Authorities file charges in a nearly 20 year cold case out of Welch, Oklahoma.
66 year old Ronny Dean Busick is being charged in Craig County with four counts of first degree murder, two counts of kidnapping, two counts of arson. He is in police custody in Harvey County, Kansas.
Authorities believe Busick worked with two other men, Warren Welch and David Pennington, who have since passed away. Busick is charged in connection with the December 1999 murder of Danny and Kathy Freeman as well as the disappearance of their daughter Ashley and her friend Lauria Bible.
The Freeman’s were found shot to death inside their burnt mobile home, the two girls have never been found. According to the probable cause affidavit, the bodies are believed to be in a pit or mineshaft in the Tar Creek Superfund site in Northeast Oklahoma or “dumped in a cellar that was later covered in concrete.”
Police have said the two girls were kept alive for an unknown amount of time following their disappearance. They say the men talked to numerous people about the girls and even had polaroids of them.
“The OSBI will continue to keep this case as a priority as will each agency that’s present and speaking here to you here today, we will not rest until Ashley and Lauria are brought home to their families,” says Angela Spurlock.
Lauria Bible’s parents spoke today following the announcement. They’re thankful for the hard work done over the many years by the various departments. But this isn’t the end of the road, more so, the beginning of a new one.
“We’re not finished, you know it’s just the start of a new way for us to go to, because I will not stop until we bring the girls home,” says Lorraine Bible.
Nearly two decades later, someone’s being held accountable for the December 1999 murder of Danny and Kathy Freeman as well as the disappearance of their daughter Ashley and her friend Lauria Bible.
“Laurie turned 35 the 18th of April, so you know she’s been gone for more than half her life,” says Bible.
The Freeman’s were found shot to death inside their burnt mobile home, the two girls never to be seen again.
“Until I find the girls, I’ll do everything it takes me, whether it takes my last breath to bring them home, I have to do that,” says Bible.
For a mother to go through this…
“It’s a lot of deep, dark days,” says Lorraine Bible.
Family is all she’s had to hold on to.
“Knowing that there’s you know, other people to support you,” says Lorraine Bible.
This new development brings it all back to the beginning.
“Might as well be at the Freeman farm digging through the ashes right now, again that’s kind of what it feels like,” says Jay Bible.
“I need a place I can go and say that’s where my daughter is, I used to go to the end of the Freeman’s driveways and put up wreaths but it’s just a driveway, you know when you lose a loved one, you can go to to a cemetery, I don’t have that,” says Lorraine Bible.
Oklahoma authorities are urging anyone with any kind of information to call the OSBI at 1-800-522-8017 or by email at tips@osbi.ok.gov. There’s also a Facebook page set up, we’ve put that link here. The private $50 thousand dollar reward is still out for any information on the case.
