SWAT Operation Leads To Multiple Arrests
Four people have been arrested in a huge Oklahoma SWAT raid over the kidnapping and murder of a Kansas mother, Veronica Butler, 27, and her friend Jilian Kelley, 39.
The women were reported missing while en route to pick up Butler’s children, aged 6 and 8, on March 30 for her daughter’s celebration.
Among the four arrested are Tiffany Adams, 54, Butler’s mother-in-law and Adams’ boyfriend, Tad Cullum, 43.
The other two arrested individuals are Cole Twombly, 50, and Cora Twombly, 44, a couple of eight years. They are friends with Adams on Facebook.
The suspects arrested were 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.
Butler and Kelly are believed to have been shot as pools of blood were discovered on the ground next to their empty car. The women drove 45 minutes from Hugoton to a gas station in Eva, near Four Corners in Oklahoma.
However, they disappeared mysteriously, with their car found just three miles away from their intended meeting point.
According to Daily Mail, Butler’s children were reportedly staying with their grandmother, Adams, as Butler is going through a nasty divorce and custody battle with her husband, Wrangler Cole Rickman.
According to the outlet, Court filings claimed Butler and Adams were not getting along amid the custody battle.
Kelley, on the other hand, is the wife of Pastor Heath Kelley, who serves at two churches in Kansas and Nebraska.
According to authorities, the women have not been seen since the weekend, and the investigation is still ongoing.
“As of right now, the investigation continues and we were requested, we’re unsure where these women are or what happened to them.” Hunter Mckee, Public Information Manager at the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, said. “That unknown has made it suspicious for us at this time.”
The case remains under investigation by the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, with assistance from the FBI.