‘No trace’ of two Kansas women missing after drive to Oklahoma, investigators say
Fox News senior correspondent Alicia Acuna reports on the search for two Kansas women who vanished while driving to Oklahoma.
New charges have been filed against three of the five suspects accused of killing two Kansas moms who disappeared earlier this year while on a road trip to Oklahoma. Some charges have also been dropped.
Last Thursday, the district attorney of Texas County, Oklahoma, filed amended charges against Tifany Adams, Tad Cullum and Cole Twombly, three of the five suspects who are facing charges in the deaths of Veronica Butler, 27, and Jilian Kelley, 39, KSNW first reported.
All five suspects were originally charged with two counts of murder in the first degree with deliberate intent, two counts of kidnapping and conspiracy to commit murder in the first degree with deliberate intent.
Now, Adams, Cullum and Twombly are no longer charged with kidnapping. Instead, they are now facing two counts of unlawful removal of a dead body — for allegedly removing both bodies from the original place of death and two counts of unlawful desecration of a human corpse — for allegedly disposing of both bodies underground, which, according to authorities, resulted in the loss of evidence.
COURT DOCUMENTS DETAIL CAUSE OF DEATH FOR MURDERED KANSAS MOMS
The suspects charged in the killings of Veronica Butler and Jilian Kelley. (Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation - Authorized Page/Facebook)
Adams is also now facing two counts of child neglect. Adams is reportedly the grandmother of Butler's children. Court records revealed that Adams was involved in a custody dispute over Butler's children. The children’s father is in a rehabilitation facility.
The amended document, obtained by KSNW, alleges that Adams exposed a 6-year-old and an 8-year-old to illegal activity by making the children carry ratchet straps around a store the week before Kelley and Butler were killed. The DA believes those straps were the ones wrapped around the freezer in the cow pasture where the bodies were buried.
BODIES OF MURDERED KANSAS MOMS FOUND BURIED IN FREEZER AS GRUESOME DETAILS EMERGE IN COURT DOCS
Paul Grice was arrested and booked into the Texas County Jail on two counts of First-Degree Murder, two counts of Kidnapping, and one count of Conspiracy to Commit Murder in the First Degree in connection to the killings of Veronica Butler and Jilian Kelley. (Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation)
The other two suspects, Cora Twombly and Paul Grice, are still facing kidnapping charges. All five suspects are still facing charges of murder in the first degree with deliberate intent and conspiracy to commit murder in the first degree with deliberate intent.
In September, Grice waived his right to a preliminary hearing and a speedy trial. His next court date is Feb. 19, 2025, while the other four suspects are expected in court for their preliminary hearings on Dec. 17.
The four belonged to a religiously affiliated anti-government group called "God's Misfits," Fox News Digital previously reported. It was unclear if Grice was involved in the anti-government group.
Hugoton Assembly of God Pastor Tim Singer tells Fox News that Jilian Kelley, left, and Veronica Butler, right, were heading to pick up Butler's children to bring them back to a birthday party in Hugoton, Kansas. (Texas County Sheriff's Office/Oklahoma Highway Patrol/Shutterstock)
Their motive, investigators say, was to get custody of Butler's two children.
Court documents said the custody battle involving Butler began in February 2019 "with many hearings and court appearances" and in the weeks leading up to her death, "motions were filed requesting extended visitation for Butler."
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In April, the Office of the Oklahoma Chief Medical Examiner positively identified the two deceased persons from Texas County as Kelley and Butler.
Butler and Kelley were last seen on March 30 heading to pick up their children before their car was found abandoned near the Oklahoma-Kansas border, with foul play suspected, police said.
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