Bodies of missing Kansas women found in cooler buried in cow pasture, court documents say

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, according to court records linked to five suspects accused of murder and kidnapping.

Veronica Butler, 27, and her court supervisor in a child custody case, Jilian Kelley, 39, disappeared on March 30. Their remains were found on a property in Texas County, Oklahoma, on April 14, less than 10 miles from where they went missing. according to an affidavit filed last week during the enforcement of a search warrant by the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation.

It took authorities a day to locate the bodies after the search began, according to court records. Personal items not belonging to Butler or Kelley were also found in the hole.

“A chest freezer was searched and opened. In the chest freezer, the bodies of Butler and Kelley were located,” according to the affidavit.

Five defendants have been arrested and are being held without bail at the Texas County Jail in Guymon. They are Tiffany Adams, 54; Adams' boyfriend, Tad Bert Cullum, 43; Cole Earl Twombly, 50, and his wife, Cora Twombly, 44; and Paul Grice, 31, a prison spokesman said.

They are charged with two counts of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and two counts of kidnapping, according to court records.

All suspects except Cullum are represented by public defenders, said Tim Laughlin, executive director of the Oklahoma Indigent Defense System.

Laughlin declined to comment Wednesday afternoon. Cullum's attorney listed in court records could not be reached for comment.

A spokesperson for the State Bureau of Investigation said Wednesday there were no other suspects.

Cullum rented the property where Butler and Kelley were found for cattle grazing, court records show.

Butler and Adams were involved in a “problematic” custody dispute that began in February 2019 over Butler’s two children, according to the affidavit. Adams is the mother of the children's father, according to court records.

Butler had recently requested extended visitation with her children, and her attorney told the State Bureau of Investigation that she would most likely get unsupervised visitation at a court hearing on April 17, according to court records .

The investigative bureau's affidavit also said the children's father said that, at times, Adams did not allow him to have his children even though he had legal custody of them.

According to the affidavit, records from the custody case revealed that Adams' son discussed death threats made by Adams and Cullum. The affidavit does not specify who the death threats were addressed to.

On the day she disappeared, the day she had visitors, Butler had planned to take her daughter to a birthday party.

Butler's relatives found her 2009 Nissan Altima abandoned near Highway 95, and authorities documented evidence of “serious injuries” near the car, according to the affidavit.

“Blood was found in the roadway and at the edge of the roadway,” according to the affidavit. “Butler glasses were also found on the road south of the vehicle, near a broken hammer. A pistol magazine was found in Kelley's purse, but no pistol was found.”

Texas county authorities issued an “endangered disappearance advisory” later that day.

The State Bureau of Investigation's investigation determined that Adams purchased three prepaid cell phones in February. All three phones were in the area where Butler's car was found at the time the women disappeared, according to court records.

A search warrant says authorities collected evidence that included several items of clothing and other materials that may have contained blood. Some of the items were blue Wrangler jeans with a black belt, a brown sweatshirt, a black hooded sweatshirt, a reddish pink sweatshirt, and a roll of duct tape.

The arrest warrants also state that a 16-year-old witness who spoke with investigators said the suspects belonged to an “anti-government group” with a “religious affiliation” called “God's Misfits.” Meetings sometimes took place at the Twombly home, the witness said, according to court records.

A Facebook page that appeared to belong to the group said: “We are NOT and have never been part of anything in Oklahoma. We are husband and wife spreading Jesus.”