Page 8 of Jan 8 2005 Issue of Joplin Globe in Joplin, Missouri

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Joplin Globe (Newspaper) - January 8, 2005, Joplin, Missouri Tips Lead to dead ends aplenty a ties hundreds of tips have led officers on Long string of searches by John Hacker Globe staff writer Welch. Okla. A local Law officers have followed up on hundreds of leads in the five years since Ashley Freeman and Lauria Bible were discovered missing from Freeman a burned out Welch Home. Now. search again based on information from a former Miami. Okla. Man who is charged in connection with murders in Georgia and Alabama. A we got probably 100 leads in the past few years and 99 of them were dead ends a said Craig county undersheriff . Floyd. A there was a lot of Jailhouse talk about the Case and we chased a lot of leads through inmates in jails. We be been throughout the surrounding states interviewing people including inmates. We have to run these leads Down because we be always thought the Case could be solved. A the disappearance of Ashley Freeman and Lauria Bible both 16, from Freeman s Mobile Home in Welch okla., has been a priority Case for local state and Federal investigators since dec. 30.1999, when authorities responded to a fire which burned Freeman a Mobile Home to the ground. A a in be seen nothing like this in my Law enforcement said Floyd in a Telephone interview with the Globe on Friday a it was one of those cases where we had nothing to Goon. So we had to Fol Low every tip we got from the Public As far As we the bodies of Ashley Freeman a parents Danny Freeman. 40, and Kathy Freeman. 38. Were found in the burned out remains of the Mobile Home but investigators had held out Hope that the girls May have escaped Liguria Bible of Bluejacket okla. Had been staying at the Freeman Home overnight to celebrate Ashley Freeman a 16th birthday. No Trace of either girl was found in the rubble although Lauria Bible s purse with her Driver s License and some Money inside was found in the trailer. Her car was parked outside. A massive search of the area by lawmen and volunteers and an investigation by the Fri. The Oklahoma state Bureau of investigation and Law enforcement agencies throughout the Region never turned up any evidence or information about How the girls left or were taken from the scene. Now. Craig county District attorney Gene Haynes has said that Jeremy Bryan Jones 31, who is being held in the Mobile. Ala. Jail on murder charges in connection with the deaths of an Alabama woman and a Georgia woman has provided authorities with clues As to the whereabouts of the bodies of the Freeman and Bible girls. Haynes was quoted As saying that Jones gave information leading authorities to believe he shot Danny and Kathy Freeman set fire to their Mobile Home then kidnapped Ashley Freeman and Lauria Bible As they ran from the burning Home. Haynes was quoted in the newspaper article As saying that Jones told investigators he shot the girls after one of them tried to escape then dumped their bodies in a mine Shaft. The murders and the girls search history authorities have made numerous searches based on tips Over the last five years. Here a a look at a few of those a in january 2003, someone found decomposed flesh in a Field West of Wyandotte okla., near the Spring River. A Sample of the flesh was turned Over to a Tulsa television station which sent it to the Tulsa police department. The Sample was sent to the 0sbi crime lab which could not identify it prompting investigators to use a Small Backhoe on the Field. They found the Bones of a horse. A in 2002, officials searched a Home three Miles North of Wyandotte on land formerly owned by a Man then serving a sentence on a drug related charge. Nothing was found. Steve Nutter an Obi investigator told a reporter at the time that All three of those searches originated from a Jailhouse a in 2002, investigators questioned two convicted serial killers Tommy Lynn Sells who faces the death penalty in Texas and Steven Ray Thacker who is on death Row in Tennessee. Sells claimed from his prison cell to have killed the girls and was even released from death Row in order to Lead authorities to an area where he said he buried the bodies. No evidence was Ever found linking Sells to the murders. Thacker was a suspect because he was on the run from officials at the time and was in Springfield to. On the Day of the Freeman murders. He was later cleared of suspicion in this Case by investigators. A psychic s tip led investigators to search an area near Guymon okla., in the Panhandle in 2002. A we have to take All the leads seriously until we can Rule them out Quot Floyd said. A we hate to get the family a Hope up a i know both of these families and it s been Tough for them. It s hard to get these families Hopes up then watch them fall off when we hit a dead disappearance sparked a manhunt which garnered nationwide attention from television and newspapers and prompted investigators to search dozens of mine shafts around the area As Well As Fields and Homes across Oklahoma and Kansas. Their Story was the subject of a television Story in the National Cable network Man by in june 2000, and aired on the syndicated television series a a american a most wanted in july 2000. The Joplin Globe and newspapers across Oklahoma featured articles about the disappearances frequently in the past five years. The Story of the girls disappearance has been retold every year around the new years Holiday As family and investigators have asked for any leads in the Case. Floyd said each time a new Story has appeared in a newspaper or on television it would spark a fresh flurry of phone Calls and tips for investigators to run Down. A the publicity really helps Quot Floyd said. A when someone brings it Back up we get More tips and when you done to have any leads following the tips is All we can do. We have to take All the leads seriously until we can Rule them out a Floyd said. A we hate to get the families Hopes up a i know both of these families and its been Tough for Trail of slayings suspect continued from Page 1a Jones gave investigators clues As to the whereabouts of the bodies of the Freeman and Bible girls. A a it a possible he dumped them into a mine a Haynes was quoted assaying. The Bible girl 16, of Bluejacket okla. Was staying overnight at the Freeman Home in Celebration of Ashley Freeman a 16th birthday on dec. 29, 1999. Someone shot and killed Danny and Kathy Freeman in their sleep that night and set their Mobile Home on fire. The two girls have never been located in a five year Long investigation. Jones who has worked in construction and welding lived in Ottawa county much of his life. He was charged there with sexual Battery and rape in 1996, but the charges eventually were dropped Down to three counts of sexual Battery. He is believed to have left Oklahoma in 2000, and moved around in the Gulf coast states for the last five years. Haynes told the oklahoman that investigators Are exploring the possibility that Jones May be connected to a similar unsolved double homicide feb. 21,1996, in Delaware county okla. Danny Oakley 48, and Dorris Harris 51, were found shot to death in Oakley a Mobile Home which also was set on fire. Authorities believe both Oklahoma cases May have involved disputes Over drug deals. Haynes and Craig county sheriff Jimmy Sooter were in route Back to Oklahoma on Friday and could not be reached for comment. Sooter left word with the Craig county sheriffs department that he will not have any comment on the matter until monday. The Mobile county District attorney confirmed that Oklahoma authorities had been talking with Jones this week. John Tyson or. Said he could not reveal what Jones May have told them. A but i would characterize their visit Here As productive a Tyson said. A they believe they have a substantial amount of work to do in Oklahoma when they get he declined to characterize what Jones told them about the Craig county Case As a a confessional in nature. But Tyson said his office has been successful in getting an Alabama court to agree that if Jones wishes to talk to investigators about unsolved cases against his lawyers advice then they can continue to interview him. Tyson said Jones has Given More than 15 interviews to various members of the Media since his arrest in the Nichols Case last september. The oklahoman reported that authorities now believe the Freeman and Bible girls May have fled the Home when it was set on fire and that Jones unaware of their presence until they fled May have offered to help them. The newspaper reported that Jones May have driven the girls about 30 Miles North of Welch into Kansas where they May have been shot when one of them tried to escape. Authorities further believe that their bodies May have been dumped in an abandoned mine Shaft in the Region the newspaper reported. Divers in january 2000 searched an underwater mine Shaft Southwest of Picher okla., in connection with an Anonymous tip received Early on in the investigation. Lauria bibles Mother Lorene Bible reacted with some doubt Friday to the news of Jones possible involvement in her daughters disappearance. A a in be told people today a we be been on this route before and wound up knowing absolutely nothing More about it a a she said. A if Jeremy Jones is found to have done something he a not the Only one. Jeremy Jones did not go to that House by himself. I can guarantee you she said she had never heard of Jones prior to recent news stories and has no reason to believe he was acquainted with her daughter or the Freeman. But if it turns out he was involved she doubts he will take the fall for any other people involved. A Why would he a Bible said. A Why would he not implicate other people a Dwayne Vancil a younger brother of Danny Freeman who lives in Vinita okla., was even More sceptical of the latest development in the Case. A i think they re trying to pin it on somebody As far away from Craig county As possible a Vancil said. Vancil said he also had not heard of Jones previously and does not believe he was acquainted with any of his brother a family. Vancil believes someone else actually committed the murders he said another Ottawa county Man whom he declined to identify has told at least two people that he had something to do with the murders. Vancil said Jones May have been acquainted with the people who actually committed the murders through Northeast Oklahoma drug culture connections. But he does not believe the murders were drug related As authorities have said. A Danny was not into drugs like that a Vancil said. A the was a smoker of marijuana. But he was not into cocaine meth or any of that the Alabama murder Case has at least two things in common with the Oklahoma cases. The victim was shot to death and set on fire. Jones is accused of having forced Nichols into her Home on sept. 17, raping her and shooting her three times in the head before setting her on fire in a bathroom. Alabama has charged him with first degree kidnapping first degree rape and first degree burglary As Well As murder. Tyson said Alabama will seek the death penalty for him regardless of whether he confesses to other crimes. Timeline _ dec. 30,1999 a Ashley Freeman and Lauria Bible both 16, disappear and the remains of Freeman a parents Danny and Kathy Freeman Are found in the bume clout remains of the Freeman family Mobile Home near Welch okla. _ Jan. 3,2000 a authorities determine that Danny and Kathy Freeman died of gunshot wounds before their Home was set on fire. A Jan. 6,2000 a officials use an underwater camera and divers to search a mine Shaft near Picher okla. Its the first of dozens of mine shafts searched in the investigation into the girls disappearance. A Jan.12,2000 a detectives search several Homes in Ottawa county on a tip from a self described psychic from Tulsa. The Story also makes its first appearance on the television show a a american a most _ i Jan. 24,2000 a divers search grand Lake 0 the cherokees for any sign of the missing girls. A March 2000 a Stan and Lorene Bible parents of Launa Bible say they be put 12,000 Miles on their Van distributing flyers with pictures of the missing teens. A we get a phone Call from the Fri every week or every two weeks and its the same message no new leads Quot says Lorene Bible. I july 2000 a a a american a most wanted airs a longer segment on the disappearance of Ashley Freeman and Lauria Bible. A Jan. 1,2001�?300 people fill the Welch civic auditorium for a memorial service to Mark the first anniversary of the girls disappearance. A june 14,2001 a a search of a Rural Ottawa county Home on the grand Lake near twin Bridges state Park turned up parts of a methamphetamine lab a stolen boat but no sign of the two missing girls. A july 2001 a the television show a the new unsolved mysteries runs a segment on the missing girls maintaining the National attention that Lauria bibles parents Hope will Lead to finding their daughter. A May 2002 a convicted serial killer Tommy Lee Sells claims from Texas death Row that he killed Ashley Freeman and Lauria Bible and can Lead investigators to their bodies. In june he led authorities to a Field in Marshall Texas where he claimed to have buried the girls. Nothing came of the search. A october 2002 a Sylvia Brown a self professed psychic affiliated with the Montel Williams television show sent searchers to an area near a Guymon okla., truck Stop where she said they would find the bodies of Lauria Bible and Ashley Freeman. Nothing came of the search a Jan. 1,2003 a Lorene Bible says a real life stopped that Day a during a Vigil marking the third anniversary of the week Lauria Bible and Ashley Freeman went missing. A Jan. 24,2003 a a tip from a a Jailhouse Snitch about the girls disappearance leads officers to a Field West of Wyandotte okla., where the Bones of a dead horse Are found. A Jan. 1,2004 a Lorene Bible said the Only information she gets about her daughter Lauria who has been missing for four years is a a rumours and Street a dec. 17,2004 a a former Miami Man accused in the murders of a Georgia teen and an Alabama woman is being called a a person of interest in the girls disappearance according to a sheriffs detective in Mobile county Ala. Jeremy Bryan Jones 31, is being held in a Mobile county jail on no Bond in connection with the deaths of Amanda Greenwell 16, of Douglasville ga., and Lisa Nichols 45, of Turnerville Ala. Jones denies any involvement in the girls disappearance. A dec. 31,2004 a More than 100 people gather at ceremonies to Mark the fifth anniversary of the girls disappearance. A Jan. 5,2005 a Jeremy Bryan Jones gives investigators what they Call Quot promising information about the events of dec. 30,1999, and directions to where he says he dumped the bodies. Jones also is charged with the murder of Amanda Greenwell 16, in Douglas county a. Jones lived in the same Mobile Home Park in Douglasville ga., As Greenwell when she disappeared from her parents Home on March 12 of last year. Her body was found a month later in some Woods a few Miles from her Home. Georgia investigators believe Jones abducted Greenwell from a phone Booth in the Park and killed her in the Woods. The sheriff there has said that a knife was used in that slaying and that the victims neck May have been broken. Douglas county investigators also have been trying to gather evidence to charge him with the stabbing death of 38-year-old Tina Mayberry on halloween night in 2002 outside a Georgia bar and authorities in Forsyth county ga., consider him a possible suspect in the disappearance of Patrice Endres. The same month that Greenwell a body was found Endres disappeared from the hair Salon she operated. Jones was going by the name of John Paul Chapman at the time of his arrest in Alabama and while in Georgia. Authorities say it is an identity he stole from a Missouri prison inmate. Authorities in Louisiana also have looked into the possibility of his involvement in a slaying in february of last year in new Orleans. Katherine Collins 47, was sexually assaulted strangled and stabbed to death. Her decayed body was found in a Field. A Dan Sample was obtained from Jones in october in connection with the new Orleans Case but no charges have been filed As yet. Continued from Page 1a Jennifer Judd a husband Justin and Friend Charles a a Chuck Chance found her body. The couple were married 10 Days earlier. Chance was the Best Man at their wedding. Kyle Smith spokesman with the Obi in Topeka kan., on Friday said the Bureau had received a report that Jones might have been a neighbor to Judd at the time of her death. He declined to provide details saying a this is an ongoing when the departments cold Case squad was formed in july 1998, the Judd murder and two others in the state were the first to be examined by it. The Lack of physical evidence in the Case hampered investigators but there was evidence at the crime scene according to a statement made by the commander of the squad in 1998. The commander was planning to use forensic techniques such As Dan analysis and new methods of raising latent fingerprints that were not available when the murder took place. Jennifer Judd whose Maiden name was Bryan grew up in Picher okla. Her husband Justin grew up in Quapaw okla. Jones who was 18 when Judd died went to school in Miami okla., where his family lived. He transferred to the High school in Quapaw because of discipline problems in Miami. After attending school for a Brief period in Quapaw he dropped out. Jennifer Judd a father Dale Bryan on Friday was asked whether his daughter had Ever known Jones. He said a not to my Justin Judd on Friday said he knew of Jones but it was three years or so after the murder. Judd said a the and his wife or it might have been a Girlfriend lived next to us in Quapaw from 1995 to about 1997.1 did not know him before that. I do not know whether Jennifer Ever knew Judd said Jones was a problem neighbor. A we called the police on him several times a he said. A you could hear his wife or Girlfriend screaming All of the time. The police would show up and she would say a nothing is and they would a i very Seldom saw him in Quapaw. He was not there that when told that Jones might have lived near his former Home in Baxter Springs at the time of Jennifer a death Judd expressed Shock and the possibility of Hope that investigators were closing in on the killer of his wife. Said Judd a if they could prove that it would make me feel like i had won the lottery. It would take off a lot of stress the stress of not knowing who did Justin Judd a father Bob who also lived in Quapaw at the time Jones lived there noted abusive behaviour. A my wife was visiting Over there at Justin a and he was beating the hell out of his wife or Girlfriend. My wife called the cops. It was Jeremy Judd said he thinks its possible that Jones might have met or known Jennifer. A a it a possible a he said. A the lived in Quapaw and Miami. She lived in Picher. We always thought that whoever killed Jennifer was someone who knew investigators found a lunch she had packed to take to her husband on the seat of her car. They found her car keys on the living room floor. Investigators said she apparently had been about to leave her duplex apartment at 219 n. Park ave. When she was attacked. A search of records at the Ottawa county courthouse in Miami okla., revealed that Jones had a history of problems including rape and sexual assault methamphetamine use an theft. The first record of Jones trouble is cited in january of 1990, when Jones who was 16 at the time a was charged with assaulting a juvenile and the Mother of a juvenile who came to her songs assistance. He was first charged with rape on nov. 5,1995. Two months later on Jan. 10,1996, he was charged with a second rape. He also was charged with unlawful Possession of meth. The next Day he was charged with sexual Battery of yet another woman. Court records state that a woman had said he held revolver to her Vagina and threatened to shoot her. Jones was transferred to the Dick Conner correctional Center in Hominy okla., under a delayed sentencing program for Young adults. An evaluation of Jones dated feb. 28,1997, and put together in preparation for his sentencing offers insight into the problems. Jeremy Bryan Jones is charged with the murders of two women a sept. 17,2004 Lisa Nichols 45, was raped and killed in her Mobile Home in Turnerville Ala., and her body set on fire. A March 12,2004 Amanda Greenwell,16, disappears from her family a Mobile Home in Douglasville ga., and her body is found a month later in some Woods. Jones is considered a person of interest in two Oklahoma murder cases and three other slayings a feb. 21,1996 Danny Oakley 48, and Dorris Harris 51, were shot and killed in Oakley a Mobile Home in Delaware county okla. The Home was set on fire. A dec. 30,1999 Danny Freeman 40, and Kathy Freeman 38, Are shot and killed and their Mobile Home in Welch okla., set on fire. Ashley Freeman 16, and her Friend Lauria Bible 16, have never been found. A oct. 31,2002 Tina Mayberry 38, is stabbed to death outside a bar and restaurant in Douglasville ga., that Jones frequented. A feb. 14,2004 Katherine Collins 47, is found strangled and stabbed to death in a Field in new Orleans. A april 2004 Patrice Endres 38, disappears from her hair Salon in Forsyth a. It was prepared by Wilma Middleton supervisor of the court services unit. A this period of incarceration has provided the insight that drugs have destroyed his life a the report states referring to a realization that Jones came to about himself. It identifies Jones father As Tony Beard a woo shop supervisor and his Mother As Jeanne Beard a Florist Jones Mother described him for the report As a a cooperative contributing member of the family unit a and told the court services officer that Jones came from a a close knit stable and Loving family a however Jones told them information they verify. He denied juvenile arrests and said that Bay liner of Miami where he told them he worked from 1991 to 1997, would hire him Back. They could not verify that or the fact that he said he graduated from High school in Miami. A i used to have a drug problem a he told the court services officer. The report also notes that Jones expressed remorse for his crimes and at one Point he told the court services officer he committed the sexual Battery because of the influence of drugs. The report also states a was of the Date of this writing he has maintained a misconduct free record of behaviour. He has posed no management or disciplinary problems during his on March 3,1997, Jones pleaded guilty to three charges of sexual Battery and received a five year sentence of probation. He was required to attend sex offender classes. Further records reveal a number of problems with Jones in his counselling sessions including an outburst in a therapy session. He was later kicked out of the therapy session. There is no record of him complying with two court ordered requests for Dan testing. On oct. 19,2000, a warrant was issued for Jones arrest for probable cause probation revocation. A teacher who knew him at Quapaw said a the had a Way of manipulating people into doing things. I always Felt like he knew what he was a Man who worked with him at Bay liner said a the was hot tempered and High Strung maybe unstable. Very Gary Allen the police chief in Baxter Springs at the time of Jennifer Judd a death said a we had some ideas about who the suspects might have been but we could never make a connection a he said. A there was a lot of uniqueness to Jennifer Scase. She was married for a few Short Days. She lived in Baxter for a few Short nights before she was Tom Merritt a teacher in Eureka Springs ark., was the principal at Quapaw High school when Jones transferred there from Miami. A the Only thing i can remember is he had some problems adjusting to rules and regulations. We tried to work through a discipline plan. We had him there for a Little while at Quapaw. There was no violence. He was More like him being just Mouthy. A i have been in this business for 35 years. It always is sad to hear news like this about a student you tried to help but

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