In the autumn of 1991, a 41-year-old woman named Barbara Kathleen Ferree vanished from the small city of Chickasha, Oklahoma, leaving behind a mysterious and unsettling case for investigators. On the evening of October 3rd, Barbara, a female with brown hair and brown eyes, attended a party in the 500 block of South 12th Street. This gathering, reportedly involving drugs and alcohol, would be the last place she was ever seen.
Known to her friends and family as 'Barbie,' she was wearing a red, white, and blue checkered or plaid long-sleeved blouse, blue jeans with brass buttons, and white canvas tennis shoes. She also wore a distinctive white gold engagement ring with a row of three or four stones. Standing at five feet four inches and weighing between 170 and 180 pounds, Barbara had a tattoo of a rose on her right shoulder and pierced ears. After that night at the party, she was never heard from again.
The initial investigation into Barbara's disappearance quickly focused on a man named Gary Quisenberry, who was also present at the party. His account of the evening was that Barbara had left to buy cigarettes and never came back. However, law enforcement found this explanation difficult to believe, especially when other witnesses from the party came forward with a much more violent and disturbing version of events. These witnesses claimed that an argument had erupted between Barbara and Quisenberry, which escalated to the point where he allegedly threw a portable television set at her, striking her in the head and killing her. Despite these serious allegations, without a body or any physical evidence, charges could not be filed, and the case grew cold.
Years later, in 1996, a significant break in the case seemed to emerge when Gary Quisenberry was arrested on unrelated fraud charges. While in custody, he confessed to killing Barbara Ferree. However, his story had changed. He now claimed that he and Barbara had been drinking together on the tailgate of his pickup truck near Gracemont when they got into an argument, and he struck her in the neck, causing her death. Quisenberry even led investigators to a location in rural Caddo County where he claimed to have buried her body. Despite an extensive search of the area, which had been altered by the construction of a new road, no remains were found. Adding another layer of complexity, a witness came forward during the search, claiming to have seen Quisenberry's sister, Belinda Sue 'Susie' Lee, cutting up Barbara's identification cards and boasting that she had killed Barbara and buried her 'right under their noses.' A search of a Chickasha home connected to this new lead also proved fruitless. Due to the lack of evidence and conflicting stories, no one has ever been charged in Barbara's disappearance, and her body has never been recovered. The case officially remains an unsolved, endangered missing person case, a painful and enduring mystery for her loved ones and the community.Last Seen: Oct 3, 1991
