True Crime Collection

Lauria Bible & Ashley Freeman

Lauria Jaylene Bible was born 18th April, 1983, and Ashley Renae Freeman was born 29th December, 1983.
On 29th December, 1999, high school friends Lauria Bible and Ashley Freeman spent the evening together celebrating Ashley's 16th birthday. Lauria received permission from her parents to spend the night at Ashley's home. Earlier that day, the girls had spent time at a local pizzeria with Ashley's mother Kathy.

At approximately 5:30am on 30th December, 1999, a passerby called 911 reporting that the Freeman home was engulfed in flames. Law enforcement determined the fire had been an arson. Inside the home, the charred remains of Kathy were discovered lying on the floor of her bedroom; she had been shot in the head. Initially, no other remains were located, leading local law enforcement to extrapolate that Ashley's father, Danny Freeman, had slain his wife and fled with both girls. Lauria's parked car was in the driveway of the home with the keys in the ignition.

On 31st December, Lauria's parents Lorene and Jay returned to the scene, hoping to find any additional clues that law enforcement may have missed. Amidst walking around the extensive rubble, they discovered what appeared to be another body and notified the police. The second body was determined to be that of Danny; like his wife, he had also been shot in the head execution style. Following this discovery, the crime scene was reexamined, yet no sign of Lauria and Ashley was found. In 2010, the Freeman family initiated court proceedings to have Ashley declared legally dead.

In the decade following the disappearance of Lauria and Ashley, 2 convicted killers - Tommy Lynn Sells and Jeremy Jones - confessed to murdering them, but subsequently recanted their admissions. Jeremy had claimed that he murdered Ashley's parents as a favour for a friend over drug debt, then took the girls to Kansas, where he shot them and threw their bodies into an abandoned mine. Searches of the mine Jeremy identified proved unfruitful, however, and Jeremy subsequently admitted he had fabricated the story in order to get better food and additional phone privileges in prison.

In a 2001 profile on Unsolved Mysteries, it was mentioned that rumours had circulated among locals that the Craig County Police Department had been feuding with the Freemans at the time over the death of their son, Shane, who was shot by a deputy after stealing a car. While his death was ruled justifiable, the Freemans had threatened to file a wrongful death lawsuit. Danny's brother, Dwayne, claimed that Danny had confided that deputies had tried to intimidate him.

In April 2018, it was reported that Ronnie Dean Busick, age 66, had been arrested and charged with 4 counts of first degree murder for the deaths of Lauria and the Freeman family. 2 other suspects - Warren Philip "Phil" Welch II (died 2007) and David Pennington (died 2015) - were also identified. According to The Washington Post, "at least a dozen" witnesses claimed all 3 men bragged about raping and murdering Lauria and Ashley, and went so far as taking Polaroid photographs of them. Several witnesses alleged that the 3 men killed the Freemans over drug money, and that the girls were held captive in Warren's trailer for several days before being murdered.

A female witness who lived with Warren a short time after the disappearances provided a sworn affidavit that "she heard conversations between the 3 men where they disclosed that the murder victims had owed them money," and that Warren kept a briefcase containing the Polaroid photos which showed both girls "bound and gagged with duct tape and lying on a bed," with Warren lying next to the girls in some of the photographs. According to the affidavit, Warren, David and Ronnie had claimed to have raped and tortured the girls before disposing of their remains "in a pit" or mine shaft in Picher, Oklahoma. Law enforcement also stated they believed the girls' remains could have been "dumped in a cellar that was later covered in concrete."

In a public address, the Bible family issued a statement in which they stated they had been aware of the alleged photographs "for years," and that "At this time all focus is on finding Lauria and Ashley. We welcome all information leading to their recovery. Until they are home with us, this will never be over." After his arrest, Ronnie told reporters he wished to speak to the Bibles. On 26th April, 2018, Lauria's mother, Lorene, confirmed she spoke with Ronnie, but that he denied knowing the whereabouts of her daughter or Ashley.