Authorities revealed Monday that two Kansas women who disappeared two weeks ago while attempting to pick up their kids for a birthday party were murdered in connection with a custody battle involving a group of anti-government Oklahomans going by the name "God's Misfits."
When their car was discovered on March 30 along a rural Oklahoma highway, there was abundant evidence of a violent altercation, according to the Associated Press.
This led to the mobilisation of many agencies to protect the children's safety while simultaneously looking for the ladies and preventing further violence.
The grandmother of Butler's two children had made arrangements for Veronica Butler, 27, and Jilian Kelley, 39, of Hugoton, Kansas, to meet at a highway crossing early on March 30 to pick up the six and eight-year-olds.
"This case did not end the way we had hoped. It’s certainly been a tragedy for everyone involved," Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation Director Aungela Spurlock said.
Three of the four individuals who were taken into custody on Saturday are the grandmother, Tiffany Adams, 54; her boyfriend, Tad Cullum, 43; Cora Twombly, 44; and her spouse, Cole Twombly, 50.
They are all accused of kidnapping and first-degree murder.
According to their arrest affidavits, all of them meet frequently with a few others in a group they refer to as "God's Misfits."
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