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The Disappearance of Lauria and Ashley


JonathanVonErich

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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

13445742_BG2.jpg

Ashley (left) and Lauria (right)

Here is The Unsolved Mysteries episode about the case :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Zil0qS5xog

Edited by JVE
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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.

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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
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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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?

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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.

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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.

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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.

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

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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.com/forums/showthread.php?t=451

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  • 2 weeks later...

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
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  • 6 months later...

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

The case is still unsolved.

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another interesting (yet sad) case... thanks for sharing it...

did u say they found his body under the burnt-out bed? why would they (seemingly) attempt to hide his body but not her body, if they were just going to torch the place :S something is weird/odd about this case. sadly, we will probably never know the truth,

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another interesting (yet sad) case... thanks for sharing it...

did u say they found his body under the burnt-out bed? why would they (seemingly) attempt to hide his body but not her body, if they were just going to torch the place :S something is weird/odd about this case. sadly, we will probably never know the truth,

You're welcome.

Good question. This case is really strange. My guess is that whoever did this tried to make believe that the father killed his wife and took the kids with him, that<s why they tried to hide his body. I could be wrong, but that<s what I believe.

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  • 1 year later...

Very sad story which haunted on some way me. My theory that they are dead or sold for sex trafficing by drug dealers who killed Freeman family. I hope that they are still alive, but not free, live in torture of narco dealers and in world of prostitution.

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Just read this thread for the first time... I wonder if the father was found under the water bed mattress, because the murderers were searching for something, and ransacked the place before setting fire to it.. In the process cutting open the mattress to get the water out and it fell over his body as they searched under it...

Just a thought...

BTW... whatever happened to JonathanVanErich?...

Edited by Taun
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I've been reading about this case and I'll continue to research it, but right off the bat, I must say that it's absolutely appalling and unacceptable that authorities didn't locate the body of the father!

It's glaringly obvious that there's people in authority who have no business being in authority!

The fire was early morning, and several vehicles were there, but regardless, authorities should have approached the situation as though every person who lived there WAS THERE!

The fire marshall didn't discover the body...the investigators didn't discover the body...the coroner didn't discover the body...

I don't know who in authority was present on the scene that day, but what a disgrace to every aspect of an investigation!

It appears to me that whoever killed these people, and abducted the girls, knew them.

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I've been reading about this case and I'll continue to research it, but right off the bat, I must say that it's absolutely appalling and unacceptable that authorities didn't locate the body of the father!

It's glaringly obvious that there's people in authority who have no business being in authority!

The fire was early morning, and several vehicles were there, but regardless, authorities should have approached the situation as though every person who lived there WAS THERE!

The fire marshall didn't discover the body...the investigators didn't discover the body...the coroner didn't discover the body...

I don't know who in authority was present on the scene that day, but what a disgrace to every aspect of an investigation!

It appears to me that whoever killed these people, and abducted the girls, knew them.

Couldn't agree more Regi. It is ridiculous that three teams didn't discover a body that was found within minutes later by a lay person. Something more than fishy about that. It should be in the hands of the FBI, local authorities should remain under suspicion until this is solved as their behaviour is clearly suspicious from the outset.

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Couldn't agree more Regi. It is ridiculous that three teams didn't discover a body that was found within minutes later by a lay person. Something more than fishy about that. It should be in the hands of the FBI, local authorities should remain under suspicion until this is solved as their behaviour is clearly suspicious from the outset.

It's indeed a red flag. Authorities shrugged it off and that also bothers me... and I question whether there was an inquiry re: this circumstance. Of course, there definitely should have been because it's protocol, but if no documentation exists which reflects that such an inquiry was ever made, then that furthers my apprehension regarding the proper handling of this case. However, it's such an outrageous circumstance, that I'd still be apprehensive.

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From the Unsolved Mysteries episode:

Capt. Jim Herman- Craig Co. Sheriff's Dept.: " I believe that the Freeman girl could possibly be involved. I believe that there was a great deal of friction in the Freeman household because of reports that Danny and his daughter did not get along well at all and hadn't for some time. That's not something we can overlook."

Of course, there was no comment re: the reason his own office warranted investigation re: their possible involvement because of any other existing friction. Also, his comment is pure speculation, and it contradicts the evidence that IS there!

It's blatantly obvious that the search immediately following the fire was not thorough- it's a fact that can't be denied, and despite all evidence to the contrary, authorities appeared satisfied and quick to conclude that the father was not a victim.

Of course, those facts together in consideration of the tension between local law enforcement and the father calls into question the basis of that conclusion.

Apparently, Capt. Herman's now decided that the daughter is the most likely perp.

Again for emphasis, that conclusion is pure speculation, and actually contradicts the evidence.

OSBI agent Steve Nutter on investigation of the local law enforcement: "We utilized several techniques, one of which was the polygraph. (Here we go!) All consented to the polygraph examination and all cleared themselves as a result of those examinations." :whistle:

And...: "Ashely Freeman might have something to do with the deaths of Danny and Kathy. However, it's been 15 months since the incident and I find it difficult to believe that the girls by themselves could hide out that long and not be found." (What utter brilliance! Never mind that there's no evidence in support of that notion to begin with!)

Also brow raising...the OSBI agent stated that it was "because it was such a concern to the residents of the area we looked into the possibility that the deputies could be involved with the deaths of Danny and Kathy."

What?! A reason to look into that possibility already existed and is enough on it's own to require such an investigation. It shouldn't have to take the concern of the residents!

Momma mia!

Unfortunately, I see many possible reasons that the investigation has gone nowhere.

Edited by regi
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In the ID episode, it was when Bible's parents got to the scene of the fire that they were informed that an investigation wouldn't begin until the arrival of an OSBI agent (Nutter), and the reason for that was because that's what they do when there's a conflict.

So, Agent Nutter wasn't called due to "concern from the residents in the area". It was because THERE WAS A CONFLICT, and it's PROPER procedure in an investigation!

To me, the way Nutter explained the reason for his involvement demonstrates bias.

There was no mention of Bible's purse having been located in the rubble, and I'm wondering why such pertinent info would be left out.

Info. was that Freeman's boyfriend arrived at the Freeman home at 9:30 PM. It's been previously reported that that's when he'd left, but either way, he apparently didn't stay long.

Freeman had been saving money for a vehicle, and there's been discrepancies as to the actual amount she'd saved, but the main thing is that at least a few people knew she'd kept her savings hidden in the freezer... and it wasn't found to be there after the fire.

I think it's possible that she'd either no longer kept it there, or had it somewhere else at the time of the fire, but until other info is learned, it remains a concern to me that it wasn't where it was believed it should have been.

The homicides/arson occurred 10 days before the deadline (Jan. 8, 2000) to file a wrongful death suit re: the death of the Freeman son.

I wonder- and I'm completely serious, if the bodies of missing girls could have still been in the debris after the second search. I realize that a second search conducted after one body was already missed should be diligent, but I must say, considering certain aspects of this case, I really can't help but wonder.

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