Friend of missing Kansas moms expects more arrests

(NewsNation) — Miranda Illoldi, a friend of the two Kansas mothers who disappeared late last month, says she expects more arrests in the case.

Tad Bert Cullum, 43; Tifany Machel Adams, 54; Cole Earl Twombly, 50; and Cora Twombly, 44, were arrested in Texas and Cimarron counties without incident in connection with the disappearance of Veronica Butler, 27, and Jilian Kelley, 39, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation said Saturday.

Adams is the paternal grandmother of Butler’s children, and Cullum is Adams’ boyfriend, according to court papers. Cole and Cora Twombly are friends of Adams.

Illoldi told NewsNation host Ashleigh Banfield on Monday that those involved in the arrest did not surprise her.

“I, along with a large number of people in the area, realized that it was going to be Tifany and Tad. I’m not surprised that there were more people … because it was impossible to pull that off in the window that they had, in broad daylight,” Illoldi said on “Banfield.”

While police have publicly not shared much about the ongoing investigation, probable cause affidavits filed in support of the criminal charges against the four suspects, obtained by NewsNation, revealed a bitter custody battle between Butler and Adams involving death threats and plans for violence.  

Buffy Schooley, a friend of Butler’s, told NewsNation’s Chris Cuomo that her friend was “scared” and that “nothing was going her way.”

Oklahoma police were unable to publicly confirm the identity of two bodies recovered in rural Texas County on Sunday amid the search for the two women. An investigation into the killings remains ongoing. Police would not say whether the bodies were found together.

The two bodies were transported to a medical examiner’s office Sunday to determine identification as well as cause and manner of death, the OSBI said.

Butler and Kelley disappeared March 30 without a trace except for an abandoned car on the roadside. Their car was found 1,000 feet off of Oklahoma State Highway 95 along a dirt path. The two were traveling together to pick up Butler’s two children for supervised visitation from Adams’ home.

All four suspects were booked into the Texas County Jail on two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of kidnapping and one count of conspiracy to commit murder in the first degree, according to police.

The first court appearance for all four suspects has been scheduled for Wednesday morning, when they will be arraigned.

NewsNation’s Devan Markham, Nancy Loo and Safia Samee Ali contributed to this report.