A massive convoy of SWAT trucks and police cars races through rural Oklahoma after a tip about two missing women.
Veronica Butler, 27, and Jilian Kelley, 39, traveled together to pick up Butler’s children, ages 6 and 8, on March 30.
It was believed they were shot as pools of blood lay on the ground next to their empty car about 1,000 feet from Oklahoma State Highway 95.
The line of 20 police vehicles was spotted speeding along a dirt road in the Oklahoma Panhandle and is believed to be connected to their disappearance.
The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation said shortly afterward that four people had been arrested, one in Texas County and three in Cimarron County.
A massive convoy of SWAT trucks and police cars races through rural Oklahoma after a tip about two missing women
Veronica Butler (pictured left), 27, and Jilian Kelley (pictured right), 39, traveled together to pick up Kelley’s children on March 30
Several police vehicles arrived at the home of Tifany Adams, believed to be a relative of one of the two women.
Butler is going through a nasty divorce and custody battle with her husband, Wrangler Cole Rickman, and the children were staying with her ex-husband’s mother.
Described as more of an acquaintance than a friend of Butler, Kelley is the wife of a pastor who reportedly oversees Butler’s visits with her children.
On March 20, ten days before they went missing, Butler filed a petition with the court that would grant her more time with her children, with the goal of gaining full custody. News Nation.
Court records alleged that Butler and the children’s grandmother did not get along during the nasty fight.
Butler has weekly, court-mandated visits with the children every Saturday, with Kelley one of four people listed as chaperones for those visits.
Multiple pools of blood were found near the vehicle in the deserted Oklahoma panhandle, which was found 1,000 feet off Oklahoma State Highway 95, near a school Butler attended and graduated from in 2015.
ABC-7 reported that the visit was also to celebrate Butler’s 6-year-old daughter’s birthday.
They had made it the 45 minute drive from Hugoton to a gas station in Eva, located near the Four Corners section of Oklahoma, but disappeared while the car was only three miles from where they were supposed to meet.
Multiple pools of blood were found near the vehicle in the abandoned Oklahoma panhandle, which was found 1,000 feet off Oklahoma State Highway 95, near a school Butler attended and graduated from in 2015.
Kelley is the wife of Pastor Heath Kelley, who serves at two churches in Kansas and Nebraska.
On April 3, Kelley’s Willow Christian Church in Nebraska posted on Facebook: “We ask that you continue to pray for Jilian and Veronica and their families as the search and investigation continue.”
‘Pray for strength, wisdom and faith for all involved. We appreciate everyone who shared the prayer requests. We are receiving messages from across the country from people praying for these two women and their families.”
Butler and Kelley were traveling together on March 30 to pick up Kelley’s children, ages 6 and 8. New details have emerged about both women. Butler is going through a nasty divorce and custody battle with her husband, Wrangler Cole Rickman, and the children were staying with her ex-husband’s mother
Kelley is the wife of Pastor Heath Kelley, who serves at two churches in Kansas and Nebraska
Hugoton First Christian Church has also offered prayers on Facebook, while friends and family have started a prayer service Meal Train page for Kelley’s family.
Authorities continue to look for evidence of foul play but have not conducted a large-scale search and hope is running out.
“It’s been over a week,” Hunter McKee, Public Information Manager for the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, said Tuesday, according to Fox news.
“We are hopeful that we can find them alive, but it is obviously becoming more and more challenging.”
Butler is described as 6 feet tall, with red hair and green eyes. She has several tattoos, including a Chinese symbol on her left forearm and a sunflower on her left shoulder.
She was dressed in a blue short-sleeved shirt, jeans and lightweight Hey Dudes shoes.
Kelley, also from Hugoton, Kansas, was last seen with Butler on Saturday.
The blue-eyed woman is pictured on the missing person flyer with blonde hair, but her hair color is now brown and has a butterfly tattoo on her left forearm.
Court records alleged that Butler and the children’s grandmother did not get along during the nasty fight
Butler has weekly court-mandated visits with the children every Saturday, with Kelley one of four people listed as supervisors of those visits
The endangered missing persons flyer with details of the woman’s disappearance
She is believed to be wearing a long sleeve shirt, white washed jeans and light brown beige shoes.
The case remains under investigation by the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, with assistance from the FBI.
OSBI has previously said there is evidence of foul play and previously called it a “suspicious disappearance.”