Authorities Find Missing Kansas Women in Oklahoma Freezer; Five Arrested
Two missing Kansas women’s bodies were discovered in a freezer in Oklahoma, according to officials and news reports.
According to NBC News and the Associated Press, court filings filed May 15 and just released revealed that the remains were discovered April 14 hidden in a freezer at a rented cow farm in Texas County, Oklahoma.
Veronica Butler, 27, and Jilian Kelley, 39, were “traveling together to pick up children” in March, according to a March 30 post by the Texas County Sheriff’s Department. Their vehicle was later discovered abandoned on the side of the road near the Kansas-Oklahoma border, according to the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigations (OSBI).
Five people have been accused in connection with their deaths: Paul Grice, 31, Tad Bert Cullum, 43, Tifany Machel Adams, 54, Cole Earl Twombly, 50, and Cora Twombly, 44, according to the OSBI.
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According to the Associated Press, Cullum was renting the cow pasture where Butler and Kelley were discovered.
Cullum’s lawyer did not immediately respond to a McClatchy News request for comment. The attorneys for the remaining four defendants were not listed. According to the Associated Press, a gag order prevents attorneys from publicly commenting on the case.
The five accused were purportedly members of an anti-government religious group known as “God’s Misfits,” according to the affidavit.
According to court records, Butler and Adams have been in a “problematic” custody struggle over Butler’s children since 2019, according to NBC News. Adams is the children’s grandmother, according to court records obtained by the news source.
Butler requested prolonged time with her children, and a hearing was scheduled for April 17, according to USA Today.
Butler was due to appear to a birthday celebration with her children earlier that day, according to the news outlet. However, she did not attend the celebration, according to USA Today.
Officials say three prepaid telephones purchased by Adams were discovered near Butler’s car after she went missing, according to NBC News.
“The evidence discovered inside and around that abandoned vehicle helped our investigators determine that there was foul play involved,” OSBI spokeswoman Hunter McKee told The Wichita Eagle.