Veronica Butler 27, and Jilian Kelley, 39, have not been seen since they traveled to pick up Butler’s 6-year-old daughter and 8-year-old son, who were both living with her ex-mother-in-law in Eva, Oklahoma. According to the Texas County Sheriff’s Department, their car was found in a rural part of Texas County near Highway 95 and Road L but no trace of any of them.
Butler and Kelley are allegedly friends and members of the Hugoton Christian Church in Kansas. Kelley’s husband, Heath Kelley is the preacher of the church while she is the secretary of the community church. At the moment, investigators suspect foul play in the disappearance of the two moms from Kansas.
Here is all you need to know about the disappearance of Veronica Butler and Jilian Kelley
Veronica Butler and Jilian Kelley have not been seen since they traveled to pick up children in Oklahoma but the car they were driving was found abandoned near a highway in Texas County, Oklahoma.
Authorities say the women were on their way to pick up children at Butler’s ex-mother-in-law’s place in Eva, Oklahoma to attend a birthday. However, they never made it to their pickup location.
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Are the missing women friends?
Butler and Kelley have been described as acquaintances by people who know them. Kelley is the wife of the pastor of Willow Christian Church in Nebraska. Her husband used to work as the pastor at Hugoton First Christian Church in Kansas, the same place Butler’s church is.
Jilian Kelley currently works as a secretary at Hugoton First Christian Church and she runs all the children’s programs in the church. The mother of four, according to a report, does a lot of volunteer work in the community.
Physically, the pastor’s wife is described as a woman with brown hair, blue eyes, and a butterfly tattoo on her left forearm. The last time she was seen, she was wearing white-washed blue jeans, a long-sleeved shirt, and tan or beige shoes.
Veronica Butler, on the other hand, has been described as being kind, good with kids, and loves gardening, cooking, and baking.
Apparently, her former school is not far from where their car was found. Due to that, the school implemented a lockdown with additional safety measures in place.
According to the school’s superintendent, Butler was the only senior that graduated as the class of 2015.
Some reports also suggest that she had been in a difficult custody dispute. The custody dispute between her stepmother, Guadalupe Torres, and her father Clinton Butler. Court records show a custody case was opened in late March 2015 and was closed barely a month later.
According to an endangered missing advisory post by the Texas County Sheriff’s Department, Butler has red hair, green eyes, and several tattoos including a Chinese symbol on her left forearm and a sunflower on her left shoulder.
The last time she was seen, Butler was wearing a blue short-sleeve shirt, denim shorts, and Hey Dudes.
The investigation is still ongoing
On March 31, 2024, the Texas County Sheriff’s Department requested help from the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation to find the two women. Also, multiple law enforcement agencies have joined in the search for the two women after the case was classified as a suspicious disappearance.
On Wednesday, April 3, 2024, OSBI revealed that based on the information gathered from the victims’ abandoned vehicle, there was evidence to indicate foul play.
The disappearance is said to be amid a custody battle between Veronica Butler and the family of her children’s father, Wrangler Cole Rickman.
According to the authorities, a motion was filed in the Cimarron County Court in Oklahoma in November 2023 by Tiffany Adams, Butler’s children’s paternal grandmother to oppose any adjustment in a supervised visitation arrangement Butler had with her children. It was also noted that the children had been exposed to sexual abuse under her custody.
The same motion also alleged that Butler’s ex-husband was a drug addict and was not interested in taking care of his children. According to Christian Post, court documents show that he was released from jail for possession of a firearm after a felony conviction.
As regards the missing moms’ case, no arrest has been made yet and authorities said the women are believed to be in danger since no one has heard from them.
