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2 bodies found amid arrests over missing preacher's wife and friend

Both bodies are being taken to a medical examiner's office for identification and to determine a cause and manner of death.
2 bodies found amid arrests over missing preacher's wife and friend
Posted at 10:41 AM, Apr 15, 2024
and last updated 2024-04-15 13:41:57-04

Police in Oklahoma recovered two bodies one day after charging four people with murder and kidnapping in the case of two Kansas women — a preacher’s wife and her friend — who disappeared in March. 

The Texas County Sheriff’s Office in Oklahoma said Sunday night that the bodies are being taken to a medical examiner’s office for identification and to determine a cause and manner of death.

The FBI took part in recovering the bodies.

Veronica Butler, 27, and Jillian Kelley, 39, were driving in Oklahoma on March 30 to pick up Butler’s children from a birthday party when the two failed to show up. The vehicle they had been traveling in was found abandoned near Highway 95 and Road L in Texas County. Police said there was evidence to indicate foul play.

Two men and two women — 43-year-old Tad Bert Cullum, 54-year-old Tifany Machel Adams, 50-year-old Cole Earl Twombly and 44-year-old Cora Twombly — were arrested Saturday and charged with two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of kidnapping, and one count of conspiracy to commit murder in the first degree.

The two unidentified bodies were recovered Sunday. 

An investigation remains ongoing. 


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