Two women are missing in Oklahoma — and police think something might be very wrong.
Veronica Butler, 27 (left), and Jilian Kelley, 39 (right), went missing over the weekend after their car was found in a remote part of the state near the Kansas border. That was according to the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation earlier this week. And now, in the early days of the investigation, authorities are confirming that “foul play” is suspected. Whoa.
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On Wednesday, the bureau revealed in a new statement on Facebook:
“Based on the information obtained from the victim’s vehicle, our investigators believe there was evidence to indicate foul play.”
Nobody has been arrested at this time and the search is still on to find the women. See the update (below):
Obviously, their unexpected disappearance is making officials very worried. An endangered missing persons advisory released by the Texas County Sheriff’s Department earlier this week pointed out that the mothers were traveling together to pick up their children when they suddenly went MIA. The statement explained:
“They never made it to the pickup location. Their car was located abandoned on the side of the road.”
The car was discovered on Saturday in Oklahoma’s Texas County, just south of the small town of Elkhart, Kansas near Highway 95 and Road L. The local sheriff’s office was the one to find the vehicle, OSBI spokesperson Hunter McKee told ABC News on Thursday. He didn’t mince words when expressing how serious of a situation this is, noting:
“There’s every reason to believe that they could be in danger. It was a very rural area. They’re nowhere to be found. … The fact that we’ve had no contact with them for this long.”
Yikes… And the more time passes, the worse the outcome looks, too. Not good.
According to Butler’s pastor Tim Singer, the women were “acquaintances” who were involved in the same church communities in Hugoton, Kansas. Jilian is the wife of the pastor at Hugoton First Christian Church and they were heading to pick up Veronica’s kids to go to a birthday party. Jeez. We cannot imagine how stressful and scary this must be for their families! We hope the women are okay and that they will be found safely and quickly!
Anyone with information on this case has been asked to contact the OSBI at [email protected] or 1-800-522-8017.
[Image via Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation/Facebook]
