Investigators search for Welch girls missing since 1999

(AP) Investigators are searching a site in the former northeastern Oklahoma town of Picher for the remains of two girls who disappeared in 1999.

Searchers on Tuesday began excavating a vacant lot for the remains of Lauria Bible and Ashley Freeman, who haven’t been seen since Dec. 30. 1999, after Freeman’s parents were found murdered in their burned mobile home in Welch. Unfortunately, it appears as though so far investigators were unable to find anything.

The location in what is today a ghost town was provided by Ronnie Busick of Wichita, Kansas, who pleaded guilty to in July to accessory to murder charges in the case as part of a deal that requires him to provide information leading to the recovery of the remains of girls, who were both 16 when they vanished.