Remains discovered in rural Oklahoma have been positively identified as belonging to two Kansas women reported missing last month, authorities said.
The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation said Tuesday that the state’s chief medical examiner confirmed the bodies were those of 27-year-old Veronica Butler and 39-year-old Jilian Kelley.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with his loved ones, along with everyone in his community,” said the OSBI said on social media platform X.
A custody battle may have led to the deaths of the women, who disappeared on their way to pick up one of the couple’s children for a birthday party last month in Oklahoma, court documents revealed Monday.
The remains of the Hugoton, Kansas, women were discovered in Texas County, Oklahoma, the same jurisdiction where the vehicle was found last month.
“It was a tragedy for everyone involved,” Aungela Spurlock, director of the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, told reporters. “Our condolences go out to the family.”
The OSBI had said in a statement about X on Sunday that his deputies — along with Texas county sheriff’s personnel — recovered the bodies in a rural part of the county.
Four people were booked into the Texas County Jail on suspicion of first-degree murder, kidnapping and conspiracy to commit murder Saturday in connection with the investigation. The suspects were later formally charged.
The OSBI identified them as Tad Bert Cullum, 43; Tifany Machel Adams, 54; Cole Earl Twombly, 50; and Cora Twombly, 44. The four were arrested in Texas County and neighboring Cimarron County.
Court documents do not list an attorney for any of the four. The suspects’ first court appearance was scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Wednesday at the Texas County Courthouse.
The state public defender’s office in the Texas county did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment Tuesday night, and no one returned a phone call.
Adams was in a “troubled custody battle” with Butler, who had two children with Adams’ son, Wrangler Rickman, according to a statement from OSBI Special Agent Jason Ott.
Butler supervised visits with her children every Saturday, and she, along with her friend Kelley, were on their way to such a meeting on March 30, according to Ott’s testimony supporting Adams’ arrest.
“Butler planned to take his daughter to a birthday party, but after they failed to arrive, the family began searching for Butler,” the affidavit said.
Butler’s car was discovered in Texas County with signs of a violent struggle, authorities said. Blood stained the ground nearby and Butler’s glasses “were also found on the road south of the vehicle, near a broken hammer,” Ott wrote.
Rickman was “in a rehabilitation center in Oklahoma City” at the time of his disappearance, the affidavit said, and he does not appear to be a suspect.
Rickman also had disputes with his mother, Adams, the affidavit said. At times, Adams kept the children and refused to give them to Rickman, even though she had legal custody of them, according to Ott.
A key witness in the case is suspect Cora Twombly’s 16-year-old daughter.
The girl, identified as “CW,” said Cora Twombly and the suspect’s husband, Cole Twombly, told her on March 29 that they wouldn’t be home when she woke up the next morning because they were on a “mission,” according to the judicial declaration.
When the couple returned home at noon, they asked their daughter to clean the Chevy truck, the affidavit said.
“CW asked Cora what happened and was told things didn’t go as planned, but they didn’t have to worry about her. [Butler] again,” the court document said. “CW was informed that Cora and Cole blocked the road to stop Butler and Kelley and deliver them to where Adams [and] Cullum… they were. CW asked about Kelley and why she had to die and Cora said that she was not innocent either as she had supported Butler. CW asked Cora if her bodies were put in a well and Cora replied, ‘something like that’.”
Adams purchased three prepaid cellphones from a Walmart on Feb. 13, according to the affidavit, and all three were “in the areas where Butler’s car was located and the last known location of Butler and Kelley, at the time of their disappearance. ”
Butler and Kelley were the subject of a “threatened missing person notice” by Oklahoma authorities distributed on March 30 after the vehicle they were in was found in the Texas county, the OSBI said.
Texas County Sheriff Matt Boley didn’t reveal many details of the alleged crime when he met with reporters Monday morning, but he said Butler and Kelley were victims of a “targeted” attack and that authorities did not believe in no one else in the public was in danger.
“We felt this was not a random deal,” Boley said. “We felt that with some of the information we received, it was more targeted and we started looking in those areas.”
Attorney Garrett R. Oates, who has represented Butler in the past, said the saga highlights the bitter nature of custody battles.
“This case highlights the conflict, stress and magnitude of the decisions that surround any child custody case,” he said in a statement. “This was a controversial case from the beginning and became increasingly controversial as time went on.”
He continued: “I am deeply saddened by the loss of my client, Veronica. I know all she ever wanted was to love her children.”
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