Donnelda Kay Donna Chadwick was 23 when she and her young family were murdered after a vehicle breakdown near Quartzsite, Arizona. On July 31, 1978, she was traveling with her husband John Lyons, their 22-month-old son Christopher, and a 15-year-old niece, Teresa Jo Tyson, when they were intercepted by escaped convicts led by Gary Tison and Randy Greenawalt. The family was forced at gunpoint into the convicts’ car, driven into the desert, and Donnelda, her husband and their child were shot and killed. Teresa was shot while attempting to escape; her body was found five days after the others were discovered on August 6, 1978.

The killings prompted a large manhunt that ended with the capture of members of the Tison gang. Gary Tison later died in the desert from exposure during the search. Randy Greenawalt was apprehended and later tried for the murders; Tison’s sons, who had helped the prison escape, were captured and given lengthy prison terms.

Did anyone in the area know the Chadwick–Lyons family or see them the day their car broke down?