Ronnie Dean Busick is the only person ever charged in the 1999 murders of Danny and Kathy Freeman and the kidnapping of their sixteen-year-old daughter Ashley Freeman and her friend Lauria Bible near Welch, Oklahoma. He pleaded guilty in 2020 to a single count of accessory to first-degree murder, was sentenced to ten years in prison, and walked out of the Lexington Correctional Center on May 19, 2023 after serving roughly two and a half years. His two alleged co-conspirators died before they could be charged. The two girls’ remains have never been found.
What Busick Was Accused Of
On December 30, 1999, firefighters found Kathy Freeman shot in the head inside a burned mobile home in Craig County, Oklahoma. Danny Freeman, also shot in the head, was found in the rubble by relatives after police released the scene less than twenty-four hours later. Ashley Freeman and Lauria Bible, who had been sleeping over, were gone.1Craig County Sheriff’s Office. Cold Cases – Freeman Murders
Investigators eventually identified three suspects tied to methamphetamine production in the area: Warren Phillip “Phil” Welch II, David Pennington, and Busick. Witnesses described Welch as the ringleader and the shooter; Pennington and Busick were said to have set the fire. According to the arrest affidavit, the men went to the Freeman trailer to settle a “bad drug deal,” killed the parents, and took the girls to Welch’s mobile home in Picher, Oklahoma, where the girls were tied up, drugged with methamphetamine, raped, and eventually strangled.2Orlando Sentinel. Disappearance of Two Oklahoma Girls Stumped Police for Years One witness told investigators Busick admitted the girls were “tied up in a trailer house in Picher where they were raped and tortured.”3KFOR. What We Know About the Three Men Accused in Case of Oklahoma Girls Missing Since 1999 Busick himself later told investigators the killings were triggered over “a piece of cheap dope,” which he estimated at no more than two ounces of methamphetamine.4Oxygen. Ronnie Busick Gives Details on Lauria Bible Ashley Freeman Abduction
By the time the case broke, Busick was the only suspect still alive. Welch died in 2007. Pennington died in 2015. Neither was ever charged.
On April 23, 2018, Busick, then sixty-six, was charged in Craig County District Court with four counts of first-degree murder, two counts of kidnapping, and one count of first-degree arson. He was already in the Harvey County, Kansas jail on unrelated drug and driving offenses and was extradited to Oklahoma two days later.5KWCH. Man Jailed in Harvey County Charged in Oklahoma
The Plea Deal
On July 15, 2020, Busick pleaded guilty to a single amended count of accessory to murder in the first degree. The other six counts were dismissed.6ODCR. State of Oklahoma vs. Busick, Ronnie Dean, CF-2018-00056
The deal came with a condition tied to the missing girls. If Busick led investigators to the remains of Lauria Bible and Ashley Freeman before sentencing, he would receive five years. If he did not, he would receive fifteen.7Oxygen. Ronnie Busick Takes Plea in Lauria Bible Ashley Freeman Case The remains were not found.
On August 31, 2020, Busick was sentenced to fifteen years in the Department of Corrections with five years suspended, leaving a ten-year prison term followed by five years of probation, one of them supervised. He received credit for time served back to his April 2018 arrest.6ODCR. State of Oklahoma vs. Busick, Ronnie Dean, CF-2018-000568Unsolved.com. Ronnie Busick Sentenced, Girls Still Missing
How Long He Actually Served
Busick walked out of the Lexington Correctional Center on the morning of May 19, 2023, roughly two and a half years into his ten-year prison term. Credit for county-jail time and “good-days” earned in custody, including credits for maintaining good hygiene, cut the sentence dramatically. Lauria Bible’s family had expected him to serve about eight years, or 85 percent of the term, and said they were not told he would be released so soon.9KTUL. Man Convicted in Deaths Released From Prison
Lorene Bible, Lauria’s mother, was outside the prison the morning of the release to protest. She called it “a slap in the face” and pointed out that Busick had given up nothing about where her daughter’s body was. “There’s people with drug convictions that serve more time than this man did,” she said. She warned that the outcome would encourage others: “I guarantee you other people are going to use this as a way of saying, ‘Hey, this is what you can do.'”10KOCO. Oklahoma Missing Welch Girl Ronnie Busick Released
After his release, Busick returned to the same community as the victims’ families. Lorene Bible said law enforcement warned her “to do nothing to upset him now that he’s served his sentence.”11Oklahoma House of Representatives. News – Lauria and Ashley’s Law Court records show a cost cite-and-release warrant was issued in March 2024 after Busick failed to appear for a hearing on more than $5,000 in outstanding court costs.6ODCR. State of Oklahoma vs. Busick, Ronnie Dean, CF-2018-00056
Lauria and Ashley’s Law
The anger over Busick’s early release drove a change in Oklahoma law. House Bill 1001, “Lauria and Ashley’s Law,” was sponsored by Rep. Steve Bashore and Sen. Kristen Thompson. It adds accessory to murder in the first or second degree to the list of crimes that require an offender to serve at least 85 percent of the prison sentence before becoming eligible for parole, and it bars credits that would push time served below that threshold.12Oklahoma House of Representatives. Lauria and Ashley’s Law Signed Into Law
The bill passed the Oklahoma House 76–11 and the Senate 38–5. Governor Kevin Stitt signed it in May 2025, and it took effect on November 1, 2025.13News On 6. Oklahoma Lauria Ashley Law 85 Percent Parole14Oklahoma House of Representatives. Lauria and Ashley’s Law Passes Senate The law does not apply retroactively to Busick, who was already out. It was written to prevent a repeat.
What Busick Has Said About the Girls
Busick has said he does not know where the girls are buried. In a conversation with Lorene Bible, he told her: “Well, I didn’t kill anybody. I didn’t set fire to anything, and I didn’t kidnap anybody.” Bible said Busick nonetheless acknowledged being in the car that night and “took them away from the home and did not call anybody to say the girls needed help.”15NewsNation. Lauria Bible Ashley Freeman
Investigators believe the girls’ bodies were likely dumped in a mine shaft or pit in the Picher area, part of the Tar Creek Superfund site, which is dotted with abandoned lead and zinc mines. Searches over the years have covered mine pits, ponds, root cellars, abandoned wells, and Grand Lake.16Four States Homepage. Investigators in Picher Area Seeking Remains of Oklahoma Teens
In March 2026, a multi-agency task force including the OSBI, FBI, Kansas Bureau of Investigation, and representatives from the Cherokee, Quapaw, and Miami tribal nations excavated a mine shaft near Treece, Kansas, just north of the Oklahoma state line, following a tip that first surfaced in 2019. The operation used a crane and roughly fifty personnel to clear thirty-five to forty feet of a shaft that may originally have exceeded one hundred feet.17News On 6. Search for Lauria Bible Ashley Freeman Remains in Mine Shaft Kansas On March 10, 2026, investigators confirmed no human remains were found; bones recovered from the shaft were animal. Investigator Gary Stansill said the team was “confident that if the girls were in that mine shaft, we would have found them.”18Four States Homepage. Search for Lauria Bible and Ashley Freeman Ends Without Answers The OSBI has said the investigation remains “active behind the scenes.” A $50,000 reward stands for information leading to the recovery of the girls.19Fox 23. No Remains Found During Search for Lauria Bible and Ashley Freeman in Kansas