Oklahoma authorities have arrested four people for the kidnapping and murder of two women who vanished two weeks ago in the Oklahoma panhandle.
Tifany Machel Adams, 54; Tad Bert Cullum, 43; Cole Earl Twombly, 50; and Cora Twombly, 44; have been charged with two counts each of first degree murder, two counts of kidnapping, and one count of conspiracy to commit murder, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation said.
Veronica Butler, 27, and Jilian Kelley, 39, disappeared on March 30 while traveling to Adams’ home from Kansas to pick up Butler’s children, as CrimeOnline reported. They never made it, and their car was found three miles from their destination on a dirt track 1,000 feet off State Highway 95 in Texas County, Oklahoma.
Law enforcement is still looking for the two women, but evidence found with the abandoned car pointed directly at foul play. Police said they found some blood inside the vehicle, but sources later said there were larger “pools of blood” outside the vehicle and that investigators believed the two women had been shot.
Adams is Butler’s former mother-in-law, and Cullum is her boyfriend. The Twomblys connection to the case is not clear, but Facebook posts say they are married and live in Griggs, Oklahoma, in Cimarron County.
Earlier, police said one suspect was arrested in Texas County, and three were arrested in Cimarron County. All four were booked into jail in Texas County.
Butler was reportedly going through a contentious custody battle for their two children with Adams’ son, her former husband. Ten days before the women’s disappearance, Butler had filed a request to see the children more frequently and was also reportedly seeking full custody.
Kelley, a pastor’s wife, was listed as one of four people who could supervise Butler’s visits with her children.
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[Featured image: Veronica Butler and Jilian Kelley/Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation]
