Two bodies have been discovered in a rural part of Oklahoma amid an investigation into the disappearance of a pair of Kansas mothers who went missing at the end of March.
The remains were found in rural Texas County Sunday and will be “transported to the Oklahoma Chief Medical Examiner to determine identification, cause and manner of death,” the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigations said in a post on X.
Veronica Butler, 27, and Jillian Kelley, 39, both from Hugoton, Kansas, have been missing since March 30. The two moms had been driving in Oklahoma to pick up Butler’s children for a birthday party in Kansas, ABC News reported.
The two women were considered acquaintances, as Kelley supervised Butler’s visits with her children — who had been living with their paternal grandparent in Eva, Oklahoma.
Officials said the two moms were reported missing that day and their blood-soaked vehicle had been found abandoned in rural Oklahoma, near the Kansas border but the pair were nowhere to be found.
The day before the bodies were found, four people were arrested and charged in connection with their disappearance.
Tad Bert Cullum, 43; Tifany Machel Adams, 54; Cole Earl Twombly, 50; and Cora Twombly, 44, were taken into custody Saturday and booked into the Texas County Jail.
All four suspects were charged with two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of kidnapping, and one count of conspiracy to commit murder in the first degree.
Adams is the paternal grandmother of Butler’s children, and Cullum is her boyfriend, according to NewsNation.
Cole and Cora Twombly have been in an eight-year relationship and are friends with Adams on Facebook.
Several law enforcement agencies were at properties in Cimmaron and Texas Counties on Saturday, including at Adams’ home.
One person was arrested in Cimmaron County while the other three were charged in Texas County.
Butler was allegedly in the middle of a bitter custody battle with the father of her children and seeking more visitation time, as she sought full custody.
Adams is said to have had custody of the children at the time of Butler’s disappearance, KFOR reported.