OK OK - Lauria Bible, 16, & Ashley Freeman, 16, Welch, 30 December 1999 *ARREST*

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I have followed this case closely ever since it happened. I live in that area, and knew Dave pretty well. Didn't know much about Phil but heard of Busick and he was friends with several here. Word got out that these 3 were responsible within just a few days of the fire, soon enough that if someone would have paid attention and followed up, the girls might have still be alive. (This was relayed by someone who knew what was going on for the most part) But the then sheriff in that county just sat the evidence away and even refused to accept more evidence later on that private investigators had. It wasn't until this new sheriff came in that he found this box of evidence stored away and that's when the ball got to rolling. It was a bad situation ll the way around, and much started when Freeman's son Shane was shot (murdered) by deputies on a dirt road the previous year. Freeman told everyone that if anything happened to him to look at the sheriff. The current story is the deaths were a bad drug deal but others who still aren't saying much tend to think it's much more than that. Pennington was pretty much always heavy into drugs and had served time before for shooting a family member, but when he got out he went back on drugs. Was told he narcked a lot and was worth more to law enforcement on the streets than in the pen. He'd been busted a number of times but turned loose. Phil was a Viet Nam vet and was the psycho of the bunch. After all of this went down, Phil and Dave suddenly found God, became ministers and hid behind their religion until they died. Busick, I am told did the same thing. Hopefully Busick will tell where they put the girls after they killed them. Word is they were thrown in a mine shaft there in Picher, another witness said they were put in one and covered in concrete. No telling if they will ever find them. The town is deserted, a toxic place full of lead, but still able to travel through the town and the highway is still usable, so hopefully they can find the remains and bring the girls home and give the families some peace after nearly 20 years. Reports say at least 12 people knew what happened yet everyone was afraid to step forward. But then again in this podunk area, secrets are rarely kept with some of the previous law enforcement and these people were all threatened if they told. Another thing to keep in mind was the fact most all of them were heavy meth heads/tweakers and for the most part people weren't going to pay much attention..which they should have in this case. I personally was shocked when I heard who did this.
 
They did search over In Galena, and in a couple of places in Chetopa and of course never found anything. It made the local town news but didn't see it in any large newspapers.

gingersnap said:
I have followed this case since it happened. Not in depth though. There are alot of weird things, in my opinion, going on here. Welch, Oklahoma is not a great place in way of the LE. Many rumors have circled this area about this case which I won't get into, but what really bothers me is I was excited when they were saying that they would be searching in Kansas. But then, NOTHING. Not a report of if they did search. Not a news report saying that nothing/anything was found. This really makes me sad.
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msmag said:
I have followed this case closely ever since it happened. I live in that area, and knew Dave pretty well. Didn't know much about Phil but heard of Busick and he was friends with several here. Word got out that these 3 were responsible within just a few days of the fire, soon enough that if someone would have paid attention and followed up, the girls might have still be alive. (This was relayed by someone who knew what was going on for the most part) But the then sheriff in that county just sat the evidence away and even refused to accept more evidence later on that private investigators had. It wasn't until this new sheriff came in that he found this box of evidence stored away and that's when the ball got to rolling. It was a bad situation ll the way around, and much started when Freeman's son Shane was shot (murdered) by deputies on a dirt road the previous year. Freeman told everyone that if anything happened to him to look at the sheriff. The current story is the deaths were a bad drug deal but others who still aren't saying much tend to think it's much more than that. Pennington was pretty much always heavy into drugs and had served time before for shooting a family member, but when he got out he went back on drugs. Was told he narcked a lot and was worth more to law enforcement on the streets than in the pen. He'd been busted a number of times but turned loose. Phil was a Viet Nam vet and was the psycho of the bunch. After all of this went down, Phil and Dave suddenly found God, became ministers and hid behind their religion until they died. Busick, I am told did the same thing. Hopefully Busick will tell where they put the girls after they killed them. Word is they were thrown in a mine shaft there in Picher, another witness said they were put in one and covered in concrete. No telling if they will ever find them. The town is deserted, a toxic place full of lead, but still able to travel through the town and the highway is still usable, so hopefully they can find the remains and bring the girls home and give the families some peace after nearly 20 years. Reports say at least 12 people knew what happened yet everyone was afraid to step forward. But then again in this podunk area, secrets are rarely kept with some of the previous law enforcement and these people were all threatened if they told. Another thing to keep in mind was the fact most all of them were heavy meth heads/tweakers and for the most part people weren't going to pay much attention..which they should have in this case. I personally was shocked when I heard who did this.
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Thank you. I hope to hear more from locals. I have a hard time comprehending the law enfoecement’s incompetence... everyone that knew and said nothing are accomplices to this crime. To add insult to injury, they allowed rumors that the girls committed the murders and ran to fester causing further and unnecessary pain for the family and friends of these girls. That’s despicable!

I’ve always thought the Freeman’s simply couldn’t accept the truth regarding Shane. Now, I feel that it was incredibly possible (and most likely probable) Shane was murdered.
 
M86 said:
The incomptence of both the local LE and OSBI is beyond infuriating. I'd look into Jimmy Sooter, why deny information from the private investigator? Makes me so mad.
Lorene Bible is amazing. There's no words, after watching the press conference and keeping up with this case.
I've been through Picher a few times. I always got a weird feeling driving through there, but the place looks like a 3rd world country.
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Yes, it seems like if you want to commit murder, Oklahoma's the place to do it.
 
I am from Picher, but I had moved away when this happened. My grandmother lived in the 500 block of college, so just a block down. And although it has been a while I can remember the trailer that Welch lived in but I have no idea who he was. I think what we see today the nothingness of the town wasn't like that during the times of the murders. But I do think they will have to be told where the bodies are to find them. There are so many mines and chat piles to search. I do hope they find the girls and bring them home.
 
https://www.dropbox.com/s/wnxyo24vus1nq0b/Doc - Apr 23 2018 - 2-45 PM.pdf?dl=0
Here's a copy of the story and affidavit

SecretAgentMan
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Watching this case over the years, thinking it was several serial killers, or whatever would pop in peoples minds...... they supposedly finally found the person that committed the crime......its been a long road for the living parents & other relatives.​
 
Unfortunately they knew who did this years ago right after it happened.But now, it's the whys this was never followed up on and put away until recently when the new sheriff found the files and got involved.
 
Day Dreamer said:
Thank you. I hope to hear more from locals. I have a hard time comprehending the law enfoecement’s incompetence... everyone that knew and said nothing are accomplices to this crime. To add insult to injury, they allowed rumors that the girls committed the murders and ran to fester causing further and unnecessary pain for the family and friends of these girls. That’s despicable!

I’ve always thought the Freeman’s simply couldn’t accept the truth regarding Shane. Now, I feel that it was incredibly possible (and most likely probable) Shane was murdered.
Click to expand...
Not sure I can say this, but I will anyway. I was told earlier that the sheriff at the time Shane was killed and the murders happened, was also a tweaker/meth head..which was why he didn't do much investigating, and allowed the box of evidence get put away and let the case drop. The 2 private investigators were told by the LE that they didn't want their investigation reports, and in fact, one was threatened he would lose his PI license if he pursued the case any further.
The story with Shane was that people were trying to say it was a form of suicide.The officers said he pulled a gun and they shot him, yet the autopsy stated he was shot in the BACK..As was stated earlier, Danny Freeman told people that if anything happened to him to go after the sheriff. Makes one wonder.
There's quite a bit of information from the PDF ..if one wants to read between the lines
https://bloximages.newyork1.vip.town...77275a.pdf.pdf
 
I agree there are so many unanswered questions. Besides law enforcement there were so many people who knew about this crime.
Hope they are found these families have waited so long
 
msmag said:
There's quite a bit of information from the PDF ..if one wants to read between the lines
https://bloximages.newyork1.vip.town...77275a.pdf.pdf
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RSBM.

This is what I got from that.


attachment.php


(It turned out more complicated than I expected and I had to think up more categories of relationships to try and make it work. Possibly the odd mistake/omission. Also I'd be certain that RE was acquainted with Welch, but doesn't state that in the affidavit etc.)
 

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I found one of the news articles
from Chetopa where they didn't find anything.
http://www.fourstateshomepage.com/news/search-in-cold-case-continues-in-chetopa/328316849
gingersnap said:
I have followed this case since it happened. Not in depth though. There are alot of weird things, in my opinion, going on here. Welch, Oklahoma is not a great place in way of the LE. Many rumors have circled this area about this case which I won't get into, but what really bothers me is I was excited when they were saying that they would be searching in Kansas. But then, NOTHING. Not a report of if they did search. Not a news report saying that nothing/anything was found. This really makes me sad.
Click to expand...
 
Legally Bland said:
RSBM.

This is what I got from that.


attachment.php


(It turned out more complicated than I expected and I had to think up more categories of relationships to try and make it work. Possibly the odd mistake/omission. Also I'd be certain that RE was acquainted with Welch, but doesn't state that in the affidavit etc.)
Click to expand...

WOW! Good job! I'm doing this too as well as I'm figuring out who these initials belong to since I live down here. RE is LE's son. LE lived with Dave...Yes he knew Welch. He was also the boyfriend of CB,the other girl who was supposed to spend the night with the 2 girls that night, but because Dave had taken off for the night RE talked her into spending the night with him.
 
Mixed feelings . Amazed it has been solved. I was studying in Wisconsin Eau Claire just before this took place, it was an exchange program with my University. I had been back in England only two weeks or so before I heard from a friend still over there that these girls had gone missing. The reason he mentioned the case to me was because he was a journalism student who read as many papers as he could. The whole crime seemed so strange and the motive seemed just out of grasp. The way the girls had vanished reminded me of the Springfield 3 for some reason.

The fact that these girls were held for days is horrific and some LE should be ashamed of themselves. If LE had found that insurance card the next day (like they should have) then surely they would visit both the woman at her residence and Phil Welch at his trailer. The woman had already declared at the first point of contact that Phil Welch did indeed 'know' of Danny Freeman. If Law Enforcement did a professional job then they could well have been at Welch's house trailer to stop these murders.

Shame also on the mothers who saw these Polaroids and did nothing about it, they could not even give an anonymous tip, which is frankly disgusting. Hope they sleep well at night knowing that they protected two murdering rapists until they died.

Sorry to repeat myself but it is just a frustration of enormous proportions to know that Phil Welch was talked to by a P.I only two weeks after the murders. It sounds as if he was acting highly suspicious from the very get go. If the police had picked up this lead from the P.I then in visiting the suspect they would have presumably seen the missing posters he had stuck up all over his walls. Makes me wonder what this sick man got away with in Vietnam. At least the girls were thankfully out of their misery and at rest at this point , when the girlfriend indicated the girls looked 'emaciated' I had horrible thoughts of them being held months but that seems unlikely considering that at least someone was putting pressure on Phil Welch.

One thing that strikes me is the age of the perps at the time of the crime. Welch himself is in his early to mid fifties and Pennington was in his late forties. Did they already have children at this point? The blood runs cold to think of these monsters raising children. The involvement of both Pennington and Welch in the Church hints at some sort of remorse but it seems to me to be motivated by purely selfish reasons (but perhaps im a cynic).

Just a couple of points if anybody has any information or wishes to take them up...

1. Were two of Phil Welch, Ronnie Busick and Dave Pennington the two men who showed up at the Freeman residence a time before the murders? I recall that Danny Freeman had threatened these two men with a gun and told them never to come back again.

2. We know that Welch and Pennington were meth cooks and we know that Danny Freeman grow a moderate amount of weed. Had Danny run up a bill with Welch and Pennington and was banking on more time to pay? (this would have been a harsh financial time for most people what with Christmas just past and new year coming right up). Or perhaps Danny Freeman offered some of his weed up to pay off his bill. Or maybe Welch and his murdering cronies just decided to rob and kill Freeman a while before to constitute a premeditated act. Sadly, it seems to me that the girls fate was sealed as soon as Ashley's parents were murdered. I hope they ran, the way that one of the cars was found could indicate this, I just wish they had run faster and escaped. No matter what the girls did they were in an awful situation as its clear the perpetrators knew that they could leave no witnesses.

3. Pennington seemed to confess his part in the crime 3-6 months before his death to an old friend. I wonder what the cause of death was for Pennington in as much he wanted to get something off his chest before he died. I wonder if Pennington had some serious disease he was fighting?

4. I would be keen to know the cause of death of Welch as well. Both perps died relatively young and I would at least like to think the horror of what they did ate away at their souls and source of life. If Welch had committed suicide then it could at least be an indicator that he understood the evil of his actions.
 
I find your questions are a lot like mine and others who are following this case. I have never heard names being said about the two men who showed up earlier to the Freeman's house. I am anticipating if LE will release how exactly the 3 POI knew the Freemans in the first place. I have heard Danny grew weed, but I don't know for sure if it was a booming business that brought in money or if it was a hobby. Nothing was ever said about how many plants were on the property after the fire and if he was a business grower we would've heard all about it. I am really confused on all parts of their stories about the night of the murders and fire. We have heard different scenarios, I don't think that the parents would do a drug deal with their daughter's best friend there. I just don't see that happening. Especially, since the family had CPS called in the past. Then one story is that 2 of the POI were only the look out while Welch killed the Freemans and took the girls, and they set the fire. I wonder why different witnesses have different stories that were told to them. I think given the fact that the witnesses were so scared of them to believe the story that they would remember every detail that was told to them. It's the varying of the facts that happened that night could be answered away in a trail. Any good defense lawyer could poke holes in the people who came forward stories. I am sure there is other evidence that they are holding on to that connects the 3 to the scene besides Welch's girlfriends insurance card.

My theory is Welch might've been one of the guys who visited the home days before. One of the three has to be connected to the Freemans at some point. They didn't just drive up on the house. I think they intended to rob them and then something went wrong.
Maybe someone went for a gun or one of the 3 just flipped out. I don't see why they would all have to die because the girls walked in on a drug deal. Maybe Danny did owe them money and they came to collect and things just got out of hand.
I just would like to know how the POI knew the Freemans.
 
I always thought there was something more to Shane's death. I mean he was shot in the back. That didn't make a lot of sense to me. And if the sheriff was on meth, that is not surprising, they don't call this area meth alley for a reason. But the meth problem was really bad back then, from what I have heard.
I don't know what exactly happened with the box of evidence, the Bible's have stated the recent events had nothing to do with the lost evidence. Who knows maybe it was planted story in the news to get the suspect scared or to get more witnesses. The insurance card was known days after.
I think they made an mistake not listening to the PI's. But I know how it can go sometimes with PI's they can either help the case or make it worse. I cannot see why they wouldn't read what the investigators had, after all it's a tip. If they were seriously doing their jobs they would follow all tips. I know a PI in a case I am following, totally unprofessional, slandering people who may be a POI all over the internet. I have also heard this PI has taken it upon himself to act like the family hired him, but they didn't. I know he has alienated LE, so what good is he doing?

I am just waiting to hear how the 3 knew the Freemans and that would explain a lot.

My three questions of the nights are:
What is the connection to the Freemans
Who owned the trailer/land that Welch was renting in Picher (because if it who I think it could be, that's a direct connection to the Freemans)
Why are the witnesses stories vary when it comes to who told them.
 
Witness reports 'warning shots,' threats connected to 1999 case of missing Oklahoma girls

Last week, investigators named three suspects in the case. They extradited Ronnie Busick from Kansas in connection to the case.

Busick faces four charges of first degree murder, two kidnapping charges and a count of arson.

The other suspects, Warren Phillip Welch and David Pennington, had died before officials named them as suspects.

Witnesses had reportedly told investigators that though they had believed that the three suspects had been behind the crimes, they had feared retaliation and, as a result, did not come forward sooner.

Sources confirmed that someone fired shots outside the home of one of the witnesses in the case Monday.

https://www.fox23.com/news/exclusiv...1999-case-of-missing-oklahoma-girls/742163656
 
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