Two girls, both sixteen, or Welch, Oklahoma have been missing since December 30, 1999. Lauria Bible and Ashley Freeman disappeared when Freeman's parents were killed and their trailer home was set on fire on that date. A suspect, Jeremy Jones, formerly of Miami, Okla., has reportedly told investigators that he killed the girls, after killing the Freeman couple, and disposed of their bodies in an old mining area near Galena.
On Tuesday, June 28, officers from the Cherokee County Sheriff's Dept., the Craig County, Okla., Sheriff's Dept., the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, and an FBI agent will be searching the area, with the assistance of the Galena Police Department. The KBI has also hired a Colorado nonprofit organization, Necro Search International, which is expected to be working the area. This organization specializes in searches for hidden graves.
The targeted area is reportedly just out of the city limits southwest of downtown Galena.
Jeremy Jones is charged with murdering three women in Alabama, Louisiana and Georgia and has been identified as a suspect or "person of interest" in several other murders.
The Joplin Globe recently reported that Jones had told one of their reporters that he hadn't "murdered anyone" and that an investigation of this area would be a waste of time. However, his statements have often been contradictory and officials believe that informantion he has given concerning the fate of the missing teens is consistent with other known facts in the case and warrants a full scale investigation.
The search is expected to begin about noon on Tuesday and be completed by Wednesday early afternoon unless leads are discovered warranting continuance. |
