No remains found in Picher search
PICHER — The latest search of a footballfield- size mining pond failed to recover the remains of two teenage girls who have been missing since 1999.
“The results were negative,” Tammy Ferarri, Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation special agent, said Wednesday at the conclusion of two days of searching in the Picher area. “But it's not going to stop our efforts in continuing to try and recover the girls.”
Ashley Freeman and Lauria Bible were last seen Dec. 30, 1999, when Freeman's parents, Danny and Kathy Freeman, were fatally shot and their mobile home outside of Welch was set on fire.
Ronnie Dean Busick remains in the Craig County jail, held in lieu of $ 1 million bail, in connection with the Freemans' deaths and the disappearance and presumed deaths of the girls.
Warren Phillip Welch II and David A. Pennington, both now deceased, are also implicated in the slayings.
The girls were tortured and raped after their kidnapping and were held at Welch's mobile home at 412 S College St. in Picher, the site of Tuesday's search, according to an arrest affidavit filed in Busick's case.
Ferarri said
investigators had
received leads that the
girls were “possibly buried in an underground structure” at 412 S College Street.
Investigators used ground-penetrating radar, and divers also searched nearby ponds, “just to be sure,” Ferarri said.
Investigators continue to chase down leads, said Craig County District Attorney's Office investigator Gary Stansill.
“We have other possible locations we are checking and looking into,” he said.
With the Bible family standing on the banks of the latest search site, Cherokee Nation marshals used a remote control underwater camera Wednesday to look into a large pond created by a mine collapse across the street from Picher High School.
The video mostly showed weed beds, said Danny Tanner, camera operator. One photograph was taken.