Current:Home > ContactThe bodies of two Kansas women who disappeared in Oklahoma were found in a buried freezer -WealthFocus Academy
The bodies of two Kansas women who disappeared in Oklahoma were found in a buried freezer
View
Date:2025-04-21 21:45:44
The bodies of two Kansas women who disappeared in Oklahoma were found in a buried freezer, according to recently unsealed 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, who is among five people charged with kidnapping and killing the two women, according to the documents unsealed 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 them,” in addition to black tape, electrical cord and a combination stun gun/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 a single count of conspiracy to commit murder.
All are being held without bail and a gag order in the case prohibits attorneys from commenting on the case.
Investigators have said Butler and Adams were in a bitter child dispute over custody of Butler’s children, who are Adams’ grandchildren.
Butler’s attorney told investigators that Butler was likely to be granted unsupervised visitation during a hearing scheduled just more than two weeks after the two disappeared, the documents state.
Butler and Kelley, who was to supervise a visitation with Butler and her children, disappeared March 30 while driving to pick up Butler’s two children from Adams for a birthday party.
The women’s car was found near the rural highway intersection about 260 miles (418 kilometers) from where Butler was to pick up her son and daughter. Butler’s glasses were found near the car and blood was found on the roadway, according to an arrest affidavit.
The buried freezer with the bodies inside was found about 8.5 miles (14 kilometers) from where the car was found and in the area where prepaid cell phones purchased by Adams were traced, according to the court documents.
A witness also told an investigator the Grice had asked him shortly after the bodies were found how long it would take the state lab to process DNA evidence, how long DNA would tast in dirt, how long DNA would last on clothing in dirt in a 15 feet deep hole and if he knew how to get a “guy and his family” into 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 the Twombly residence.”
Another witness told Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation agents that all five suspects were part of “an anti-government group that had a religious affiliation” known as “God’s Misfits” according to an affidavit.
veryGood! (2545)
Related
- The Daily Money: Spending more on holiday travel?
- Today’s Climate: July 24-25, 2010
- ‘Trollbots’ Swarm Twitter with Attacks on Climate Science Ahead of UN Summit
- Amazon Fires Spark Growing International Criticism of Brazil
- Rolling Loud 2024: Lineup, how to stream the world's largest hip hop music festival
- Benefits of Investing in Climate Adaptation Far Outweigh Costs, Commission Says
- Metalloproteins? Breakthrough Could Speed Algae-Based Fuel Research
- Bryan Miller, Phoenix man dubbed The Zombie Hunter, sentenced to death for 1990s murders of Angela Brosso and Melanie Bernas
- Newly elected West Virginia lawmaker arrested and accused of making terroristic threats
- ‘Trollbots’ Swarm Twitter with Attacks on Climate Science Ahead of UN Summit
Ranking
- San Francisco names street for Associated Press photographer who captured the iconic Iwo Jima photo
- Is Oklahoma’s New Earthquake-Reduction Plan Enough to Stop the Shaking?
- Abortion is on the California ballot. But does that mean at any point in pregnancy?
- In California, Climate Change Is an ‘Immediate and Escalating’ Threat
- What were Tom Selleck's juicy final 'Blue Bloods' words in Reagan family
- Can a Climate Conscious Diet Include Meat or Dairy?
- Today’s Climate: July 29, 2010
- Abortion is on the ballot in Montana. Voters will decide fate of the 'Born Alive' law
Recommendation
Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, Triathlon
This urban mosquito threatens to derail the fight against malaria in Africa
Donate Your Body To Science?
Pigeon Power: The Future of Air Pollution Monitoring in a Tiny Backpack?
The company planning a successor to Concorde makes its first supersonic test
Jessica Simpson Shares Dad Joe’s Bone Cancer Diagnosis
Today’s Climate: July 19, 2010
Children's hospitals grapple with a nationwide surge in RSV infections