On March 16th 1978, Crystal Elizabeth Bailey and William Harry Lyons had an infant son who died at 10 hours and 48 minutes old at the Medical Arts Hospital in Big Spring Texas. He was premature and was named William Robert Edward Lyons by his parents. He was buried at Trinity Memorial Park in Big Spring. As if that weren't enough for a young couple, they later gave birth to a daughter, Vicky Lyons, who had a devasting accident.
Crystal and William's daughter,
Vicky Lynn Lyons was a victim of a hit & run accident at age 4. Vicky's tragic story was portrayed on HLN's Forensic Files Season 6-Episode 29: "Treading Not So lightly". Crystal showed strength, diligence and the true love of a mother. Crystal, if you see this biography, please update as we'd all love to hear how you are doing.
In 1980, Crystal Lyons was working at the Big Spring Herald newspaper in western Texas. She was unable to find a babysitter for her 4 year old daughter so she called in to her boss saying that she was unable to work. However, since she was threatened with termination if she didn't show up for work, she went to the office, taking Vicky with her.
While working, Crystal's boss instructed Vicky to play outside in the business parking lot. When Crystal went to find Vicky, she found Vicky laying unconscious with what appeared to be a tire track mark across her face. Vicky would remain in a coma for 3 weeks and when she woke was unable to walk or talk.
Eventually police arrested a local fish merchant, J.B. Hardeman, as the suspect but Crystal never believed he was responsible for hitting her daughter. He was never sentenced.
Crystal took it upon herself to handle the investigation into what happened to her daughter. She used shoe polish, paper and a comb to make 'finger prints' of the tires on trucks parked in the Big Spring Herald's parking lot where the incident took place. In 1982, she contacted Pete "Sherlock" McDonald who taught at the FBI and whose specialty was in forensic tire evidence. He helped compare the tire tracks that Crystal took to the pictures of Vicky's face taken after the incident and found a match to the Golden Sonic 78 tire patterns on a Ford pickup truck that belonged to the newspaper.
Crystal sued the newspaper and received a $750,000 settlement. It was later believed that the employee who hit Vicky did not notice and it was simply a very unfortunate and sad accident. Vicky learned to speak and walk again but her wounds never fully healed. (See the full story from the Forensic Files at
The Vicky Lyons Story). Vicky became a woman's wrestler working for the Highspots Wrestling School of Charlotte, North Carolina and was studying mass media at the Arts Institute of Charlotte. She died on June 9th of 2011 at the age of 34 due to a brain aneurysm likely related to the vehicle accident. See
Vicky Lyons Death Cause . . . for a recap of Vicky's life, her mother's accomplishments, and the family she left behind. Her father died three years after Vicky's death.
Crystal divorced Vicky's father after the incident and found a new calling. She went back to school to study forensic science.
There is also a record of Crystal E Lyons marrying a Dean A Prescott on April 9 2013 in Dallas County Texas.
I am searching for any information regarding a Karen L Bailey, born May 1951, in New Zealand. In Auckland I believe.
If someone from her family could contact me, that would be great.
Thank you.
Joanne