18-year-old Oklahoma cold case could be at ‘turning point’

Crowdsourced sleuthing on sites like Websleuths and Reddit has gained a new profile _ and a whiff of respectability. Illustrates CROWDSLEUTHING (category l), by Caitlin Dewey © 2015, The Washington Post. Moved Wednesday, March 11, 2015. (MUST CREDIT: Washington Post illustration.)

WELCH, Okla. (AP) — The state’s top law enforcement agency says an 18-year-old cold case involving a double homicide and disappearance of two girls in northeast Oklahoma could be at “a turning point” with the discovery of new evidence.

The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation announced the new developments Friday in the December 1999 murders of Danny and Kathy Freeman and the disappearance of the couple’s 16-year-old daughter, Ashley, and her friend, Lauria Bible, who was also 16.

The Freemans were fatally shot before their home near Welch was set on fire.

The OSBI says the Craig County sheriff’s office provided the agency with newly-discovered notes and documents about the case left from the previous sheriff’s administration.

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The OSBI is offering $10,000 for credible information about the case; a private donation stands at $50,000.