Authorities in Oklahoma say four people have been arrested and charged in connection with the late March disappearance and apparent homicide of two Kansas women, one of them formerly from Gering.
ABC News Radio is reporting 39-year-old Jilian Kelley had been chosen to accompany 27-year-old Veronica Butler March 30 to supervise a court-ordered custody exchange involving Butler and the father of her two children, part of a a problematic custody battle since 2019.
Authorities say they found their vehicle abandoned in rural Oklahoma, near the Kansas border with evidence pointing to a violent abduction.
Court documents say one of the suspects was the children’s grandmother on the father’s side, and along with another suspect who is her boyfriend, had allegedly made death threats during prior custody conversations with lawyers.
The arrest affidavits also say an unnamed teen reported the other couple’s potential involvement to the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation.
The four suspects were all scheduled for court appearances Wednesday.
