of the Fort Worth Trio case and Lyon sisters' case being connected with one another. This was because of their disappearance taking place at a mall a year apart, concerning five young girls. Now, with Welch being a drifter and traveling with a carnival for his job, it is possible he was in Texas in 1974. Places like the mall or a carnival are both areas where a predator could easily find young women or girls by themselves, without parents. And with Welch being a drifter, it makes sense he has remained under the radar for years and years. Police are also looking for information on any security guards who would have worked at either mall, including information on Welch's long-time girl friend Helen Craver. They dated for ten years, most of it spanning over the 1970s. They were always on the road and had no permanent home. Helen worked as a security guard from the Westfield Plaza Shopping Center. Anyone who has any information whatsoever concerning either cases, please come forward to further put the pieces of both these cases together. 

If you have any information about the disappearance of Rachel Trlica, Lisa Wilson or Julie Moseley, please contact:

 Age progressions of Mary "Rachel" Trlica, Lisa Renee Wilson, and Julie Ann Moseley.

***Submit any tips on www.missingtrio.com to:

Private Investigator Dan James 

 or 

Fort Worth Police Department 

817-877-8345 

OR

 Tarrant County District Attorney's Office

 817-496-9402 

OR

 Texas Department Of Public Safety

 800-346-3243

If you have any information about the disappearance of Sheila and Katherine Lyon, or person of interest Lloyd Lee "Mike" Welch, please contact:

Age progression of Katherine Lyon (L) and Sheila Lyon (R) 

Montogomery County Police Department
240-773-5070

The site below is dedicated to them and is beautiful, I urge you to check it out. It includes songs recorded by their loved ones for them, updated news, $25,000 reward for information on their whereabouts and notes for them:

*Their Website: http://www.missingtrio.com/

*Source: 
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/t/trlica_mary.html
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/w/wilson_lisa.html
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/m/moseley_julie.html
http://mallsofamerica.blogspot.com/2006/05/seminary-south-shopping-center.html
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2014/02/person-of-interest-identified-in-39-year-old-lyon-sisters-cold-case/
http://www.fbi.gov/baltimore/press-releases/2014/person-of-interest-named-in-kidnapping-of-lyon-sisters-others-victims-sought
http://www.wfaa.com/news/local/tarrant/missing-Fort-Worth-girls-206501131.html