VANCOUVER, Wash. (KOIN) — It’s been nearly 2 days, but the Lyons’ family dog can tell something is wrong. She’s quiet and just not quite her normal playful self.
It started when Benjamin Lyons, the family’s 83-year-old patriarch, didn’t return to their Vancouver home after a graveyard shift working security for Knighthawk Protection.
Usually, when it was time for Benjamin to return home, you could find their dog at the front door, waiting on paws and knees. But on Monday morning, Benjamin never came home.
“She got (the news) first,” said Frances Lyons, Benjamin’s wife, of the family dog.
Then, at around 7 a.m., someone came by their home to confirm the news. Benjamin had been found dead just after midnight. Police are calling it a homicide. No arrests have been made.
“It’s unbelievable,” said Rusty Rice, the owner of Knighthawk Protection. “We’ve been around 20 years and it hasn’t happened.”
Rice said he thinks Lyons, who wasn’t armed, must have encountered someone who wasn’t supposed to be on the lot he was patrolling. Frances had heard stories from her husband about that very thing. Usually, he would chase them away. Frances said it’s something he enjoyed doing “because he just wanted to be out there protecting.”
“That’s why I loved him,” she said.
Frances said she never worried about her husband’s safety, despite his age. Sometimes, when she heard stories from work, she had a few concerns. But she said she knew he was safety conscious and alert.
She also knew that Benjamin didn’t have to work security. He had been a carpenter by trade, but moved into security in 2006. At the age of 83, he didn’t have to work anymore if he didn’t want to work. But Frances said doing security was more than a job.
“He enjoyed getting out there and mingling with people,” Frances said.
Frances and Benjamin’s son, Terry, said his father was like an energizer bunny. He said no one would ever refer to his father as shy. He was too outgoing for that.
“He’s the type of guy that you meet and you don’t forget,” Terry said.
That’s proven to be the case the last 2 days. Frances said people have been calling their phone and visiting their home. Frances said her faith and the stories and love people whop have shared with her that knew Benjamin has kept her going.
“It’s a loss,” she said. “It’s a horrible loss.”
As she thinks about how others remember Benjamin, she starts to remember him, too. She thinks about his love, his smile and his arms — the same ones that used to hold her. The emotions start to overwhelm her, but she quickly grabs a hold of them, with the help of her late husband.
“He’s putting his arms around me now holding me and telling, ‘calm down, calm down,'” Frances said.
“He’ll always be with me. I mean he has been with me all these years!”