25 replies to this topic

[JonathanVonErich]

On December 29th 1999, Ashley Freeman celebrated her 16th birthday at her mobile home in Vinita, Oklahoma with her friend Lauria Bible and her boyfriend, Jeremy Hurst. Jeremy left around 9:30pm. Lauria spent the night. Around 5:30am, someone noticed flames at the mobile home and called police. When they arrived the Freeman mobile home was completely burnt. Authorities found the body of Ashley's mother, Kathy Freeman with a gunshot wound to the head. This led them to speculate that Kathy's husband, Danny Freeman, had killed her and abducted both girls.

The next day, however, Lauria Bible's mother Lorene, searched the burnt home and discovered the body of Danny Freeman. How could the authorities have missed this? Dwayne Vancil, Danny's brother, believes that the Sheriff's department contracted out the killing, and abducted the girls to make the murders look like something they were not. For months, it had been rumored in Vinita that the Craig County Sheriff's Department had been feuding with the Freemans. It began when Danny's son, Shane, was shot and killed by a deputy after he had stolen a truck and a neighbor's gun. Although Shane's killing was ruled justifiable, the Freeman's threatened to file a wrongful death lawsuit against the Sheriff's Department. According to some, the Freeman's accusations provoked deputies to intimidate the family. But the sheriff's department has denied any involvement in the incident. Others wonder if Danny was killed over drugs and the girls were abducted by the murderers. A $50,000 reward has turned up few leads.

There was speculation that Ashley and Lauria were involved in the Freemans' murders after the searches failed to produce evidence as to their whereabouts. Investigators stated that there was nothing in either girl's background to suggest they could be capable of such brutal acts. Authorities disclosed that there were rumors Ashley had been sexually abused, but they were unable to confirm the theories. She was a member of the National Honor Society and Lauria was regarded as an excellent student. Ashley was a member of the Welch High School basketball team, although she was unable to participate in the 1999 season as the result of an ankle injury. Lauria was a cheerleader and planned to become a cosmetologist after her high school graduation. Both girls were viewed as being well-behaved teenagers in 1999. Ashley and Lauria's disappearances remain unsolved.

Lauria Bible
Gender: Female
DOB: 4/18/83
Height: 5’5”
Weight: 130 lbs.
Eyes: Hazel
Hair: Brown
Defining Characteristics: Has a mole under her nose and a scar on the top of her head
Remarks: Last seen 12/29/99

Ashley Freeman
Gender: Female
DOB: 12/29/83
Height: 5’7”
Weight: 145 lbs.
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Dark blonde
Defining Characteristics: Has a scar on the upper left side of her forehead
Remarks: Last seen 12/29/99


Ashley (left) and Lauria (right)


Here is The Unsolved Mysteries episode about the case :

Edited by JVE, 26 February 2011 - 08:22 PM.

[susieice]

Thanks for the vid JVE. Part 2 is also under the vid when it ends. I watched them both and I find it difficult to believe that the girls themselves were involved. Lauria's parents found her purse that contained $200 in it that the girls would have needed to take with them to go off somewhere. All the cars were there so someone else had to be involved if the girls left the home. I also find it suspicious that her parents were able to find the father's body after 5 minutes of searching when noone else could after searching for a day. How convenient to have him to blame until his body was discovered by someone else. Drug dealers who make hits generally aren't interested in kidnapping. They are more inclined to be rid of any and all witnesses. None of this is adding up.

[JonathanVonErich]

susieice, on 26 February 2011 - 09:11 PM, said:

Thanks for the vid JVE. Part 2 is also under the vid when it ends. I watched them both and I find it difficult to believe that the girls themselves were involved. Lauria's parents found her purse that contained $200 in it that the girls would have needed to take with them to go off somewhere. All the cars were there so someone else had to be involved if the girls left the home. I also find it suspicious that her parents were able to find the father's body after 5 minutes of searching when noone else could after searching for a day. How convenient to have him to blame until his body was discovered by someone else. Drug dealers who make hits generally aren't interested in kidnapping. They are more inclined to be rid of any and all witnesses. None of this is adding up.

Yeah I know, very strange case. I don't think the girls were involved. The theory that the police was involved is also hard to believe, I don't think they would go that far. Perhaps it was a drug deal who went terribly wrong, again it's hard to say, but I think it's possible that somebody abducted the girls. I still can't believe this case is still unsolved, we don't even know if the girls are dead or still alive. I think they are dead, but we don't know. Thanks for the feedback Sus.

By the way the video I posted feature the entire episode, the episode is only 10 minutes long, there's no part 2. Somebody posted the episode in 2 parts, so that was maybe what you saw, but the video I posted feature the episode in his entirety.

Edited by JVE, 26 February 2011 - 09:21 PM.

[JGirl]

after watching the video i feel it's more likely that the motive was not robbery but abduction of the girls and the murder and arson was merely to cover that crime.
two teenagers could not easily hide out for this long without some one seeing them/reporting a sighting.
my guess is these girls are either dead or have been sold into the human trafficking circuit.

[JonathanVonErich]

JGirl, on 26 February 2011 - 10:43 PM, said:

after watching the video i feel it's more likely that the motive was not robbery but abduction of the girls and the murder and arson was merely to cover that crime.
two teenagers could not easily hide out for this long without some one seeing them/reporting a sighting.
my guess is these girls are either dead or have been sold into the human trafficking circuit.

I agree with you, seems perfectly logical ( sadly ).
What's really sad is that 11+ years later we still have no clues, nothing about what happened to them. Really sad, I can't imagine how hard it must be for the parents. Horrible.

[JGirl]

JVE, on 26 February 2011 - 11:20 PM, said:

I agree with you, seems perfectly logical ( sadly ).
What's really sad is that 11+ years later we still have no clues, nothing about what happened to them. Really sad, I can't imagine how hard it must be for the parents. Horrible.

depending on how sophisticated the racket is, they could even have been shipped out of country immediately after the abduction, which could explain things a bit better.
yes, horrible, and moreso because it's not such a rarity. so many girls and boys disappear without a trace.

[JonathanVonErich]

JGirl, on 26 February 2011 - 11:30 PM, said:

depending on how sophisticated the racket is, they could even have been shipped out of country immediately after the abduction, which could explain things a bit better.

Again it makes perfect sense, very good theory. Sadly it seems like this theory wasn't really investigated by the Authorities.

3 Months ago, nearly eleven years after the kidnaps/arson/murders, the police released details about two vehicles seen in the vicinity of the crime scene around the time the first broke out. They are hoping someone will remember something. I don't know why they never released the information earlier, but I don't think people will remember those vehicles.

And Years ago a death row inmate, Jeremy B. Jones, confessed to killing Danny and Kathy Freeman. He said he did it as a favor to a friend over a drug debt. Jones claimed that he took the two girls to Kansas, shot them, and threw their bodies into an abandoned mine. A search of the mine, however, turned up nothing. Jones then recanted his confession and denied he killed the girls. He said he lied to authorities to get better food and extra phone privileges in prison.

So nothing new, sadly.

[susieice]

If the parents were killed over a drug debt the gang that orchestrated it could have smuggled them over the border to Mexico from Oklahoma in a few hours driving time. Or they could have killed them and dumped them somewhere far from where they were last known to be. Sadly, yes, what JGirl is saying should be seriously considered as a possibility.
Why weren't the 2 vehicles mentioned earlier is right and who reported seeing them to the authorities? Any idea JVE?

[JonathanVonErich]

susieice, on 27 February 2011 - 03:09 AM, said:

Why weren't the 2 vehicles mentioned earlier is right and who reported seeing them to the authorities? Any idea JVE?

We don't know who reported them and we don't know why the informations weren't released earlier, but I think the police had these informations for a good number of months, I can't confirm this right now but that's what I try to find out. But if I was a conspiracy theorist I guess I would say " See ?? The police are holding informations, they must be involved ".

But in my opinion it won't lead anywhere, that's why I didn't mentioned it in my opening post, I don't think the search for these 2 vehicles will lead us to the Killers/Abductors, I don't consider this as a major breakthrough in the case.

In my opinion I think the police department is still under suspicion, I think some people still believe the Sheriff's department had something to do with the murders/abductions so maybe they are releasing the information simply to show the population that they still care and still try to find who committed these horrible crimes. But it won't solve anything in my opinion. Sadly.

[susieice]

I don't think the police are involved either. They would have known they would be looked at suspiciously for what happened with the son. Especially if it involved kidnapping. Someone had something against the parents and took the girls. I dread to think what happened to them but I kind of doubt they're still alive. The key to the case may be in what and who was involved with the parents at that time. Drugs, threats, anyone who would have had a reason to want them dead. It could be that someone wanted the girls, but the link doesn't show that they had any kind of a drug history and were liked in school. No enemies that would have had a reason to do this. In a small town school, things like that would be pretty well known. I don't think the girls did this and just left either. Not without their purses and a vehicle. I still do find it hard to believe though that the other girl's parents found her purse and the father's body within 5 minutes of starting to search the site and the authorities didn't. Can we be sure the search was done properly and the girl's bodies weren't also in the ruins and overlooked? I'm sure by now the site has been cleaned up and evidence would have been found in the process if it was still there. Just thinking as I go along here. The possibility does exist that this was a stranger crime and the perbs were unknown to any of the people in the house that night. They are the toughest crimes to solve.

[JonathanVonErich]

susieice, on 27 February 2011 - 05:46 AM, said:

I still do find it hard to believe though that the other girl's parents found her purse and the father's body within 5 minutes of starting to search the site and the authorities didn't. Can we be sure the search was done properly and the girl's bodies weren't also in the ruins and overlooked?

Yeah, very strange, of course some people believe that some of the officers from the Sheriff's department put the body there, but I don't believe they did. The fact that the authorities didn't found the body of Danny Freeman the first time they searched the site is really amazing.

Yes, we can be sure the girls' bodies weren't there, no mistakes were made there. For the last 5 days I have been in communication with a journalist working for a newspaper of Oklahoma, she worked on the case 2 years ago, I'm trying to get new information so I'll keep you posted.

[susieice]

That's a good deal JVE. Keep us posted on what you find out.

[mgessel]

I spent some time researching the crime a little online and apparently when the bodies of the mother and father were found they were eviscerated and the father was also missing his hands and forearms. Also in regards for not finding the fathers body apparently it was underneath the rubber of the parents water bed and it had shoe marks on it. Where the coroners had walked on top of him getting the mother out. Both were shot in the face which usually suggests that this was personal, the murderers wanted to see them die. Also another thing that I found was that the mothers body was naked which could cause a lot more problems. Anyway here is a link to the site that I found a lot of info on. http://crimeshots.co...hread.php?t=451

[JonathanVonErich]

I received an email from the Journalist while I was away for Spring Break. In the email she told me about the two cars and she gave me her opinion on why the police took so long before giving the informations about the cars, but sadly she don't want me to release what she told me, so I can't share the informations here but it doesn't matter, she doesn't know anything new about the case, so we are back to square one. Hopefully new informations will come our way very soon.

Edited by JVE, 17 March 2011 - 10:00 PM.

[JonathanVonErich]

Somebody uploaded the news report about the release of new details in this case.



The case is still unsolved.