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Bodies found in rural Okla. county by investigators searching for 2 missing mothers

Jilian Kelley, 39, is described as having brown hair and blue eyes. She was reported missing Saturday. Photo courtesy of Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation/Facebook
1 of 6 | Jilian Kelley, 39, is described as having brown hair and blue eyes. She was reported missing Saturday. Photo courtesy of Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation/Facebook

April 15 (UPI) -- Authorities in Oklahoma investigating the disappearance of two mothers announced the discovery of two bodies in rural Texas County on Sunday night.

The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation has been investigating the disappearance of Veronica Butler, 27, and Jilian Kelley, 39, who were reported missing late last month after they failed to pick up their children from a location that they had pre-arranged.

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The women were together, and the vehicle they were in was later found abandoned in Texas County in the Oklahoma panhandle. Evidence at the scene suggested "foul play," investigators said.

The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation said Sunday night that it, along with the FBI and the Texas County Sheriff's Office, had recovered "two deceased persons in rural Texas County."

"Both individuals will be transported to the Office of the Oklahoma Chief Medical Examiner to determine identification and cause and manner of death," it said in a statement.

"This is still an ongoing investigation."

The announcement came a day after the OSBI announced the arrest of four people in the suspicious disappearance of Butler and Kelley.

Tad Bert Cullum, 43, Tifany Machel Adams, 54, Cole Earl Twombly, 50, and Cora Twombly, 44, were arrested Saturday in the counties of Cimarron and Texas.

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They were booked into the Texas County Jail, and were each charged with two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of kidnapping and one count of first-degree conspiracy to commit murder.

Further details, including the connection, if any, between the suspects and the two victims, were not made public as of early Monday.

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