Two dead bodies recovered amid investigation into missing Kansas moms: Police

Veronica Butler, 27, and Jilian Kelley, 39, are seen in undated photos released on March 31, 2024, by the Texas County Sheriff’s Department. — Texas County Sheriff’s Department

(GUYMON, Okla.) — Police recovered two dead bodies in rural Texas amid the investigation into the disappearance of two mothers from Kansas who went missing in Oklahoma, authorities announced Sunday.

The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, the FBI and the Texas County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement on X that the bodies will be “transported to the Office of the Oklahoma Chief Medical Examiner to determine identification and cause and manner of death.”

Authorities have not identified the deceased.

Moms Veronica Butler, 27, and Jilian Kelley, 39, both from Hugoton, Kansas, have been missing since March 30. The last known information about the missing women is that they were driving in Oklahoma to pick up Butler’s children for a birthday party in Kansas.

Authorities later found their vehicle abandoned in rural Oklahoma, near the Kansas border.

On Saturday, Oklahoma police announced four people were arrested 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 in connection with Butler and Kelley’s disappearance.

The four individuals are Tad Bert Cullum, 43; Tifany Machel Adams, 54; Cole Earl Twombly, 50, and Cora Twombly, 44. All four remained in custody on Sunday night.

ABC News wasn’t immediately able to locate a legal representative for those charged.

ABC News’ Amanda Morris contributed to this report.

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