OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A two-week search for two missing Kansas women came to a fatal end last weekend when Oklahoma authorities confirmed the two were dead and announced the arrests of four people who allegedly belonged to an anti-government group that called themselves “God’s Misfits.”
Veronica Butler, 27, and Jilian Kelley, 39, of Hugoton, Kansas, disappeared on March 30 while driving to pick up Butler’s two children for a birthday party. The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation confirmed on Tuesday that the bodies found in Texas County were those of the two women.
One of the suspects charged in the case is the children’s grandmother, who authorities say was in a bitter custody dispute with Butler. The four face charges including murder and are expected to make their first court appearance Wednesday in Guymon, in the rural Oklahoma panhandle.
Here are some things to know about the case.
Investigators have been tight-lipped about the case since the car Kelley and Butler were riding in was found in a rural area of Texas County, which is along the border with Kansas. But arrest affidavits unsealed Monday painted a gruesome picture of the scene.
According to court records, blood was left on the road and Butler’s glasses were found near a broken hammer. A magazine for a pistol was inside Kelley’s purse but authorities disclosed they did not find any firearm.
