Four arrests made in the case of the missing Kansas moms
- The 2 women were last seen March 30
- One woman was part of a bitter custody battle
- The car was found 3 miles from its destination
Update: Oklahoma police have recovered bodies in search for remains of missing Kansas moms.
(NewsNation) — NewsNation has confirmed four people have been arrested in connection to the disappearance of two Kansas moms.
Veronica Butler, 27, and Jilian Kelley, 39, from Hugoton, Kansas, disappeared Mar. 30 without a trace except for an abandoned car found on the side of a road.
Tad Bert Cullum, 43, Tifany Machel Adams, 54, Cole Earl Twombly, 50 and Cora Twombly, 44, were arrested in Texas and Cimarron Counties, Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation said Saturday.
All four were booked into the Texas County Jail on two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of kidnapping and one count of conspiracy to commit murder in the first degree, according to police.
NewsNation has learned Adams is the grandmother of Butler’s children and Cullum is Adams’ boyfriend.
The OSBI and local law enforcement are still currently working to locate the two victims.
Sources tell NewsNation that police suspect the women were shot and blood was found near the vehicle they were last seen in. Investigators haven’t confirmed those details.
On Apr. 3, OSBI said “there was evidence to indicate foul play” based on information obtained from their vehicle.
Police say the two disappeared after their car was found 1,000 feet off of Oklahoma State Highway 95 along a dirt path on Mar. 30.
NewsNation previously reported that a small amount of blood was found inside the vehicle, but sources now say that there were also separate puddles of blood outside of the vehicle.
Police have described the two women as more acquaintances than friends. NewsNation reported that Kelley was the supervisor of the childhood visits for Butler. Family members, who have been asked to postpone media interviews until the police tell them otherwise, say the two women were involved in their community and their churches.
The car the two women were traveling in was found in a vast, open area near Yarbrough School, from which Butler graduated in 2015. Despite investigators believing foul play could be involved in the women’s disappearance, there have been few visible signs of an active, large-scale search.
Butler’s family says the two were traveling together to Eva, Oklahoma, to pick up Butler’s two children. NewsNation has learned Butler’s children may be living with their paternal grandmother, who is currently watching the kids.
NewsNation previously reported Butler and the father of her children were embroiled in a bitter custody battle, and that just 10 days before the women went missing, Butler had filed a petition in court for more visitation with her children and was seeking full custody.
The court filings said things had not been going well between Butler and the grandmother.
The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation said it is conducting a search for the women and will provide updates when they become available. NewsNation previously reported that the FBI is lending resources to the search.
Anyone with information regarding this case is asked to contact the OSBI at tips@osbi.ok.gov or 1-800-522-8017.