Oklahoma Fugitive Turns Himself In After 30 Years On The Run

One of Oklahoma's most wanted fugitives turned himself in last week after nearly 30 years on the run. 

Ronald Lyons turned himself in at the Nowata County Sheriff's Office last week before he was moved over to the Tulsa County Jail. 
                
He's been on the run for quite some time and now the officers who first worked his case are wondering where he’s been. 

"I'd recognize that mugshot anywhere," said Gary Boergermann, Former Tulsa Police Officer. 

Gary Boergermann was working street crimes for the Tulsa Police Department back in 1987 when he and his partner first arrested Ronald Lyons at his Tulsa home near 11th and Harvard. 

"We got an anonymous tip that there was a Broken Arrow school teacher possibly selling drugs to students,” said Boergermann. “And we ran him and he happened to have a traffic warrant for his arrest."

Boergerman and his partner knocked on the door to question Lyons. They say they saw drugs on the coffee table and got permission to search the rest of the house. 

During their search, they say they found more drugs and nude photos of some of his students. 

"Back then they were old Polaroid pictures and they had all the dates on the film," said Boergermann. 

Boergerman said it took a lot of time to identify the girls from Broken Arrow School yearbooks and gather information on the case. 

"We arrested him, served the search warrant, did all of that,” said Boergermann. “But then it took us several weeks to really work the case up to find out what we really had."

Tulsa Police Department spent many hours trying to get some of the students to talk but many of them didn't want to, including Melody Teague, who investigators believe hung herself in fear that she would be called to testify against Lyons. 

"She said ‘I don’t want to talk about it,’ ‘I said why?’  She said ‘he'll know.’ I said “What do you mean he will know?’ ‘She said he knows everything.’" 

Boergermann said they were never able to connect Teague’s death to Lyons. 

"We were never to put that case with him or any of the charges you know because he didn't force her to do it,” said Boergermann. “I just think she just felt so bad and guilty that she did."

Investigators ended up having enough information to eventually form a case against Lyons. He pleaded not guilty and was tried by a judge. He was found guilty for on the lewd photo charges and the drug charges and the judge sentenced him to nine years. 

"We actually had information right before he was sentenced that he was going to try to run," said Boergermann. 

Investigators say they tried to warn the judge, but Lyons' bond was lowered from $100,000 to $25,000 and he was never seen again. 

“Some rumors were that he married one of the girls, but we really don't know what happened to him in 30 years, " said Boergermann. 

Boergermann says he was surprised to see the news of his surrender on Facebook but just hopes Lyons serves his time.

"Whether he's had a real terrible 30 years or a real great 30 years, that’s no concern he still needs to do his 9 years,” said Boergermann. “He hurt too many kids back in the day." 

Lyons is expected to be in court for the first time since his arrest on January 3rd.