On July 31, 1978, 15-year-old Teresa-Jo Tyson was fatally wounded near Quartzsite, Arizona, after her family encountered a group of escaped convicts. Teresa-Jo had been traveling with her uncle, Marine Sgt. John F. Lyons, his wife Donnelda, and their 22-month-old son Christopher. The family stopped to assist men they believed were stranded motorists and were ambushed.

John, Donnelda, and Christopher were shot and killed at the scene. Teresa-Jo was also shot and left wounded in the desert; her body was found about a half-mile from where the others were slain. The attackers were fugitives who had escaped from the Arizona State Prison in Florence: Gary Tison, Randy Greenawalt, and Tison’s three sons.

The escape triggered a large manhunt. One of Tison’s sons, Donald, was killed in a shootout with law enforcement; Gary Tison later died in the desert. Randy Greenawalt and the Tison brothers Raymond and Ricky were captured and later tried and convicted for their roles in the crimes. Did anyone in the Quartzsite area know the Lyons family or remember that July day and the men they stopped?