Oklahoma authorities recover 2 bodies a day after arresting 4 in missing Kansas women case
Oklahoma authorities recovered two bodies Sunday in rural Texas County, a day after they announced that four people had been arrested on suspicion of murder in the disappearance of two Kansas women.
As of Monday, the bodies had not been publicly identified. They were being sent to the medical examiner to determine the cause of death, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation said.
At an update Monday, bureau spokesperson Hunter McKee acknowledged that there was significant physical evidence that led to the arrest of four people.
“The evidence that was discovered inside of that abandoned vehicle and around it were able to help our investigators determine that there was foul played involved,” McKee said. “What was in the vehicle and around it, we cannot discuss.”
Veronica Butler, 27 and Jilian Kelley, 39, were reported missing on March 30 after the vehicle they were traveling in was found abandoned south of Elkhart, Kansas in rural Texas County, Oklahoma.
The two women left Hugoton, Kansas and did not make it to their intended destination, KWCH first reported.
Asked by a reporter at the Monday briefing if there was any chance that Kelley and Butler were still alive, McKee said no.
On Saturday, the bureau named the four suspects arrested in connection with the disappearance. Tad Bert Cullum, 43; Tifany Machel Adams, 54; Cole Earl Twombly, 50 and Cora Twombly, 44, were booked into the Texas County Jail each on suspicion of two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of kidnapping and one count of conspiracy to commit murder in the first degree, according to the OSBI.
Any relationship between the suspects and the victims has not been made public. At the time of their disappearance, Butler and Kelley were “traveling together to pick up children,” a missing person advisory previously said.
At this time, authorities are not looking for more suspects.
This story was originally published April 15, 2024 at 9:49 AM with the headline "Oklahoma authorities recover 2 bodies a day after arresting 4 in missing Kansas women case."