Officials announced the arrest of a suspect in the 1999 deaths of a Welch couple and the kidnapping and deaths of two young girls during a news conference Monday, April 23, 2018.

Ronnie Dean Busick is charged in the deaths of Danny, Kathy, and Ashley Freeman and Ashley's friend Lauria Bible. He is also charged with kidnapping and first-degree arson.

The 66-year-old man currently sits in a Kansas jail. Two other men, Phil Welch and David Pennington, are implicated in the deaths but have themselves died.

The girls' bodies have not been found.

After 18 years of questions, investigators finally have some answers for the families and friends of the Freemans and Lauria Bible. 

Bible spent the night at Freeman's Welch home on December 29, 1999. The next day, Freeman's parents, Danny and Kathy Freeman, were found shot to death inside their burned home, but there were no signs of the girls.

District 12 District Attorney Matt Ballard said the three men held the girls captive for days after their kidnapping. Photos were taken of the girls in the last days of their lives - photos seen by a number of people, he said.

"They've learned these young ladies' final days were certainly horrific, and today's announcement no doubt comes as little solace to their grief," Ballard said of the victims' family members.

Investigators will continue to make the crimes a top priority, as is bringing the bodies of the girls home to their families, he said.

The Craig County Sheriff's office said in December 2017, a box of case notes about the disappearance of Ashley Freeman and Lauria Bible was discovered in a closet. The notes were from the previous administration.

Investigators said the box contained new information that helped convince them they were on the right path. There were also names of other people that might have important information.

"The main investigators in this most recent phase of the case have found witnesses that prove the three co-defendants talked a lot," said Craig County Sheriff Heath Winfrey.

"There was physical evidence in the form of photos, and we can be certain several people out there could come forward right now and tell us where to find Ashley and Lauria."

Lauria's mother, Lorene, spoke about her determination over the years to find answers - through investigators' efforts and using other tools like social media.

"When your child goes missing, you leave it to the authorities, that they're the experts," she said. "We found out at first that sometimes they're not."

Lorene Bible said she understood there are people who have information about the girls but haven't come forward because they are afraid for their lives or the life of a loved one. She said every bit of information is a piece of the puzzle that could bring the girls home.

"I need a place where I can go and say, 'that's where my daughter is,'" she said.

Authorities ask anyone with information about the girls to come forward so they can find the bodies of Ashley Freeman and Lauria Bible.