Kansas women Veronica Butler and Jillian Kelly may still be alive after their bodies were discovered in rural Oklahoma, a spokeswoman for the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI) said Monday. said, “No.”
Hunter McKee, OSBI’s communications director, made the admission in a press conference this morning after telling Fox News Digital that “we still have to wait for proper identification from the coroner’s office.”
Police said Butler, 27, and Kelly, 39, were last seen on March 30 on the way to pick up their children, and then went to the Oklahoma-Kansas border for “cheating”. The car was found abandoned on suspicion of “.
“We have worked extremely hard over the past two weeks to bring closure to families. This has been difficult for everyone involved,” OSBI Director Aungella Spurlock said Monday. “This incident did not end the way we expected. It was certainly a tragedy for everyone involved.”
Two bodies found in Oklahoma, OSBI has not yet released identification or cause of death
Police said Veronica Butler (left) and Jillian Kelly were last seen on March 30 while driving to pick up their children. (Oklahoma Highway Patrol)
“We are extremely grateful that we were able to locate and arrest the four individuals believed to be responsible for this crime,” McKee told reporters.
OSBI confirmed Saturday that four people were in custody. One person was arrested in Texas County and the other three were arrested in Cimarron County.
The suspects were identified as Tad Burt Karam, 43, Tiffany Machelle Adams, 54, Cole Earl Twombly, 50, and Cora Twombly, 44.
Photo of suspect in Kansas woman’s disappearance released
Four suspects have been arrested following the disappearance of Veronica Butler and Jillian Kelly. Clockwise: Tad Cullum, Cole Twombly, Cora Twombly, and Tiffany Adams. (Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation)
All four were booked into Texas County Jail on two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of kidnapping and one count of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, officials said.
Tim Singer, a pastor with the Hugoton Assembly of God in Kansas, previously told Fox News that Hugoton women tried to get Butler’s children back from a birthday party when they disappeared in late March. He said he had come to pick her up by car.
According to the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, an abandoned vehicle containing two women was found near the Oklahoma-Kansas border. (Google Maps)
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The OSBI said their vehicle was found “abandoned near Highway 95 and Road L in rural Texas County, south of Elkhart, Kansas,” and investigators found “no evidence of foul play.” “We have determined that there is,” he said.
Fox News’ Stepheny Price and Michael Ruiz contributed to this report.
