Book Review: Hell in the Heartland

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This is my book review of Hell in the Heartland. It is about the true story of murder, meth addiction, and the case of two missing girls in a small Oklahoma town.

On December 30, 1999, Ashley’s family trailer burned down; her parents were found murdered, and both teenage girls vanished.

Book: Hell in the Heartland
Author: Jax Miller

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Hell in the Heartland centers on an unsolved 1999 case in rural Oklahoma. Sixteen-year-old Ashley Freeman and her best friend, Lauria Bible, were having a typical teen sleepover on December 30, 1999.

By the next morning, the trailer the Freeman family lived in was in flames, and both girls were gone. There were all kinds of rumors concerning drugs, revenge, and corruption, and leads that sparked but went nowhere.

Just the year before, Shane Freeman, the Freemans’ oldest child, was shot and killed by a deputy after stealing a car. There was deep animosity between the Freemans and the authorities over this, as no gun was found near their son’s body.

While his death was ruled justifiable, the Freemans had threatened to file a wrongful death lawsuit.

Crime writer Jax Miller decided to launch her own investigation into the puzzle that these crimes posed. She traveled to the region and spoke with everyone involved to build trust and understand the crimes.

Miller wrote Hell in the Heartland about the two girls missing and the murder of Ashley Freeman’s parents. She spent years investigating this crime.

Authorities Pass a Law:

The State of Oklahoma House of Representatives passed a law after they vanished. House Bill 1001 is named Lauria and Ashley’s Law after 16-year-olds Lauria Bible and Ashley Freeman, of Welch, vanished on New Year’s Eve 1999.

The bill would assure family members of other felony murder victims going forward that any person convicted and sentenced for participating in such a crime would have a lengthier time behind bars.

It is presumed their bodies were dumped in a mine pit, but their remains have not been recovered. Ashley’s parents, Danny and Kathy Freeman, were shot to death during the crime. Their remains were found in their mobile home that had been set on fire.

A similar bill passed the House last year with an overwhelming majority, but the bill was not considered on the Senate floor.

Lorene Bible, Lauria’s mother, was present in the House when the bill passed. She said she and her family were heartbroken when the bill did not receive a hearing in the full Senate the year before.

While she says she’s thankful for passage in the House, she plans to work hard to ensure the measure makes it to the governor’s desk.

My Thoughts

This series of crimes haunted the author, and she first began looking into the people involved in the case in 2015. What she found was lost documents, hearsay, meth addiction, and corruption involved in the events.

Clearly, Jax Miller gave her heart and soul to this case, which spanned years. There is no way you can get this involved in a case without it ultimately casting a dark shadow over you.

She formed friendships and alliances with the people closest to this case. She also felt a fear of revenge and retribution at times while investigating the case.

It’s been a long time since this crime occurred, but what happened that night is still a mystery, and the girls have never been found.

Levels of police negligence are pointed out in a community that seems to be ravaged by methamphetamine addiction. The story concluded a series of interconnected murders that had a familiar pattern. The author examined all of this, but it was never fully solved.

I found the almost lyrical narrative a little unusual for this type of true-crime story. It read almost like a novel, with depictions of the scenery, reflections of characters, and the enduring hopelessness of this small town.

The book’s facts are told with a sense of both sentiment and disappointment, serving both the living and the dead. I’m sure this case took something from the author that she’ll never retrieve—certainly, years of her life. I’d say she gave her all to this story.

Media Coverage

There was much media coverage of Hell in the Heartland. In 2013, it was profiled in the Investigation Discovery documentary series Disappeared.

The disappearances of Bible and Freeman were profiled on America’s Most Wanted in 2000 and on Unsolved Mysteries in 2001. The case was later featured on the series Vanished with Beth Holloway.

About Author Jax Miller

This author served as creator, host, and executive producer of the true-crime documentary Hell in the Heartland on CNN’s HLN.

Her debut novel, Freedom’s Child, was published in 2015. Miller is best known for her bestselling fiction and true-crime writing. She writes across various NBC Universal brands and has received praise from The New York Times. She also won Elle’s Grand Prix des Lectrices in 2016.

This book consisted of 384 pages and was published by Berkley in the summer of 2021.