Two bodies were found in rural Oklahoma Sunday as four people faced murder charges in the case of two women who went missing last month while traveling to pick up children, authorities said.
The missing women, 27-year-old Veronica Butler and 39-year-old Jilian Kelley were driving together but never made it to the pickup location, the Texas County Sheriff’s Department said in an “endangered missing advisory” posted March 30. Investigators say the two bodies haven’t been identified but posted the development as an update to the case.
The bodies recovered Sunday were found in Texas County, Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation spokesperson Hunter McKee told CNN. Medical examiners are determining their identities and causes of death, the agency said in a social media post.
On Saturday, authorities arrested 43-year-old Tad Bert Cullum, 54-year-old Tifany Machel Adams, 50-year-old Cole Earl Twombly and 44-year-old Cora Twombly in Texas and Cimarron counties, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation said in a news release.
“All four individuals 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,” the release said.
The car Butler and Kelley were traveling in was found abandoned near Highway 95 south of the Kansas and Oklahoma border in a rural area of Texas County, the agency said
Agents investigated the vehicle and found evidence of foul play, the bureau said.
CNN has reached out to police for information regarding any relationship between the suspects and the missing women.
Oklahoma court records do not show charges filed against any of the suspects and their names have not been entered into the state’s inmate database. It’s unclear if they have legal representation or have made an initial court appearance.
A news conference on the case is expected to be held at 11 a.m. ET Monday.
This is a developing story and has been updated.
CNN’s Elizabeth Wolfe contributed to this report.
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