Two Kansas mothers who were traveling in Oklahoma disappeared and the car they were driving was found abandoned in a remote area of the Sooner State’s Panhandle. Authorities suspect “foul play”.
Veronica Butler and Jillian Kelly were reported missing Saturday in a “rural” area of Texas County near Highway 95 and L Road. oklahoma state department.
Investigators said Wednesday that a more thorough analysis of the circumstances surrounding their disappearance had uncovered “evidence of foul play.”
Butler, 27, and Kelly, 39, had traveled just 26 miles to pick up Butler’s 6-year-old daughter and 8-year-old son from Eva, Oklahoma, where she lived with her ex-stepmother. Ta. According to ABC7.
When the women did not come to pick up their children, Butler’s ex-husband found the car on the side of the road near the school where Butler graduated in 2015, according to the report.
The car was found about three miles north of Ewa.
Kelly, herself a mother of four, is suspected of traveling with Butler to resolve a custody dispute, sources said. news nation on wednesday.
Oddly enough, Yarbrough School, which is near where the woman went missing and where Butler graduated, began operating under lockdown on Tuesday. According to a Facebook post.
Texas County Sheriff’s Department issued Endangered missing person advisory for two mothers.
Both mothers were members of First Church of Christ in Hugoton, Kansas, and were “acquaintances” rather than “friends,” according to NewsNation.
Kelly, a preacher’s wife and community church secretary, is said to have regularly participated in volunteer work, including running the church’s children’s program. According to ABC7.
Her husband, Heath Kelly, previously a pastor in Hugoton, recently became the new pastor of Willow Church of Christ in Nebraska.
The congregation calls on the community to continue spreading the word about the disappearances and prays that the two women will be found.
“Please pray for Jillian and her friend Veronica’s safety and that they are found soon. God, please bring these women home to their families who care so much,” the church wrote on Facebook. post Monday.
Butler’s friends told ABC7 that they hope the women are found, but understand that after “the first 24 to 48 hours,” the odds of finding a missing person decrease.
“It was really hard for her to deal with finding out that someone she had been in contact with since she was 16 years old was[missing]. It was really difficult,” a source told the show.
oklahoma state department Said It is suspected that the mother and others disappeared under suspicious circumstances, but “no arrests have been made” at this time.
“We have every reason to believe they could be at risk,” said Hunter McKee, the agency’s public affairs manager. told ABC News Tuesday.
“It was a very rural area. You can’t find them anywhere. …The fact that we haven’t had any contact with them for this long.”
