GUYMON: Two bodies were recovered in rural Oklahoma, a day after four people there charged with kidnapping and murder in the disappearance of two Kansas women, authorities said. Veronica Butler, 27; and Jilian Kelley, 39, of Hugoton, Kansas, were driving through the Oklahoma panhandle to pick up Butler’s children for a March 30 birthday party in Kansas, but never showed up.
Their vehicle was found abandoned later that day on a rural highway in Texas County, near the Oklahoma-Kansas state line. The sheriff’s office requested help from the state bureau of investigation, which said its officers immediately suspected foul play, based on undisclosed evidence found in the vehicle.
On Saturday, Oklahoma authorities said they arrested and charged four people with two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of kidnapping and one count of conspiracy to commit murder in the first degree. Authorities announced the next day that two bodies were recovered in Texas County.
The Medical Examiner’s Office would determine their identification and cause of death, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation said in a statement Sunday night. Authorities in Texas County said they would reveal more about the case on Monday.