In connection with the March disappearance of two women, Oklahoma authorities arrested four persons for kidnapping and murder.
The four arrested and booked Saturday were Tad Bert Cullum, 43; Tifany Machel Adams, 54; Cole Earl Twombly, 50; and Cora Twombly, 44.
On Saturday, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation reported they were booked into the Texas County Jail on charges of first-degree murder, kidnapping, and conspiracy to murder. State court records did not indicate charges filed, and the accused were not identified as active detainees. Whether the suspects have lawyers was unclear.
The disappearance's cause was unknown, but the four were captured in Texas and Cimarron counties in the westernmost Oklahoma panhandle.
The bureau reported that Texas County authorities filed a "endangered missing advisory" on March 30 for Veronica Butler, 27, and Jilian Kelley, 39, after a car they were riding in was found abandoned in a remote area south of Elkhart, Kansas.
Hunter McKee, bureau spokesperson, said Texas County Sheriff's Office deputies found the vehicle first. They approached the car, but "these women are gone and they’re nowhere to be seen," he claimed.
The two were picking up children, but it wasn't apparent if they belonged to one, both, or neither woman. Investigators believe the two are friends, according to bureau spokesperson Hunter McKee.
Butler's stepmother, Guadalupe Torres, revealed in an interview that he was in a custody battle. She is involved in a 2021 custody suit, according to court records. The investigation's bookings included murder allegations, but investigators haven't said they're looking for bodies.
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