By Kaitlin Zamora, Kristin Rodin, Sydnee Batzlaff and Gray News staff
Published: Apr. 16, 2024 at 1:16 PM CDT
TEXAS COUNTY, Okla. (KFDA/Gray News) - Two Kansas women who disappeared in Oklahoma are believed to have been killed over a custody dispute when they tried to pick up one of the women’s children for a birthday party, according to court documents.
Court records say one of the women, 27-year-old Veronica Butler, was involved in a custody dispute with her children’s paternal grandmother, 54-year-old Tiffany Machel Adams, who is a member of an anti-government group. The children’s father is in a rehabilitation facility.
Records show that Butler was allowed supervised visits with her children. Jillian Kelley, 39, was the court-ordered supervisor accompanying Butler to pick up her children on the morning of March 30.
Butler and Kelley had arranged to meet Adams at a highway intersection that morning and pick up Butler’s children, ages 6 and 8, from Adams and take them to a birthday party.
Butler’s family members found her abandoned vehicle just west of the intersection, according to court documents. The family members then contacted law enforcement.
“This case did not end the way we had hoped. It’s certainly been a tragedy for everyone involved,” Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation Director Aungela Spurlock said.
Evidence of someone having been severely injured was found at the scene, documents said, with blood found on the roadway and the edge of the roadway. Butler’s glasses were also found in the roadway near a broken hammer.
A pistol magazine was found inside Kelley’s purse at the scene, but no pistol was found.
Butler and Kelley’s phone records indicated their devices were actively sending signals until about 9:42 a.m., after which the devices were no longer seen by the networks and stopped transmitting.
Adams and three other people, who she is believed to be in an anti-government group with, have been arrested in connection with the disappearance and deaths of Butler and Kelley.
The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation identified the four suspects as Adams, her 43-year-old boyfriend Tad Bert Cullum, 50-year-old Cole Earl Twombly, and 44-year-old Cora Twombly.
All four people were arrested in Texas and Oklahoma and booked into the Texas County, Oklahoma Jail on two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of kidnapping, and one count of conspiracy to commit murder in the first degree.
The four people charged in the deaths are being held without bond pending court appearances Wednesday, according to Texas County Court Clerk Renee Ellis.
In court documents, the 16-year-old daughter of Cora and Cole Twombly said her mother admitted that she and the other suspects were involved in the deaths of Butler and Kelley.
The Twombly’s daughter said her mother told her “the plan was to throw an anvil through Butler’s windshield while driving, make it look like an accident because anvils regularly fall off of work vehicles.”
Cora Twombly allegedly told her daughter that Adams had provided “burner” phones for them to use so they could communicate without using their personal devices.
The daughter said her parents, along with Adams and Cullum, were part of an anti-government group that had a religious affiliation. Investigators learned that they call the group God’s Misfits and hold weekly meetings.
The daughter was told on March 29, the night before the alleged murders, that her parents would not be home in the morning and were going to be on a “mission,” court documents said.
When her parents returned, they asked the 16-year-old daughter to clean their vehicle. When the teenager asked them what happened, she was told “that things did not go as planned, but that they would not have to worry about her (Butler) again.”
The daughter asked about Kelley and questioned why she had to die, “and was told by Cora that she wasn’t innocent either, as she had supported Butler.” The daughter asked her “if their bodies were put in a well, and Cora replied, ‘Something like that.’”
Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation agents said information on Adams’ phone included web searches for Taser pain level, gun shops, prepaid phones and how to get someone out of their house.
According to the documents, Adams searched purchased five stun guns and three prepaid “burner” phones.
All three phones were at the area where Butler’s car was located, according to the phones’ location information.
Court documents reveal that the phones also pinged at a property about 8.5 miles away from the car.
The documents say the property was below a dam in a pasture, where fresh dirt was located. Concrete was moved to about 150 to 200 yards below the dam, where it was discovered that a hole had been dug and filled back in, then covered with hay.
Officials said two bodies have been found during the search. Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation spokesman Hunter McKee said the bodies’ identities and causes of death are pending a medical examiner’s report.
Investigators said there is “no chance” that Butler and Kelley are alive.
“This case is tragic,” McKee said. “You have two people who are dead and four people who committed an absolutely brutal crime.”
Officials said the custody battle between Butler and Adams dates back to 2019.
A hearing had been scheduled to happen, and Butler’s attorney said she was likely to receive unsupervised visitation with her children at that hearing. Currently, Butler was only allowed supervised visits, like the one she was supposed to be having with Kelley when they disappeared.
Officials said all children involved are safe. It’s unclear where the children were at the time of the alleged murders.
Copyright 2024 KFDA via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
