Global InformationMurders of Lauria Bible and Ashley Freeman information
| Date | December 29 or December 30, 1999 |
|---|---|
| Location | Welch, Oklahoma, U.S. |
| Deaths | Kathy Freeman[1]
|
| Missing | Lauria Jaylene Bible
|
| Arrests | Ronnie Dean Busick[2] |
| Accused | Ronnie Dean Busick
|
| Charges | First-degree murder (four counts) |
Lauria Jaylene Bible (/ˈlɔːrə/;[3] born April 18, 1983[4]) and Ashley Renae Freeman (born December 29, 1983[5]) were American teenagers who disappeared between the evening of December 29 and the early morning hours of December 30, 1999, from Freeman's home in Welch, Oklahoma.
Firefighters arrived at the Freeman home shortly after 5:30 a.m. on December 30,[6] when a passerby reported a fire at the residence.[4] After the fire had been extinguished, the bodies of Freeman's parents, Danny and Kathy, were recovered.[7] Both had been shot to death at close range.[7] However, law enforcement was unable to find any trace of Bible or Freeman in the rubble of the home.
On April 26, 2018, it was reported that Ronnie Dean Busick was being charged with four counts of first-degree murder in the killings of Bible and the Freeman family.[8] In 2020, Busick was convicted and sentenced to 10 years in prison plus five years of probation.[9] He was released on May 19, 2023, after serving just 38 months.[10]
On October 7, 2021, a new search was conducted in the root cellar of a home formerly occupied by David Pennington, one of the deceased suspects accused by the convicted Busick. Investigators claim that Busick kept repeating "the root cellar," and his stepdaughter alleged that he had forbidden anyone from accessing it. News reports after the search wrapped up indicated it had been yet another dead end.
- ^ a b Moore, Elizabeth Armstrong (January 26, 2016). "Case of girls missing since 1999 gets new look". USA Today. Retrieved April 30, 2018.
- ^ Nolan, Caitlin (April 24, 2018). "Man Arrested in Nearly 20-Year-Old Cold Case Killing of Teens, Couple". Yahoo!. Retrieved April 30, 2018.
- ^ "The Fire". Hell in the Heartland: What Happened to Ashley and Lauria?. June 2, 2019. CNN. Lauria's name is consistently pronounced like "Laura" by family, friends, investigators, and the episode narrator.
- ^ a b "Lauria Jaylene Bible". The Charley Project. Retrieved April 28, 2018.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
freemancpwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Murder Charges Filed in 18-Year-Old Oklahoma Abduction Case". The New York Times. Associated Press. April 23, 2018. Retrieved April 30, 2018.
- ^ a b "Lauria Bible & Ashley Freeman". Unsolved Mysteries. Retrieved April 29, 2018 – via Unsolved.com.
- ^ Swenson, Kyle (April 26, 2018). "Disappearance of two Okla. girls stumped police for 18 years. Then they learned about the Polaroids". The Washington Post. Retrieved April 30, 2018.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Joplinwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Stanley, Tim (2023-05-19). "Man convicted in Welch girls case released from prison; 'I'm going to be watching,' victim's mother says". Tulsa World. Retrieved September 14, 2023.