Bodies of Two Missing Kansas Women Were Found in Chest Freezers Buried in Cow Pasture

Bodies of Two Missing Kansas Women Missing Kansas Women Chest Freezers Buried in Cow Pasture

By Jackelyn Cornejo , Parent Herald May 23, 07:20 am

Photo: (Photo : GERARDO MENOSCAL/AFP via Getty Images )

The bodies of two Kansas women who went missing in the Oklahoma Panhandle in March were found in a chest freezer buried in a cow pasture. Court records disclose that five suspects have been accused of killings and kidnapping.

Bodies of Two Missing Kansas Women Were Found

Veronica Butler, 27, and her court supervisor in a child custody case, Jilian Kelley, 39, disappeared on March 30. According to an affidavit submitted as part of a search warrant application by the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, their bodies were found on a property in Texas County, Oklahoma, less than 10 miles from the location where they went missing, on April 14.

Authorities located the bodies a day after excavation started, court records show. Personal items not belonging to Butler or Kelley were also found in the hole.

"Upon excavation and opening of a chest freezer, the bodies of Butler and Kelley were discovered," the affidavit states.

Five defendants have been arrested and are held without bond at the Texas County Jail in Guymon, Oklahoma: Tifany Adams, 54; her boyfriend, Tad Bert Cullum, 43; Cole Earl Twombly, 50; his wife, Cora Twombly, 44; and Paul Grice, 31, according to a jail spokesperson.

They face charges of two counts of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, and two counts of kidnapping, court records indicate. All suspects except Cullum have public defenders, according to Tim Laughlin, Executive Director of the Oklahoma Indigent Defense System.

Laughlin declined to comment on Wednesday. The attorney representing Cullum, as indicated in court records, was unavailable for comment. A state Bureau of Investigation spokesperson stated Wednesday that there are no additional suspects at this time.

Court records indicate that the property where Butler and Kelley were found was rented by Cullum for cattle grazing. Butler and Adams had been in a "problematic" custody dispute over Butler's two children since February 2019. Adams is the children's paternal grandmother.

Veronica Butler Recently Requested Extended Visitation Rights for Her Children

Butler had recently sought extended visitation of her children, and her lawyer told the State Bureau of Investigation she was likely to receive unsupervised visitation at a court hearing on April 17, according to court records.

The affidavit also mentioned that the children's father stated Adams sometimes prevented him from seeing his children despite having legal custody.

Recordings in the custody case revealed discussions of death threats by Adams and Cullum, though the affidavit did not specify the targets. On the day she disappeared, Butler intended to take her daughter to a birthday party during her visitation.

Butler's abandoned 2009 Nissan Altima was found near Highway 95 by her family, with evidence of "severe injury" nearby, according to the affidavit.

According to the affidavit, blood was discovered on and around the roadway. Butler's glasses were located near a broken hammer, and a pistol magazine was discovered in Kelley's purse, although no pistol was recovered.

An "endangered missing advisory" was issued by Texas County authorities that day. The investigation found that Adams purchased three prepaid cellphones in February. All three phones were in the vicinity of Butler's car at the time of the woman's disappearance, court records show.

A search warrant return indicated authorities collected evidence including clothes and other items that may have blood on them, such as Wrangler jeans with a black belt, a brown sweatshirt, a black hooded sweatshirt, a reddish-pink sweatshirt, and a roll of duct tape.

A 16-year-old witness told investigators that the suspects belonged to an "anti-government group" with a "religious affiliation" called "God's Misfits," and meetings were sometimes held at the Twomblys' residence.

A Facebook page allegedly associated with the group stated: "We are NOT & have never been part of anything in Oklahoma. we are husband & wife spreading Jesus."