Reward raised to $40,000 for missing girls

Photo caption: Missing since December 30, 1999, 16-year-old Ashley Renae Freeman. WELCH, Okla. (AP) -- The reward offered for information leading to the whereabouts of

Tuesday, February 22nd 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

Photo caption: Missing since December 30, 1999, 16-year-old Ashley Renae Freeman.

WELCH, Okla. (AP) -- The reward offered for information leading to the whereabouts of two teen-age girls missing since Dec. 30 has been raised to $40,000 after a reward benefit at the Welch Community Center.

Pies were auctioned at the weekend benefit for anywhere from $20 to $220. When the bidding was done and a chili benefit was over, $35,000 had been added to the existing $5,000 reward.

Family and friends are trying to find out what happened to Lauria Jaylene Bible and Ashley Renae Freeman. The 16-year-old girls have been missing since the morning Freeman's parents were found shot to death in their burned mobile home west of Welch. The fire was set to destroy evidence of the double homicide and the girls' disappearance, investigators said.

Authorities believe the girls were abducted. "We continue to be amazed at the support we've gotten," Bible's mother, Lorene, said Monday. "A lot of people just came and handed us money and left." Bible feels that someone must know something about the girls' disappearance. "That's why we're doing the reward," Bible said. "We have to get someone to talk. Someone has to know something. Maybe the money will coax them."

Photo caption: Also missing since December 30, 1999, 16-year-old Lauria Jaylene Bible.