They'd been best friends since kindergarten. One of their mothers used to say the two girls thought so much alike, they could finish each other's sentences.
On December 29, 1999, 16-year-old Ashley Freeman and her best friend Lauria Bible planned a sleepover to celebrate Ashley's birthday. By the next morning, Ashley's parents were dead, their home was in ashes, and both girls were gone. More than 25 years later, Lauria and Ashley have never been found.
The Night Everything Changed
The girls had dinner out with Ashley's mother, Kathy, then returned to the Freeman family's mobile home outside Welch, Oklahoma, for the night. Around 5:30 a.m., firefighters responded to flames engulfing the trailer.
Once the fire was out, they found Kathy Freeman's body inside, shot in the head before the fire started. Ashley's father, Danny, along with both girls, was missing. Investigators initially wondered if Danny had killed his wife, taken the girls, and set the fire to cover it up.
That theory collapsed days later, when Lauria's parents searched the wreckage themselves and found Danny's body, along with the family dog, buried under debris. He, too, had been shot before the fire.
A Purse Left Behind
Investigators recovered Lauria's purse from the scene — her driver's license and nearly $200 in cash still inside. It told them two things: she likely hadn't left willingly, and robbery probably wasn't the motive, since no one had taken the money.
Searches of nearby lakes, mine shafts, and quarries turned up nothing. The case spread beyond Oklahoma's borders and went nowhere. It went cold for close to two decades.
The Break in the Case
In 2017, the Craig County Sheriff's Department discovered a box of old case documents that had apparently sat unexamined for years — witness statements, fresh leads, and a critical piece of physical evidence: an insurance card belonging to a woman connected to a man named Phil Welch, who'd borrowed her car around the time of the killings.
Welch, a meth dealer with a criminal record, became the center of a new theory: that he and two associates, David Pennington and Ronnie Busick, had gone to the Freeman home over a drug dispute, killed Danny and Kathy, then abducted the girls and burned the house down. Multiple witnesses later told investigators the men held the girls captive for several days before killing them, and that Welch had bragged about it, even keeping photographs of the crime that he used to threaten at least one witness into silence.
Welch died in 2007 and Pennington in 2015, both before charges could be filed against them. Busick was still alive.
The Case Against Ronnie Busick
In April 2018, Busick, then 66, was arrested and charged with four counts of first-degree murder. In July 2020, he pleaded guilty to a lesser charge — accessory to murder — as part of a deal that could have reduced his sentence further if he helped investigators recover the girls' remains. He was given until a set deadline to do so.
He didn't. Though he pointed investigators toward an abandoned root cellar in the ghost town of Picher, Oklahoma, searches there turned up nothing. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison plus five years of probation. At sentencing, Lauria's mother, Lorene Bible, read a victim impact statement directly to him: “They were young and beautiful... they did nothing to you.”
Out in Three Years
Because of good-behavior credits and time already served, Busick was released in May 2023 — after serving just 38 months of his 10-year sentence. The news outraged the victims' families and the prosecutor who'd built the case against him. Busick was released back into the same community where the murders happened, near where the Bible and Freeman families still lived.
Lauria and Ashley's Law
The Bible family pushed Oklahoma lawmakers to close the loophole that let Busick out so early. Their advocacy led to House Bill 1001 — Lauria and Ashley's Law — which requires anyone convicted of accessory to first- or second-degree murder to serve at least 85% of their sentence before parole eligibility, with no early-release credits below that threshold. Governor Kevin Stitt signed it into law in May 2025.
The Search Continues
As recently as early 2026, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation and the FBI launched a new search effort connected to the case. Neither agency has confirmed publicly what prompted it. Lauria and Ashley's bodies have still not been found.
Frequently Asked Questions
Has anyone been convicted in this case?
Yes. Ronnie Busick pleaded guilty in 2020 to accessory to murder and served roughly three years in prison before his release in 2023.
Have Lauria Bible and Ashley Freeman been found?
No. Despite decades of searches, including a renewed effort in 2026, their remains have never been recovered.
Why was Busick's sentence so short?
He received a reduced charge and sentence through a plea deal, then was released early due to good-behavior credit and time served — a gap in Oklahoma law that was later closed by Lauria and Ashley's Law in 2025.
Are the other suspects still alive?
No. Phil Welch died in 2007 and David Pennington in 2015, both before they could be charged.
Sources
Murders of Lauria Bible and Ashley Freeman — Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murders_of_Lauria_Bible_and_Ashley_Freeman
Ronnie Busick Gets Early Release in Bible, Freeman Case — Oxygen
https://www.oxygen.com/crime-news/ronnie-busick-gets-early-release-in-bible-freeman-case
Lauria and Ashley's Law Passes House — Oklahoma House of Representatives
https://www.okhouse.gov/posts/news-20250312_5
OSBI Starts New Search for 2 Welch Girls Who Went Missing 20 Years Ago — News 9
https://www.news9.com/oklahoma-city-news/osbi-fbi-welch-missing-girls-lauria-bible-ashley-freeman