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thank you [Music] [Music] thank you [Music] hours after Laura a Bible and Ashley
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Freeman went missing nearly 20 years ago search parties were formed missing persons signs were hung up and the
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community of course was on edge and tonight we hear from a close friend of the girls who is still staying hopeful
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that their bodies will be found news on 6's Amy Kaufman is on that story in Veneto with the latest Amy
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Craig and Terry Ronnie Busick is sitting in the Craig County jail tonight facing
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four counts of murder but despite the gruesome details of this case one of Laura and Ashley's closest childhood
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friends tells me that she helps people remember who the girls were as opposed to what they went through
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easy to get lost in the details of this but what I hope and wish is that people won't dwell on those things and that
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they will take that energy and remember the girls Sheena Ruiz says she was coming home
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from basketball at Blue Jacket High School when she found out about the fire at the Freeman house she immediately
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rushed home to call Laura to see if Ashley was okay I just wanted to get home to get to a phone you know to call
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Laura and that's when he told me that she was with her that was like a shot to the gut 24 hours later after
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investigators left the home turned crime scene family and friends went to make sure nothing was missed they sifted
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through all the way to the ground to make sure those two girls were in there and they weren't so we knew we had to
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get a search party going Sheena and her family were involved in several different searches and hung up missing
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posters across the area but says even when it was difficult she never gave up hope Laura and Ashley were such Fighters
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and both so full of life and love Sheena says she still thinks about them every day I didn't get a chance to have
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children get married so I hope those of us that are here make something of that for them because ultimately everyone is
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fighting for the same goal to get the girls home knowing that that will give them some closure and peace of mind
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that'll give me closure Sheena tells me that she's still hopeful that Laura and Ashley's bodies will be found so if you
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have any information that could help lead investigators to Laura and Ashley's bodies you're asked to call OSBI live on
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the scene on the story from Craig County Amy Kaufman News on Six [Music] foreign
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this story will make your blood boil back in December of 1999 two people were killed and two girls were taken in May
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of 2017 True Crime garage covered this case in episodes 107 and 108 titled the missing Welch girls our show description
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read something like this in the early morning hours of December 30th 1999 in Welch Oklahoma a trailer home fire is
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reported firefighters arrive and put out the Blaze the dead body of wife and mother Kathy Freeman is discovered her
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husband daughter and family friend are missing law enforcement theorized Kathy's husband Danny shot her set the
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home on fire and abducted his daughter Ashley and their friend Laura the following day to everyone's surprise
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Laura's family was looking for Clues at the scene of the fire there and then they find the body of Danny Freeman and
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the description goes goes on to read Tonight We Gather in the garage and discuss what could have possibly
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happened the night in the trailer we also want to know what happened to Ashley Freeman and Laura Bible well
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today We Gather in the garage once again to discuss the aggravating update we have in this case first let's go through
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a little recap of this story this True Crime Story Now 23 years old it's been 23 years and the families here are still
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seeking answers and truly when you get down to it still Seeking Justice because it's sad to say but we have seen
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it before and I don't ever want to see it again but sometimes unfortunately evil wins and here in this case I am
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hoping that we can all pull together and make sure that evil does not win so let's go back in time Captain to the
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end of 1999. many were bracing themselves for the Y2K scare but in the Tiny Town of Welch Oklahoma two girls
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were celebrating something other than the upcoming new year in New Millennium they were celebrating a birthday
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Welch is located in Craig County which is one of the northeastern most counties in Oklahoma
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this case is so well known in this part of the country that if you were to look up Welch Oklahoma this case is
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highlighted on the Welch Wikipedia page sixteen-year-old Laura Bible spent the evening of Wednesday December 29 1999 at
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her best friend's house her best friend Ashley Freeman was turning 16 years old on this day
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and the two friends along with Ashley's parents and a few other friends were going to have some fun for the
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youngster's birthday these two were the best of friends longtime friends the kind that you are
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so used to seeing them together that they almost start looking alike in some of these pictures captain Laura
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and Ashley almost look like they could be cousins if we started looking alike I I'm gonna quit now they're celebrating
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Ashley's family's house they they own a trailer that was close to Welsh Oklahoma
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yeah this is a trailer home this is their residence much of the following is from the Charlie project website which
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is by far in my humble garage opinion the best database of missing persons that's
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charlieproject.org and I know many people spend a lot of time reading all of the cases and profiles on that site
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just remember to donate a few dollars while you are there to make sure that the Charlie project site never goes away
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Kathy Freeman Ashley's mother took the two girls to Big Bill's Barbecue on North Wilson Street in Veneta Oklahoma
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the group traveled in Kathy's blue Toyota to pick up feed for the Freeman's livestock as well as water from Kathy's
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mother's house the Freeman's trailer had a wood burning stove in the living room
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and phone service and electricity the Freeman family was described as Avid hunters and outdoor enthusiasts who
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enjoyed living in the remote location due to the fact that they were Hunters there were numerous Firearms stockpiled
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inside the home Ashley's boyfriend Jeremy Hurst told investigators that he met the women at a
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local Walmart after their dinner he gave Ashley a silver chain with a heart-shaped pendant embedded with her
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birthstone for her birthday present Jeremy Hurst said that he returned to the Freeman's home with both of the
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girls shortly afterwards he said that nothing appeared to be amiss while he was there and that he departed sometime
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between 9 30 and 10 30 p.m Ashley's father Danny Freeman also had relatives over for the birthday party they left
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after Jeremy Hearst left the trailer that night authorities said that no outgoing telephone calls were made from
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the family's home during the night Kathy planned to take Ashley to her driver's test the following morning Laura had a
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dental appointment scheduled for the following morning and planned to leave the trailer shortly beforehand now Laura
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is 16 so she's driving age she drove to the Freeman residence that evening a passing motorist reported a fire in
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the vicinity of the Freeman's Residence at approximately 6 a.m this is on the morning of Thursday December 30th 1999.
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First Responders arrive on the scene and shortly after authorities discovered Kathy Freeman's remains inside the
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debris during that afternoon search of the trailer in the property investigators initially stated that they
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were positive that no other bodies were inside the home and did not secure the location during the overnight hours
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Danny Freeman Ashley's father at the time was considered to be the prime suspect in his wife's murder in fact
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authorities believe that he may have abducted Ashley and Laura and traveled elsewhere with them but the problem with
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this Theory here Captain was that all of the Freeman's Vehicles were parked near
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the home they're found on the property yeah a lot of this initial investigation doesn't make a lot of sense but you
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could see where law enforcement was going with this thought hey we found the mother we can't find the father we can't
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find the kids one could assume father took the kids Laura Bible's car was also nearby and one detail that was
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thought to be added strange at the time was that the keys Laura's keys were found in the car and in the ignition
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that following day now again this is a very remote area they don't have any nearby neighbors I can see
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16 year old I could even see myself just leaving the keys in the car she's planning on getting up and going to that
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dental appointment early the next morning later we have Laura Bible's family they're at the scene
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and remember this is an unsecured scene they're trying to figure out what happened to their daughter to their
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loved one they find Laura's purse propped up inside the trailer and that is the only evidence
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that they found of their daughter at the scene the vehicle parked outside keys in
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the ignition and Laura Bible's purse propped up against uh I believe it was uh like a corner in in one of the walls
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in one of the rooms of the trailer the following morning the Bible's return to the trailer and attempt to gather more
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evidence as to their daughter's whereabouts J Bible is Laura's father this is when Jay Bible discovers Danny
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Freeman's body in the bedroom of the mobile home so that theory is completely wiped out well it makes you wonder how
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law enforcement and firefighters missed this victim correct and it also makes it
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extra difficult in upsetting that they didn't secure the scene either yeah because one could question if he didn't
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find it that day is it possible that he was taken away from that scene and then brought back later it was determined
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that both Danny and Kathy Freeman had died as the result of gunshot wounds not from the fire
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Danny's body was partially covered by debris inside the bedroom this explaining why his remains were
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overlooked by firefighters and police the medical examiner determined that Danny's right collarbone had been
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fractured prior to the entrance of the Fatal gunshot wound so it would appear that there was some kind of scuffle some
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kind of fight he Danny certainly had injuries that took place right before he was killed
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with that gunshot well it raises questions why would somebody want this couple dead
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why would they set their place Ablaze and where are these girls and the coroner determined that Kathy Freeman
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died at approximately 5 a.m on that day and remember the fires reported at approximately 6 a.m that morning
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investigators believed that the fire was intentionally set this as an attempt to
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destroy evidence of these two crimes and potentially cover them up completely an
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extensive search for the girls produced no evidence as to their whereabouts Lorraine Bible Laura's mother told
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reporters that Ashley her daughter's friend had been saving her money to purchase a used vehicle remember she's
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going to get her driver's test the day after her birthday Lorraine said that she believed that Ashley had about
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twelve hundred dollars in her savings Ashley's boyfriend Jeremy Hearst said that Ashley actually had saved between
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three thousand and four thousand dollars for a vehicle wow she was employed at a
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convenience store in town and was using a lot of that money to purchase her first car
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the boyfriend Jeremy Hurst said that Ashley did not have a bank account and in fact she kept her money sealed in a
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tupperware container in the family's freezer authorities armed with this information
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were unable to locate any evidence of the cash after the fire Lorraine stated that Ashley and Danny had been arguing
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earlier in the month regarding what vehicle she was going to buy she claimed that Ashley wanted to purchase a
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different car than what Danny had decided she should be buying Oklahoma law enforcement officer David Haynes
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shot and killed the Freeman's son Shane the year before in 1998. Shane was found
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on a country road in possession of a stolen vehicle when the officer encountered him
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Shane Freeman allegedly reached behind his back and pulled a gun on the officer prompting officer Hayes to fire at him
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right the incident was investigated and Hayes's actions were found to be justified
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he and his brother who was also a law enforcement officer said that they both were required to take polygraph exams
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after the girls disappearances in 1999. neither of them though however were ever considered to
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be suspects in the investigation well this is a strange case strange scenario and then a fractured relationship
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between the Freemans and law enforcement so a lot of the families started believing that maybe law enforcement was
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Behind These murders yeah local law enforcement possibly involved in the murders and then The Disappearance of
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the girls as well of course we're being told by law enforcement that there's no evidence
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that seemed to support that theory at the time but as you can imagine Captain that's going to be difficult for
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several of the Freeman Family to agree with that statement there was speculation that Ashley and
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Laura may have been involved in the Freeman's murders after the searches failed to
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produce evidence as to their whereabouts investigators stated that there was nothing in either girl's background to
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suggested all that they could be capable of such a horrible crime Ashley was a member of the Welch high school
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basketball team Laura was a cheerleader who planned to become a cosmetologist after her high school graduation both
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girls were very much the girl next door they were they were good kids both girls
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were viewed as well-behaved teenagers well with such a heinous crime and there's obviously so much confusion so
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we're going to have so many suspects and so many different angles that law enforcement enforcement is going to have
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to dive into that's right Captain several suspects were looked at and investigated over the years this
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includes serial killers Tommy Lynn sells and Jeremy Bryan Jones both who we discussed briefly in our original
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coverage of this case we talked about both of those serial killers and that's because both of these guys
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confessed on separate occasions these two didn't know each other uh confessed to having committed the
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murders police pursued both possibilities but neither killer could offer up solid
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proof that they were involved and neither killer could lead the authorities to the missing girls as well
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right so the case dragged on throughout the years and as we said at the top of today's show it's 23 years
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now and we have families that are still looking for answers and still looking for justice now it appears to me Captain
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in reviewing this case that it was never what I would call a cold case so it was
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never really a cold case it seems like new leads and tips were constantly coming in over the years but as it were
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for a large part of the investigation the police were having no luck solving the case well there's so many local
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rumors and speculation and then you have these killers that are confessing and it
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makes you wonder are they just are they so mentally deranged that they're confessing to these crimes or is it that
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law enforcement is just so good at getting a confession detectives said that things started coming together for
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the case in 2016 and 2017. there was a major break in the case according to the media uh this in April of 2018
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so now we're 18 years after the two teens vanished and after the murders in April 2018 this is when police announced
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that they had made a serious break in the case so authorities are saying that they
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identified Warren Phillip Phil Welch II uh his real name is his legal name would
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be Warren Phillip Welch II but he goes by Phil and David a Pennington and Ronnie Dean
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Busick as all having been involved in the murders the arson and the Abduction of
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the two girls police say that the three of these guys Welsh Pennington and Busick all went to the Freeman trailer
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in the middle of the night on the night in question they killed Danny and Kathy they set the trailer home on fire and
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left taking the girls with them but because this is 18 years later after the crimes Pennington and Welch
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were deceased by the time that they were named as suspects in the case identified
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as suspects in the case yeah I'd like to dig up their dead bones and kill them again but Ronnie Dean Busick was alive
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and so he was arrested and charged with four counts of first-degree murder two counts of kidnapping and one count of
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arson Phil Welch one of the deceased members of this group of sniffers losers was described
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as evil and said by witnesses to be thought of as The Mastermind in the killings of Ashley Laura and Ashley's
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parents he died in 2007. David Pennington died in 2015. so in 2018 once the police figured out
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what happened and how a lot of this went down there was only one man left standing only one guy to to arrest and
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charge here in this case all three of these dudes had criminal histories and both Welch and Pennington
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had documented histories of violence against women right one strange tidbit here in this
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case Captain was that an auto insurance card was found near the crime scene this
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was a few days after the murders in 1999. so after the the two murders are discovered the arson
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and now with both parents dead it's believed that the two girls were abducted a few days after this they find
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an auto insurance card near the crime scene and we say near the crime scene it it
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sounds like police didn't do their job when you just say near the crime scene but keep in mind I believe that their
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nearest neighbor at the time lived like a mile away so near the crime scene could mean
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could mean three-quarters of a mile away from the home right but this card shouldn't be out there it doesn't it
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doesn't get there just all all willy-nilly the insurance card belonged to Welch's then girlfriend
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who said that she did not know the Freeman family and had never been to their home had never been to their
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property and had no idea why her insurance card was there though she did admit that Welch
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Phil Welch knew Danny Freeman yeah and maybe he took her vehicle correct and up until a few months before Danny and
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Kathy were killed Phil Welch was their nearest neighbor he was living in a house that is
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stated to be less than a mile to the south of the Freeman's trailer so still living a good distance away the
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insurance card was not given much significance early on in this investigation by police uh not given
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much significance at the time by police so a private investigator working for one of the families kept this insurance
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card instead the same private investigator found the blue Mercury Topaz vehicle that was linked to
00:22:34
the insurance card it had been sent to a salvage yard the investigator told police about this vehicle but said that
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the police wouldn't take the car into evidence in fact they called for revoking the private investigator state
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license from the Council on Law Enforcement Education and Training for quote interfering in their investigation
00:22:57
into the Freeman and Bible case but what we do know now Captain all of these years later is that that insurance
00:23:07
card later turned out to be a very important clue in this case yes very important indeed my friend all three of
00:23:15
these scumbags had a lengthy criminal history that's correct and Phil Welch was known as a quote
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cooker of methamphetamine and Pennington his friend one of these other guys was also involved with the drug meth as well
00:23:32
definitely no Heisenberg or Pinkman after Ashley and Laura's disappearance Welch broke up with his girlfriend the
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one that had the vehicle and the insurance card but he kept her vehicle that Mercury
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Topaz he began dating another woman shortly afterwards and it said that she moved in with him in the spring of 2000.
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this girlfriend later told police that Welch had Ashley and Laura's missing persons poster nailed to a wall
00:24:07
in his home and he lived in pitcher Oklahoma now while she's staying there and living
00:24:16
with him she says that she overheard Phil Welch talking with the other two suspects Pennington and Busick about
00:24:25
the Freeman and Bible case she said that the three men implied that they had murdered the Freeman parents
00:24:33
over a drug debt and then taken Ashley and Laura with them and eventually killed the girls as
00:24:40
well she went on to tell police that Phil Welch had several Polaroid photos of the
00:24:45
two girls and his girlfriend that she had seen these photos the the photos showed the two girls bound and
00:24:53
lying on a bed that bed in the picture matched the one in Phil Welch's bedroom yeah there was a
00:25:00
long-standing rumor by locals that there was this party that took place and that some men had these
00:25:07
Polaroids of the girls and that was a long-standing rumor that we eventually figure out is true in February 2017 the
00:25:17
Craig County Sheriff found some previously unknown notes and documents about the free men and Bible case
00:25:25
this included notes about the case but also notes from that private investigator the one who had the
00:25:31
insurance card in his possession the papers had been left over from a previous Sheriff Administration and had
00:25:38
apparently been misplaced now acting on the information in those nodes investigators received additional leads
00:25:46
this linking Phil Welch Pennington and Ronnie bussick to the case and they started to locate and
00:25:57
question other Witnesses one witness was a former girlfriend of Penningtons who said that Pennington had physically
00:26:05
abused her and threatened her life she said that he had bragged to her on more than one occasion about killing the
00:26:12
Freemans during a quote bad drug deal according to this witness Pennington told her one of the Freeman's parents
00:26:20
was buying drugs when Ashley and Laura suddenly walked into the room they were using Phil Welch's
00:26:27
girlfriend's vehicle that Mercury Topaz that night Pennington told his girlfriend that he and the other men
00:26:32
decided to take the girls from the crime scene to quote have some fun with them [Music]
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betterhelp [Music] all right cheers mates to the windows to the walls cheers to everybody in the back cheers
00:31:08
to you colonel cheers to you captain so normally when we have an update it's normally a good thing but this is not an
00:31:16
update that we are that thrilled about but if you want more information about this case again we covered this episode
00:31:25
107 and 108. yeah and we go through the Tommy Lynn cells and the other serial killer Jones we go through those
00:31:34
theories a little more extensively than we did here today as well as covering some other theories about the case and
00:31:42
what was interesting in our coverage about the case we didn't know how active the case was at the time and we didn't
00:31:51
know that all of these things were kind of Brewing behind the scenes but some of
00:31:54
the theories we reviewed were similar to what we would learn all of these years later in 2018 when they said that they
00:32:02
made an arrest and they were charging Ronnie Busick with murder abduction and arson now leading up to that arrest we
00:32:12
still have police working on this case and they're rounding up these additional Witnesses and collecting statements that
00:32:19
will help them build a case against basic and the other two deceased persons that were involved in this case as well
00:32:27
now multiple other Witnesses connected the three men Pennington Welch and Busick to the case
00:32:36
and these Witnesses are giving similar stories about these guys boasting and bragging about their involvement in
00:32:44
the Freeman and Bible case some of them said that they had seen the Polaroids of Ashley and Laura and some
00:32:52
of the photos the two girls were bound and gagged lying on a bed and in others they were duct taped to chairs
00:32:59
by the time investigators learned about the photos these photos had all seemed to have disappeared as well and may have
00:33:07
been destroyed by one or all of the suspects but Witnesses said they had seen them and they could describe in
00:33:15
great detail to authorities what these Polaroids were what they were of and and what were seen
00:33:22
in the photographs there were approximately 10 to 15 photos of the girls is the rumor the Witnesses
00:33:32
were able to identify the bed that was seen in one of the at least one of the photos a blanket on that bed and these
00:33:40
Witnesses were able to identify the bed in the blanket as belonging to Phil Welch
00:33:46
and some of the photos showed Phil Welch lying next to the girls Ronnie bussick told one witness the girls had been kept
00:33:55
alive for days perhaps as long as two weeks in a trailer in picture Oklahoma where they were raped tortured and
00:34:06
eventually strangled to death Ronnie bussick said that Phil Welch had shot Kathy and Danny Freeman and that he
00:34:14
and the other assailant Pennington stayed behind at the scene at the murder scene to set the fire
00:34:22
to the trailer to cover up the crimes to cover up the evidence and right when they stayed behind this is when Phil
00:34:29
Welch took the two teenage girls away from the scene Pennington and Welch had both threatened Witnesses saying that
00:34:38
Ashley and Laura were in a quote pit and that Witnesses might end up in the same pit if they tell what they may know
00:34:47
or or have overheard from these men now because of these threats none of the witnesses would come forward
00:34:54
this changed in 2017 when they discovered those lost notes investigative notes in
00:35:04
the case and law enforcement were circling back and going to these people and asking them for statements or things
00:35:13
that they have known is probably helped too loosen the the grip on these Witnesses a
00:35:20
bit because we know that by 2017 two of these three terrible people had passed away
00:35:29
so these Witnesses probably felt a little safer and a little more secure in being able to give statements to law
00:35:38
enforcement after two of these guys were already dead well think about that for a
00:35:42
second I mean you have information you want to go to police but there's three killers out there
00:35:51
you know what they're being accused of you you believe you know who did it you've heard the other rumors
00:35:59
there would be a part of you that would be afraid that if the cops don't get them
00:36:04
or the information you give the police if it's not enough what are they going to do to you
00:36:10
and if you're local and if you're keeping your ear to the ground you're hearing whispers from the bushes you're
00:36:16
you're paying attention to the investigation and paying attention to local rumor and
00:36:22
local scuttlebutt you may know that there's been some I'm using air quotes here evidence this stuff turned out
00:36:30
later to be evidence at the time they didn't know what they had but you may know that hey here's this private
00:36:36
investigator here's these other people that have provided law enforcement with leads and they've turned away from them
00:36:41
so if I drop a dime here and try to call in one of these guys who one dude is known
00:36:48
by many to be quote evil all three of them are known to have a criminal background and at least two of
00:36:57
them A History of Violence if you're going to drop a dime and call one or all three of these guys into
00:37:03
authorities what are you going to do then after you hang up the phone are you going to hope and pray that they follow
00:37:07
up on that lead and arrest all of them so that no harm will come your way uh it's a it's a very dicey situation
00:37:16
after all of this news comes out in 2018 of course we learned that Ronnie bussick
00:37:24
the only person of the three still alive the only suspect that is still alive out of three
00:37:31
suspects he's arrested for quadruple homicide he tells police and this will make its way to the
00:37:41
media that he suffers from memory loss and didn't remember what happened on the night of the murders
00:37:49
he doesn't remember the arson or where Laura and Ashley are he it's reported that he has a low
00:37:59
IQ and has sustained brain damage from extensive drug use and from an incident that took place in 1978 when he was shot
00:38:08
in the head nonetheless he was found legally competent to stand trial so they move forward with court
00:38:18
proceedings in July of 2020 Ronnie bussick pled guilty to accessory to second-degree
00:38:25
murder so you can see it's originally first degree murder quadruple homicide arson abduction
00:38:34
kidnapping you know all of these charges look what it's reduced to pled guilty to
00:38:40
accessory to second-degree murder well it becomes difficult for law enforcement because maybe you can prove that he's
00:38:47
involved but because there's so many people involved you can't prove that he's the trigger man so you have to
00:38:55
take what you can get sometimes so they make a deal with them so maybe the in the in the best case scenario you you
00:39:03
end up having to make a deal with this monster right you're making a deal with the devil here you don't want to but
00:39:08
you're hoping that with him being the only one left of the three you can't leverage each other against one another
00:39:16
right each one of these guys against one another to to to draw out information because if it's true that this guy has
00:39:24
severe memory loss and does not know the information that you're seeking you could likely get it from one of the
00:39:31
other guys but that's not going to work today because they're dead and gone and what is he charged with
00:39:40
what is his sentence well his sentence is supposed to be 10 years prison time which I believe the families
00:39:50
were originally told it was going to be 15 years and then when he does get out he's going to get five years of
00:39:56
probation but keep in mind he does not plead guilty until July of 2020. they announced the arrest in April of 2018.
00:40:05
so two of those years he spent in jail his sentence while it's handed down in 2020 and would start in 2020 he does get
00:40:16
credited with that two years that he did in jail leading up to what was supposed
00:40:22
to be a trial which turns out to be a plea agreement yeah this guy's a real douche Taco so in that plea agreement he
00:40:30
said that Ashley and Laura's bodies had been put in The Root Cellar of a residence near 6th and Ethel in pitcher
00:40:38
Oklahoma however searches of that area turned up nothing Ronnie bussick was sentenced to
00:40:46
as we said 10 years in prison and five years of probation authorities still hope to recover the girls bodies and
00:40:54
that's what the families want as well it's been 23 years captain and I know the families feel like no one has helped
00:41:01
them there have been six or seven major Digs at least with local law enforcement the
00:41:07
Sheriff's Office are calling major digs in this case over the years uh all of these major digs were based off of what
00:41:16
they believed to be credible information coming into them about the possible location of the two girls or evidence
00:41:23
leading them to the two girls and unfortunately of those digs that took place over the
00:41:29
years they've really turned up nothing well it's a tough situation because somebody that's this evil you wouldn't
00:41:37
put it past them that they would lie to law enforcement or lie to the families but in his case
00:41:43
you don't know if he's lying or if he's telling you the truth and he just can't remember so here we sit now and it's
00:41:52
like either Ronnie bussick either does not know where Ashley and Laura are or he simply
00:42:01
refuses to to tell police where the girls can be found and keep in mind that was part of the deal that he was
00:42:09
offered Ronnie bussick received a lighter sentence in trade for information of where the girls are and
00:42:17
as said he either does not know or refuses to give up that information so I Ask of all of you why in the hell should
00:42:25
this guy get that lighter sentence when he did not uphold his end of this bargain I 100 agree with you and it's
00:42:33
and what they should be doing is saying hey we're not going to let you out until
00:42:38
you give us this information until we can confirm that what you're telling us is the truth until we get until we can
00:42:45
recover the bodies of these victims so whatever your sentence was supposed to be that's the sentence that you're
00:42:53
going to serve and the reason why we're having this update today here in the garage we're almost treating
00:43:01
this like it's an emergency podcast it is we have to get this information out we have to get this there needs to be a
00:43:08
a great deal of media attention made in a strong effort made in this case because these people were wronged four
00:43:20
people were murdered two girls were abducted and tortured for what could have been days or even up to two weeks
00:43:28
yeah these criminals they should have been tortured themselves we're doing this emergency podcast because we sit
00:43:35
here May 9th 2023 and this guy the only guy that's still alive of the three Ronnie Busick
00:43:48
is going to be walking out of prison in less than two weeks time from now he is scheduled to be released
00:43:57
Friday May 19 2023 so if you live in this area if you live in the great state of Oklahoma
00:44:05
guess who your next neighbor yes guess who your next neighbor could be it could be a guy who is guilty of quadruple
00:44:14
homicide arson he's been involved in drugs and other crimes throughout his adult life
00:44:22
killed four people and was involved and participated in the rape and torture of I mean they're teenage girls they're
00:44:34
children kidnapped them tortured them raped them then murdered them and he's the only one that's alive who's to say
00:44:43
that he wasn't The Mastermind who's to say that he is not the most evil of these three we don't have the other two
00:44:50
guys to talk to to confirm or refute his statements of the the memories he chooses to have about that
00:45:01
night and the days afterwards yeah and where is the protection for the family four of their family members are dead
00:45:09
where's the protection for them where's the justice for the victims right again if you make a deal and you can't provide
00:45:17
the information to law enforcement there should be no deal revoke the deal take the deal back he didn't hold up his end
00:45:24
of the bargain you didn't want to make a deal with the devil to begin with you felt that you were backed into a corner
00:45:30
and you had to and then sadly and shamefully this is the result this guy was locked up in jail waiting trial
00:45:42
in 2018 gets this really major deal in his benefit in 2020 and here we're sitting here
00:45:56
that was July of 2020. it's not even been three years and they're going to release this guy
00:46:04
so even if you're going to give him credit for his two years in jail we're talking about this guy kills four
00:46:12
people of ducks and rapes people and gets basically a five-year prison sentence well this is what pisses me off
00:46:21
so much too is when they go well it's good behavior again you're locked in with other animals if you step out of
00:46:28
line they might kill you but on top of that a lot of these a lot of these [ __ ]
00:46:33
princesses they're they're they're drug addicts and so well when they're not on drugs
00:46:40
they're not killing and raping people so this guy gets out I don't care what age he's at or what health level he's at
00:46:49
he gets back on drugs watch out he's 71 years old many are saying well he's too old he's not a danger anymore that's not
00:46:58
what this is about I mean that's part of it but but the big part of it is supposed to be
00:47:03
that he receives a some type of punishment on this planet that is I I was going to say worthy of the
00:47:12
crimes he committed but I mean nothing nothing can bring these people back and but but still five years is absolutely
00:47:20
shameful and appalling and I hope that the people of Oklahoma it's horseshit catch wind of this because this this is
00:47:29
news this wasn't something that the families were told five years ago oh he'll be out in 2023. now this was news
00:47:35
to the families and to to the people of this area as well just within the past couple of weeks and so now they're
00:47:45
they're scurrying they're they're trying to figure out is there anything that we
00:47:49
can do to keep this guy behind bars but again 71 years old I would argue somebody that that participated in these
00:47:58
types of crimes if he's breathing he's a danger and and not only that he did this
00:48:03
In Cahoots with two others who's to say how far his tentacles can or cannot reach who who else is he in in
00:48:12
communication with or relationship with that that could get to to some of these people or what other crimes will he
00:48:21
commit once he gets back out yeah and if there's a uproar as far as the public is concerned as far as media
00:48:30
local news covering this national news covering this the argument here is pretty simple he did not supply law
00:48:38
enforcement with the information that he claimed that he had so the deal should be off the table so okay
00:48:48
uh he was a model citizen he he had no problems in prison while he should be spending a longer amount of time in
00:48:57
prison because that information that he gave didn't work out so until he can give that information they should not
00:49:04
even be considering him reducing his time at all and typically good behavior results in you serving 80 percent of
00:49:15
your sentence here he's serving 50 or slightly less than 50 percent yeah and keep in mind this makes the justice
00:49:23
system look like a joke yeah he's older but these crimes were committed 23 years ago
00:49:30
they weren't committed 55 years ago he would have been in his 40s and in fact both Laura Bible and Ashley Freeman
00:49:39
have been missing since that night the night of December 30th 1999 they were both just 16 years old in fact Ashley
00:49:47
Freeman had been 16 for one day when they were abducted and then subjected to torture today Laura would be just 40
00:49:59
years old and Ashley just 39. yeah I don't care if you're tired of me saying it he made a deal he didn't live up to
00:50:06
his end of the deal until he does he needs to spend more time in prison this is not the first time that we've done an
00:50:14
update in this case in the missing Welch girls case in fact we did an update after
00:50:22
basic was arrested and then convicted after he pled guilty on our other show off the Record
00:50:30
OTR if you're nasty and big news if you haven't already heard off the Record is coming back in a big
00:50:39
way and it's back and it's better than ever yeah coffee in the Big Time agave in the big time yeah you can get uh off
00:50:49
the Record if you're nasty you just go to Apple podcast and you'll see a subscription sign up on the subscription
00:50:58
you get the first 50 episodes that we've ever put out of True Crime garage we just released our
00:51:06
two bonus episodes on off the Record Tony Muncie bonus episode and also uh the brick of family murders and then
00:51:15
this Sunday will be the first new OTR if you're nasty and we got a lot of stuff already recorded for off the
00:51:25
Record that we're super excited for you guys to check out it's gonna be awesome but it's also a great way to support
00:51:31
this show because there's no middleman now all of our bonus content before was through Stitcher premium now off the
00:51:40
Record is completely independent it's just me and Nick's show so thanks for the support so we often do these case
00:51:49
updates on off the Record and dive a little deeper and take a different weird angle sometimes in these cases on off
00:51:57
the Record now sad news and another missing person's case not related to this case but a case that
00:52:04
we covered on True Crime Garage in fact we covered this case February 2023 February of this year in episode 650 and
00:52:15
that is the missing person's case of Beau man and I can see here there's sad news
00:52:22
coming from help find Bow Man on Twitter and help find Bowman the Facebook group
00:52:27
they are saying friends we have difficult news here's a statement from our entire
00:52:33
family we were notified by the Santa Monica California police that Beau man's remains were found in a grassy area
00:52:42
about a mile from where an Uber dropped him off on November 30 2021 his identity was confirmed through
00:52:51
dental records at this point we have no further details on what led to his death
00:52:56
we want to thank all of those who helped us search for him and who prayed for Bose safe return over the past year and
00:53:04
a half Beau was a beautiful soul who spent the better part of his life helping others we miss his infectious
00:53:11
smile and positive attitude every day we know his spirit will live on through his
00:53:17
company and passion sober grid as it continues to help those struggling with the grip of addiction so certainly our
00:53:25
thoughts and prayers uh and feelings go out to Bow Man's family and friends and all of those who
00:53:33
were searching for him over the last year and a half again that was our episode number 650 from February of this
00:53:41
year sad news I want to give go through this article captain if you will allow me because this is
00:53:50
gives an interesting perspective on the Welch girls case in the current state of the case and this is an article
00:54:00
an online article from Fox 23 News right that came out just earlier this month on
00:54:09
May 2nd and the headline reads family of 1999 missing Welch girl Laura Bible says
00:54:17
Henrietta tragedy hits close to home and the article reads the family of Laura Bible a teenage girl from Greene County
00:54:24
who disappeared and investigators believe was likely murdered along with her friend Ashley Freeman say the
00:54:31
tragedy in Henrietta strikes close to their hearts Laura Bible and Ashley Freeman were kidnapped and murdered
00:54:38
after a sleepover for Ashley's birthday in 1999. the Bible family says their hearts go out to the families involved
00:54:46
in the Henrietta tragedy Laura's mom Laureen and her cousin Lisa say they were shocked when they heard about the
00:54:54
missing girls and the tragedy in Henrietta quote when it came through and it said there were two missing girls
00:55:01
they were missing and you find out they went to a sleepover exact same thing with Laura and Ashley Lorraine said
00:55:11
quote I just couldn't even read it because it was just too real and too close to home Lisa added Lisa and
00:55:19
Laureen say the deaths of 14 year old Ivy Webster and 16 year old Brittany Brewer along with five other people
00:55:27
including three other teens brought memories flooding back and they want to help quote it's a very sad place to have
00:55:36
to be but it does help to know that you're not alone and that other people have went through and in our case
00:55:44
still going through what they went through just yesterday said Lisa they need to know that they can pick up a
00:55:51
phone or go to our page where they can text us just talk to somebody that knows the shoes that they are in last week the
00:56:01
Bible family was told Ronnie bussick the only suspect still alive in lore and Ashley's disappearance is getting out of
00:56:07
prison early for good behavior meanwhile in Henrietta convicted rapist Jesse McFadden was
00:56:16
believed to be one of the bodies found with the children in this week's tragedy this was only hours after he missed a
00:56:24
scheduled court appearance accused of sexting an underage girl while he was in prison Lisa says the Henrietta tragedy
00:56:33
highlights the Need For Justice Reform in Oklahoma quote why was he released had there been
00:56:40
different laws had they have held him accountable for what he was doing while he was in prison there are six people
00:56:48
that would have been alive still today these two girls that would have went to a sleepover and
00:56:56
come home like they should have so that is the Bible family immediate and extended voicing their opinions on
00:57:07
this this case that just broke not too long ago down in Henrietta where similar situation unfortunately Captain where we
00:57:15
have somebody who is a criminal uh somebody that deserves and should be behind bars he's let out he's released
00:57:24
and then he is set free to kill again and that's exactly what we're talking about with Ronnie bussick's case and
00:57:33
Laura Bible and Ashley Freeman this guy I don't care how old he is I don't care that he's 71 years old he's getting out
00:57:42
he's he's admitted to his involvement his direct involvement and participation in killing
00:57:49
four people setting a fire to cover up these crimes and torturing children's [ __ ]
00:57:56
appalling uh for for more than more than a day or two maybe even up to two weeks
00:58:01
it's despicable he's getting out he served five years basically of a month shy of a five-year prison sentence
00:58:10
for good behavior and he's going to get a very limited probation period this guy
00:58:17
is dangerous this guy it should this should be of a major concern not just to the Bible
00:58:23
family and to the Freeman family but to All Families in this area in regard to this very dangerous individual being
00:58:31
released number one and number two their treatment and punishments and sentences
00:58:37
that they hand out for these very violent very dangerous criminals going forward in their state the until this
00:58:44
gets fixed the people in Oklahoma aren't safe and here's the thing this story of Ronnie getting out early
00:58:53
this story of this Jesse McFadden who gets out and then kills again these are the stories that everybody
00:59:01
needs to tell somebody to pay attention to listen to this podcast pass along an article this great article
00:59:09
from Fox 23 News tell your friends tell your family this is no good and you don't have to be in
00:59:17
the state of Oklahoma to make a difference here this is something that everyone everywhere should care about their own
00:59:26
personal safety the safety of their children this is ridiculous oh yeah and Society in general
00:59:34
sometimes seems like such a freaking joke and we act like that we can't do anything about it well we can thank you
00:59:40
Captain and I want to um discuss before we ramp up here today because I think this is a pretty
00:59:46
powerful stuff and it really leaves a lot to think about when we talk about this case but a letter that fell into
00:59:54
our hands here Captain um and it needs to be communicated in everybody needs to know about this so
01:00:04
this is a letter from the attorney general in Oklahoma his name is gintner Drummond
01:00:14
so Mr Drummond in the attorney general for the the state of Oklahoma says and he's talking to the the free men and
01:00:25
Bible families addressing the families here of these these victims of these child victims
01:00:32
and his letter says I understand and share your frustrations regarding Ronnie bussick's scheduled release from prison
01:00:39
the murders of lower Bible and Ashley Freeman and the murders of Danny and Kathy Freeman were horrific and
01:00:47
deserving of the harshest punishment Allowed by law okay he's got some things right so far
01:00:55
the letter goes on to say unfortunately after thoroughly examining examining my office's statutory Authority and
01:01:05
Consulting with district attorney Matt Ballard it is evident that neither the Attorney
01:01:10
General nor the district attorney possesses the legal authority to delay busick's release from prison
01:01:18
I am extremely sorry that I cannot provide any relief to you your family's willingness to speak out about this
01:01:26
unjust outcome demonstrates that those convicted of accessory to murder should be required to serve at least 85 percent
01:01:35
of the sentence imposed I stand ready to assist any legislator who might wish to draft a bill
01:01:43
addressing this clear problem please know however that this law will apply only to Future cases given
01:01:51
constitutional limitations I hope knowing that I can join the citizens of Oklahoma who see and share
01:02:00
your pain and disappointment can give you some amount of comfort I am suggesting in a separate letter to
01:02:09
Representative Steve bashor that any Bill introduced to change the accessory to murder law be named after
01:02:19
Laura and the Freeman Family as a testament to the power of your voices and to ensure that your loved
01:02:29
ones names live on your families will remain in my thoughts please know that I am inspired by your
01:02:36
fight to seek Justice for your loved ones and that's right here at the garage we are inspired by their fight as well
01:02:43
to continue to stick up for and fight for justice for their loved ones so our hats and our thoughts and uh prayers our
01:02:53
hats go off to the the Freeman family and the in the Bible family and our thoughts
01:03:00
go out to them and we certainly wish them the best of luck in this very difficult aggravating situation and hear
01:03:08
what the the Attorney General is saying there everyone this is not just a one isolated incident type problem
01:03:19
this is something that needs to be changed in the state of Oklahoma Ronnie bussick's getting out early and it looks
01:03:26
like we're all handcuffed and there's very little that we can do to change that he's getting out May 19th lock up
01:03:34
your lock up the women and children any husband too uh keep your family safe the
01:03:39
best you can when you have a quadruple murderer out walking on the streets and out roaming the streets
01:03:48
of your good neighborhoods share this story tell somebody you know tell other people about the story the
01:03:56
story needs to be the best chance to get change in Oklahoma is to put a lot of ear balls and a lot of eyeballs on this
01:04:04
case and we know that our listeners are really good at doing that the important thing also to remember here
01:04:12
is that this is still an ongoing case right we have some of the story we have one guy who
01:04:21
remains that has told us what he says happened I don't know how much we can believe him again he could be he could
01:04:28
be the Mastermind of all this for all we know but at the end of the day even if we can get some good positive
01:04:36
change this is still a missing person's case remember you they made a deal with the devil and the devil duped them right
01:04:43
the devil duped them it tricked all of us Bamboozled all of us he didn't give up the location of Laura
01:04:51
Bible and Ashley Freeman they are still missing both Laura Bible and Ashley Freeman have
01:04:57
been missing since the night of December 30th 1999. they were both just 16 years old today
01:05:05
Laura would be just 40 years old and Ashley 39. Laura is Native American she is listed at five foot five inches tall
01:05:15
with brown hair and hazel eyes she may have been wearing a blue shirt jeans white sneakers or black boots
01:05:24
and she was wearing a silver heart-shaped earrings with embedded diamonds Ashley Freeman is
01:05:31
Caucasian five foot seven inches tall she has blonde hair and blue eyes Ashley had an athletic build back in 1999 she
01:05:40
may have been wearing a t-shirt jeans a baseball cap white sneakers a windbreaker and a class ring inscribed
01:05:47
with the phrase Blue Jacket High School class of 2000. very important stuff right here if you have any information
01:05:55
that could help to find Laura and or Ashley or if you have any further information
01:06:03
about the suspects that we've been talking about Ronnie Busick Warren Phil Welch or David Pennington
01:06:11
or any other criminal activity that any or all of these guys have been involved in
01:06:18
please contact the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation and notice the descriptions make mental note of those
01:06:26
descriptions of Laura and Ashley if you have seen any of these items that they may have been wearing there's some very
01:06:33
specific items here too these are clues that could help lead us to finding to finally finding Ashley
01:06:42
Freeman and Laura Bible we talk about silver heart-shaped earrings with embedded diamonds very
01:06:50
unique we talk about a windbreaker and a class ring inscribed with the phrase Blue Jacket High School class of 2000.
01:07:00
these are key items very specific items that may help lead to finding one or both of these girls we need to bring
01:07:10
them home to their loved ones and if what we believe happened took place we need to get them a a
01:07:19
proper resting place if you have any information at all or know somebody that does please do not hesitate please
01:07:26
please call reach out to the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation their phone number is
01:07:36
800-522-8017 and their number will be listed in today's show notes thank you that wraps up things for today make sure
01:07:51
you join us back here in the garage next week and until then be good be kind and
01:07:57
don't live [Music] [Applause] thank you