The bodies of the two Kansas mothers, who members of an anti-government group allegedly killed because of a bitter custody battle, were buried inside a freezer on an Oklahoma farm.
The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation discovered the bodies of Veronica Butler, 27, and Jilian Kelley, 39, after a two-day dig through a cow pasture that was leased by one of the suspects.
Law enforcement found a chest freezer buried, with the women’s bodies inside along with personal items that didn’t belong to either, according to search warrant court filings obtained by KFOR.
The women were located alongside many personal items that didn’t belong to them.
Among the items were several articles of clothing with blood stains including two sweatshirts, t-shirts, cloth gloves, a black K-bar knife in sheath and duct tape.
The cause of death for either woman was not revealed, but Oklahoma authorities previously said they were murdered in an “absolutely brutal crime.”
Butler and Kelley were last seen on March 30 as they were returning home from a trip to Oklahoma to visit Butler’s children.
The kids had been staying with their paternal grandmother Tifany Adams one of the five suspects arrested and charged with their murders.
Kelley was supervising the visit as Butler was fighting through a bitter custody battle with their father and only had visiting rights on Saturdays.
The gruesome burial site was located on land leased by Tad Cullum, roughly 8.5 miles away from where police found Butler’s abandoned car.
On April 13, police arrested Adams, 54, Cullum, 43, Cole Twombly, 50, and Cora Twombly, 44.
They were charged with two counts of first-degree Murder, two counts of Kidnapping, and one count of Conspiracy to Commit Murder in the first degree.
During Cullum’s arrest, a man named Paul Grice was inside the suspect’s home and FBI agents noticed the second man had a bandage right pinky.
Grice told the agents he hurt himself working on his truck, according to KATV.
A witness came forward on April 18 and told law enforcement that Grice asked several specific questions including:
- How long would it take to process DNA evidence?
- How long would DNA last in dirt if it was being “churned?”
- Do you know how to get a “guy and his family” into Mexico?
Grice told the witness he was concerned his DNA would be in the hole with the bodies because he was in the Twombly’s home, the outlet reported, citing the court records.
Another witness told OSBI agents, that the suspects were part of “an anti-government group that had a religious affiliation.”
They reportedly called themselves “God’s Misfits” and held regular meetings at the home of the Twomblys and another couple who Adams said watched the children the day the women disappeared.
The 31-year-old Grice was eventually arrested and admitted to an OSBI agent for participating in the killing and burial of Butler and Kelley.
The court filings also included data seized from two phones inside the Twombly’s truck at the time of their arrest, which had been in both the area where the two women were abducted and where the grave was located.
Adams had purchased the two cell phones and another device at a Walmart in Guymon, according to KFOR.
