The bodies of two Kansas women who disappeared in Oklahoma were found in a buried freezer
The bodies of two Kansas women who disappeared in Oklahoma have been found in an underground freezer, according to recently released court documents.
The bodies of Veronica Butler, 27, and Jilian Kelley, 39, both of Hugoton, Kansas, were found April 14, buried on land in rural Texas County and rented by Tad Cullum, one of five people charged in the kidnapping and murder of the two women. , according to the documents released on March 15.
Also found on the land, which Cullum rented for cattle grazing, were articles of clothing, duct tape and a knife, each “with possible blood on it,” in addition to black tape, electrical cord and a combination stun gun and flashlight, according to the documents.
Cullum, 43, his girlfriend Tifany Adams, 54, both of Keyes, Oklahoma; husband and wife Cole Twombly, 50, and Cora Twombly, 44, of Texhoma, Oklahoma; and Paul Grice, 31, are each charged with two counts of murder, two counts of kidnapping and one count of conspiracy to commit murder.
All are being held without bail and a gag order in the case prevents attorneys from commenting on the case.
Investigators have said Butler and Adams had a bitter childhood dispute over custody of Butler’s children, Adams’ grandchildren.
Butler’s attorney told investigators that Butler would likely receive unsupervised visitation at a hearing scheduled for a little more than two weeks after the two disappeared, the documents said.
Butler and Kelley, who were supposed to supervise a visit to Butler and her children, disappeared on March 30 while driving to pick up Butler’s two children from Adams for a birthday party.
The woman’s car was found near the intersection on the rural highway, about 258 miles (418 kilometers) from where Butler was supposed to pick up her son and daughter. According to an arrest affidavit, Butler’s glasses were found next to the car and blood was found on the roadway.
The buried freezer with the bodies inside was found about nine miles from where the car was found and in the area where prepaid cellphones purchased by Adams were traced, according to court documents.
A witness also told an investigator that shortly after the bodies were found, Grice asked him how long it would take for the state lab to process the DNA evidence, how long DNA would taste like dirt, how long DNA would remain on clothes in dirt in a 15 year old age. meter-deep hole and whether he knew how to get a “man and his family” to Mexico, according to documents.
The witness told the investigator that Grice said he was concerned about his DNA being in the hole where the bodies were found “because he had been to Twombly’s residence.”
Another witness told Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation agents that all five suspects were part of “an anti-government group that had religious beliefs” known as “God’s Misfits,” according to an affidavit.