Mother in law of missing Kansas mom and friend arrested in huge Oklahoma SWAT raid

Release time：2024-05-22 05:54:07 Source：Planet Panorama news portal

The mother-in-law of one of two Kansas women who went missing on the way to pick up her children has been arrested along with her boyfriend.

Veronica Butler, 27, and Jilian Kelley, 39, were traveling together to pick up Butler's children, ages 6 and 8, on March 30.

They were believed to have been shot with pools of blood left on the ground next to their empty car about 1,000 feet off Oklahoma State Highway 95.

A convoy of 20 police vehicles including SWAT trucks was spotted travelling quickly along a dirt track in the Oklahoma panhandle on Saturday.

Part of the convoy stopped at the home of Tifany Machel Adams, the mother of Butler's estranged husband Wrangler Cole Rickman.

DEVELOPING: Extraordinary law enforcement activity right now in the Oklahoma panhandle, likely linked to the case of missing Kansas moms, #VeronicaButler and #JilianKelley. 
At one point, over 20 vehicles, including SWAT, in convoy. @NewsNation pic.twitter.com/LYvpCQBjzs

— Nancy Loo (@NancyLoo) April 13, 2024

A massive convoy of SWAT trucks and police cars is racing through rural Oklahoma after a tip about two missing women

Veronica Butler (pictured left), 27, and Jilian Kelley (pictured right), 39, were traveling together to pick up Kelley's children on March 30

Adams, 54, and her boyfriend Tad Bert Cullum were arrested and booked by Texas County Sheriff's deputies. No charges have yet been announced.

The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation soon after said four people were arrested, one in Texas County and three in Cimarron County.

Butler is going through a nasty divorce and custody battle with her husband,  Rickman, and the children were staying with Adams.

Kelley, described as more an acquaintance than a friend of Butler's, is a pastor's wife who is said to supervise Butler's visitations with her children.

On March 20, 10 days before they went missing, Butler filed a petition in court that would grant her more time with her children, with her goal being full custody, according to News Nation. 

Court filings claimed that Butler and the children's grandmother, Adams, were not getting along amid the nasty battle. 

Butler has weekly, court-mandated visits every Saturday with the kids, with Kelley one of four people listed as supervisors of those visits. 

Multiple puddles of blood were found near the vehicle in the desolate Oklahoma panhandle, which was found 1,000 feet off of Oklahoma State Highway 95, near a school Butler attended and graduated from in 2015

ABC 7 reported that the visit was also meant to celebrate Butler's six-year-old daughter's birthday. 

They had made the 45-minute drive from Hugoton to a gas station in Eva, located near the Four Corners section of Oklahoma, but disappeared, with the car found just three miles from where they were supposed to meet.  

Multiple puddles of blood were found near the vehicle in the desolate Oklahoma panhandle, which was found 1,000 feet off of Oklahoma State Highway 95, near a school Butler attended and graduated from in 2015. 

Kelley is the wife of Pastor Heath Kelley, who serves at two churches in Kansas and Nebraska.

On April 3, Kelley's Willow Christian Church in Nebraska posted to Facebook: 'We ask that you continue to pray for Jilian and Veronica and their families as the search and investigation continue.' 

'Pray for strength, wisdom and faith for everyone involved. We appreciate everyone who has shared the prayer requests. We are getting messages from all over the country of people praying for these two women and their families.' 

Butler and Kelley were traveling together to pick up Kelley's children, ages 6 and 8, on March 30. New details have emerged about both women. Butler is going through a nasty divorce and custody battle with her husband, Wrangler Cole Rickman, and the children were staying with her ex-husband's mother

Kelley is the wife of Pastor Heath Kelley, who serves at two churches in Kansas and Nebraska

Our friend @lauraingle with a great look at the desolate #Oklahoma panhandle…

Where are #VeronicaButler and #JilianKelley ??? …. #MissingMoms pic.twitter.com/jmsGtM0Aej

— Surviving The Survivor Podcast (@PodcastSTS) April 9, 2024

Hugoton First Christian Church has also offered prayers on Facebook, while friends and family have started a Meal Train page for Kelley's family. 

Authorities are continuing to look for clues of foul play but have not conducted a large scale search and hope is running out.

'It's been over a week,' Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation's Public Information Manager Hunter McKee said on Tuesday, according to Fox News. 

'We are hopeful that we can find them alive, but obviously it's becoming more and more challenging.'

Butler is described as 5 feet, 4 inches tall with red hair and green eyes. She has several tattoos including, a Chinese symbol on her left forearm, and a sunflower on her left shoulder. 

She was dressed in a blue short sleeve shirt, denim shorts and lightweight shoes by the brand, Hey Dudes.  

Court filings claimed that Butler and the children's grandmother were not getting along amid the nasty battle 

Butler has weekly, court-mandated visits every Saturday with the kids, with Kelley one of four people listed as supervisors of those visits

The endangered missing person flyer that lists details about the women's disappearance 

Kelley, who also from Hugoton, Kansas was last seen on Saturday, with Butler.  

The blue-eyed woman is pictured in the Missing person flyer with blonde hair, but her hair color is now brown, and has a butterfly tattoo on her left forearm.

She is believed to be wearing a long sleeve shirt, white washed blue jeans, and tan beige shoes. 

The case remains under investigation by the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, with assistance from the FBI. 

OSBI has previously said that there is evidence of foul play, previously calling it a 'suspicious disappearance.' 

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