HENRYETTA, Okla. (NewsNation) — A woman identified four of the seven bodies found dead at a rural Oklahoma property as her daughter and three grandchildren on Tuesday.
Authorities discovered the bodies of seven people Monday while searching a rural Oklahoma property for two missing teenagers: 14-year-old Ivy Webster and 16-year-old Brittany Brewer.
Okmulgee County Sheriff Eddy Rice told reporters Monday that three of the bodies found were believed to include those of Webster and Brewer, along with Jesse McFadden, the felon authorities had said the teens were traveling with. Oklahoma Department of Correction prison records show McFadden was convicted of first-degree rape in 2003 and released in October 2020.
“We are no longer looking,” Rice said. “We believe to have found everything that we were seeking this morning. Our hearts go out to the families and friends, schoolmates and everyone else.”
Janette Mayo, 59, of Westville, Oklahoma, said the Okmulgee County Sheriff’s Office notified her late Monday that the other four victims were her daughter, Holly Guess, 35, and her grandchildren, Rylee Elizabeth Allen, 17, Michael James Mayo, 15 and Tiffany Dore Guess, 13.
Mayo told the Associated Press that McFadden, who was married to her daughter, had controlling behavior that was “concerning,” but the family didn’t learn about his criminal history until a few months ago.
“He lied to my daughter, and he convinced her it was all just a huge mistake,” Mayo told The Associated Press in a telephone interview Tuesday morning. “He was very demure. He was very standoffish, generally very quiet, but he kept my daughter and the kids basically under lock and key. He had to know where they were at all times, which sent red flags up.”
In a Facebook post, Mayo said she has a hole in her heart from McFadden’s actions.
“He took my world from me,” Mayo wrote.
Mayo said the Sheriff’s Office told her that her daughter and grandchildren were all found shot to death in various locations on McFadden’s property. Families tell NewsNation the Webster and Brewer were having a sleepover with McFadden’s stepdaughter.
All seven bodies were found near the town of Henryetta, a town of about 6,000 located about 90 miles east of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation spokesman Gerald Davidson said.
While Rice declined to provide details of how they died, the tragedy comes in a year marked by an uptick in mass killings in the United States.
“We’ve had our share of troubles and woes, but this one is pretty bad,” Rice told reporters.
Henryetta Public Schools put out a statement saying it is grieving the loss of several students.
“Our hearts are hurting, and we have considered what would be best for our students in the coming days,” Henryetta Public Schools said.
While class was in session Tuesday, the statement said officials would understand if they want to keep their kids at home.
“We will have school, and this will be an extremely difficult day,” the statement said. “Please continue to keep these families in your thoughts and prayers.”
Brittany Brewer’s father told KOTV that he’s “lost” after the death of his daughter.
“End of school’s fixing to be here, she ain’t gonna be there. I mean she’s gone,” Nathan, Brittany’s father said. “I have five kids but she was like my sidekick. She helped me on the cars, she helped me everywhere, and she’s gone.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
