John F. Lyons was 24 and a Marine Sergeant when a family trip from Yuma, Arizona, to Omaha, Nebraska, became fatal on July 31, 1978. Traveling with his wife Donnelda, their 22-month-old son Christopher, and their 15-year-old niece Teresa Tyson, the family stopped near Quartzsite after finding a disabled vehicle and offered help. The occupants were escaped inmates led by Gary Tison, who had broken out of prison the day before with his three sons and another inmate, Randy Greenawalt.

The fugitives took the Lyons family captive and then murdered John, Donnelda, and infant Christopher; their bodies were found near the family car. Teresa’s body was recovered a short distance away. The killings triggered a wide manhunt that left one of the Tison sons dead in a shootout and Gary Tison later dying in the desert; Ricky and Raymond Tison and Randy Greenawalt were captured and later tried and convicted for the killings.

Were there any witnesses who saw the Lyons car that day or anyone who remembers the disabled vehicle the family stopped to help?