Murdered parents and missing teens: Inside the chilling unsolved mystery of Ashley Freeman and Lauria Bible
Will there ever be a resolution for this grisly case?
IT’S been almost been two decades since the world was shaken by one of the most shocking unsolved mysteries to date.
In December 1999, two teenage girls disappeared under some very concerning circumstances.
Ashley Freeman and Lauria Bible, both 16, were enjoying a sleepover in Vinita, Oklahoma, before tragedy struck.
When police arrived at the scene, they discovered the Freeman’s mobile home had been set on fire with two bodies trapped inside.
Shocked officers made the grisly discovery that the Ashley’s mum Kathy and dad Danny were found dead at the scene.
It wasn’t fire that had killed the parents, as they had both been shot in the head before the mobile home caught alight.
Although officers uncovered the bodies of Kathy and Danny, teens Ashley and Lauria are still yet to be found.
After desperately scrambling for information, police were unable to pursue any solid leads.
So just what information do we know about the chilling case?
What evidence has been uncovered?
It was difficult for officers to build a case for the missing girls, as the fire destroyed evidence and reduced the opportunity for DNA testing.
One of the few items recovered as Lauria’s purse, which contained around £150.
This suggests that the culprit may have been an abductor - as if the teens planned to run away, it’s likely they would have taken their money.
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It also reduces the likelihood of the crime being a robbery gone wrong, as the criminals would’ve made off with the cash.
Another mysterious piece of evidence was Lauria’s car, which was found near the crime scene with its keys still in the ignition.
Could the girls have been planning an escape before they were stopped from reaching their getaway vehicle?
Who are the suspects?
Revenge of a drug gang
One theory suggests that the murderers were part of a revenge plot.
Rumours accuse Danny Freeman of drug dealing, and Ashley’s father was seen with two unidentified men two weeks before the murder.
Police were never able to link this conspiracy to any concrete suspects.
Ashley Freeman
Could it be possible that Ashley killed her own parents before fleeing the scene with her best friend Lauria?
Evidence reveals that Ashley had a tumultuous relationship with her dad Danny, which gives her a motive for murder.
Despite speculation, authorities don’t believe that the teen could’ve got away with the crime and managed to stay hidden for all these years.
Convicted murderers
A number of different convicted criminals have been investigated over the harrowing unsolved crime.
Charles Christian Krider, who was sentenced for strangling Judith Schrum to death in 2004, was one of the suspects.
Following an anonymous tip-off, police searched Krider’s home, but were unable to find any evidence.
Two other convicted murderers, Tommy Lynn Sells and Jeremy Jones, have admitted to the killings.
Their confessions have been disregarded because no evidence has ever been found to back up their claims.
The Craig County Sherriff’s Department
Members of the Freeman family have pushed for an investigation of the local Sherriff’s Department, who they believe had a motive to kill.
Danny Freeman was pushing a lawsuit against the department over the death of his son, so were the murders a way of silencing him?
Despite an investigation, leads once again ran cold as the department passed all interrogations and a lie detector test.