Remains discovered in rural Oklahoma have been positively identified as belonging to two Kansas women who were reported missing last month, authorities said.
The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation said Tuesday that the state’s chief medical examiner confirmed the bodies were those of 27-year-old Veronica Butler and 39-year-old Jilian Kelley.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with their loved ones, along with everyone in their community,” the OSBI said on social media platform
A custody battle may have led to the deaths of the women, who disappeared while trying to pick up one of the couple’s children for a birthday party in Oklahoma last month, court papers showed Monday.
Remains of the women from Hugoton, Kansas, were discovered in Texas County, Oklahoma, the same jurisdiction where their vehicle was found last month.
“It has been a tragedy for everyone involved,” Aungela Spurlock, director of the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, told reporters. “Our condolences go out to the family.”
The OSBI had said so a statement about X Sunday that his officers — along with Texas County sheriff’s personnel — recovered the bodies in a rural part of the county.
Four people were arrested at the Texas County Jail on suspicion of first-degree murder, kidnapping and conspiracy to commit murder Saturday in connection with the investigation. The suspects were then formally charged.
The OSBI identified them as Tad Bert Cullum, 43; Tifany Machel Adams, 54; Cole Earl Twombly, 50; and Cora Twombly, 44. The four were arrested in Texas County and neighboring Cimarron County.
Court documents do not list an attorney for any of the four. An initial appearance for the suspects was scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Wednesday in Texas County District Court.
The Texas County state’s attorney’s office did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment Tuesday evening, and no one returned a phone call.
Adams was involved in a “problematic custody battle” with Butler, who had two children with Adams’ son, Wrangler Rickman, according to an affidavit by OSBI Special Agent Jason Ott.
Butler had been supervising visits with her children every Saturday, and she, along with her friend Kelley, were on their way to such a meeting on March 30, according to Ott’s affidavit in support of Adams’ arrest.
“Butler planned to take her daughter to a birthday party, but after they failed to arrive, the family began looking for Butler,” the statement said.
Butler’s car was discovered in Texas County and showed signs of a violent struggle, officials said. Blood stained the nearby ground and Butler’s glasses “were also found on the roadway south of the vehicle, near a broken hammer,” Ott wrote.
Rickman was “at a rehabilitation center in Oklahoma City” at the time of the disappearance, the affidavit said, and he does not appear to be a suspect.
Rickman also had disputes with his mother, Adams, the affidavit said. At times, Adams kept the children and refused to turn them over to Rickman, even though he had legal custody of them, according to Ott.
The key witness in the case is the 16-year-old daughter of suspect Cora Twombly.
The girl, identified as “CW,” said Cora Twombly and the suspect’s husband, Cole Twombly, told her on March 29 that they wouldn’t be home the next morning when she got up because they were on a “mission,” according to the statement from the court.
When the couple arrived home around noon, they asked their daughter to clean their Chevy pickup, the affidavit said.
“CW asked Cora what happened and was told that things didn’t go as planned, but they didn’t have to worry about her [Butler] “One more time,” the court document said. ‘CW was told that Cora and Cole blocked the road to stop Butler and Kelley and deliver them to where Adams [and] Cullum… were. CW asked about Kelley and why she had to die and was told by Cora that she wasn’t innocent either, since she had supported Butler. CW asked Cora if their bodies had been put in a well and Cora replied, “something like that.”
Adams purchased three prepaid cellphones at a Walmart on Feb. 13, according to the affidavit, and all three were “in the areas where Butler’s car was located and the last known location of Butler and Kelley, at the time of their disappearance.”
Butler and Kelley were the subject of an “endangered missing advisory” by Oklahoma authorities, issued March 30 after the vehicle they were in was found in Texas County, the OSBI said.
Texas County Sheriff Matt Boley did not reveal many details about the alleged crime when he met with reporters Monday morning, but he did say that Butler and Kelley were victims of a “targeted” attack and that authorities did not believe anyone else in the case. public was in danger.
“We felt this was not an arbitrary deal,” Boley said. “We felt like some of the information coming in was more targeted, and we started looking in those areas.”
Attorney Garrett R. Oates, who has represented Butler in the past, said the saga highlights the bitter nature of custody battles.
“This case highlights the conflict, stress and magnitude of decisions involved in any child custody case,” he said in a statement. “This was a case that was controversial from the start and became increasingly controversial over time.”
He continued: “I am so deeply saddened by the loss of my client, Veronica. I know all she ever wanted was to love her children.”
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
