GUYMON, Okla — Two bodies were recovered in rural Oklahoma, a day after four people were charged with kidnapping and murder in the disappearance of two Kansas women, authorities said.
Veronica Butler, 27, and Jilian Kelley, 39, of Hugoton, Kansas, were driving through the Oklahoma panhandle to pick up Butler’s children for a March 30 birthday party in Kansas, but never showed up. Their vehicle was found abandoned later that day on a rural highway in Texas County, near the Oklahoma-Kansas state line.
The sheriff’s office requested help from the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, which said its officers immediately suspected foul play based on undisclosed evidence in the vehicle.
On Saturday, Oklahoma authorities said they arrested and charged four people with two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of kidnapping, and one count of conspiracy to commit murder in the first degree. They were identified as Tad Bert Cullum, 43, Tifany Machel Adams, 54, Cole Earl Twombly, 50, and Cora Twombly, 44. Court records don’t indicate whether any of the four defendants have an attorney who could speak on their behalf.
Authorities announced on Sunday that two bodies were recovered in Texas County. The Medical Examiner’s Office would determine their identification and cause of death, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation said in a statement Sunday night.
The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation on Monday described an intense effort to find the women, protect the children and arrest suspects without violence.
“This case did not end the way we had hoped. It’s certainly been a tragedy for everyone involved,” OSBI Director Aungela Spurlock said.
The children are safe but no other details about them were released.
Authorities in Texas County said they would reveal more about the case on Monday.
All four suspects are being held without bond in the Texas County Jail and are scheduled to make an initial court appearance Wednesday morning, Texas County Court Clerk Renee Ellis said.
