Tragic discovery in Oklahoma: Bodies of two Kansas women found in buried freezer amid custody battle | Irish Star

The bodies of two Kansas women who disappeared in Oklahoma were discovered in a buried freezer, court documents show.

Veronica Butler, 27, and Jilian Kelley, 39, both of Hugoton, Kansas, were found buried April 14 on property leased by Tad Cullum in Texas County. Cullum is one of five people charged with the kidnapping and murder of the two women, according to documents unsealed March 15.

The documents show that items of clothing, electrical tape and a knife, all “with possible blood stains,” were also discovered on land that Cullum had leased as grazing land for his cattle, as well as black duct tape, an electrical cord and a combination stun gun and flashlight.

Cullum, 43, his girlfriend Tifany Adams, 54, both of Keyes, Oklahoma; married couple Cole Twombly, 50, and Cora Twombly, 44, of Texhoma, Oklahoma; and Paul Grice, 31, each face two counts of murder, two counts of kidnapping and one count of conspiracy to commit murder.

Tad Bert Cullum, top left, Cora Twombly, top right, Tifany Machel Adams, bottom left, and Cole Earl Twombly were charged(Image: AP)

All are being held without bail, and a news gag order prohibits attorneys from commenting on the case. Investigators said Butler and Adams have been engaged in a bitter custody battle for Butler's children, who are Adams' grandchildren.

According to the documents, Butler's attorney told investigators that Butler was expected to be granted unsupervised visitation during a hearing scheduled just over two weeks after the two women disappeared.

Butler and Kelley, who were assigned to supervise a visit between Butler and her children, disappeared on March 30 while on their way to pick up Butler's two children from Adams for a birthday party.

The women's vehicle was discovered near a highway intersection about 250 miles (418 kilometers) from where Butler was planning to pick up her son and daughter. Butler's eyeglass lenses were found near the car and blood was found on the roadway, according to an affidavit.

Jillian Kelley accompanied her friend Veronica on the trip to pick up Veronica's children(Image: Jillian Kelley/ Facebook)

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The freezer containing the bodies was dug up about 8.5 miles (13.6 kilometers) from where the car was found, near where the prepaid cell phones purchased by Adams were found, court documents show.

A witness also told an investigator that shortly after the bodies were discovered, Grice asked him how long it would take the state lab to process the DNA evidence, how long DNA would last in dirt, how long DNA would stay on clothing in dirt in a 15-foot-deep hole and whether he knew how to smuggle a “man and his family” into Mexico, the documents show.

The witness told the investigator that Grice had expressed concern that his DNA was in the hole where the bodies were found “because he had been at the Twombly residence.”

Another witness told Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation agents that all five suspects were members of a “religiously-oriented anti-government group” known as “God's Misfits,” an affidavit said.

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