An affidavit released on Monday has shed light on the mysterious disappearance of two women from Kansas, revealing the involvement of a custody dispute and an anti-government religious group dubbed “God’s Misfits.”
The Texas County Sheriff’s Office sought the assistance of the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI) on March 30th after the vehicle belonging to Butler and Kelley was discovered abandoned near the Four Corners area in the Oklahoma Panhandle.
The affidavit disclosed that alongside the car, law enforcement officers found signs of “severe injury,” including bloodstains on the road, Butler’s glasses near a damaged hammer, and a pistol magazine.
Through interviews, the OSBI was led to Tifany Adams, the grandmother of Butler’s children, and Wrangler Rickman, the father and Adams’ son.
It was discovered that Adams had been engaged in a contentious custody battle with Butler since 2019, with Rickman in a rehab facility during the time of the women’s disappearance.
Butler was legally required to have supervised visits with her children every Saturday, a condition set by the court. On March 30th, when the designated supervisor was unavailable, Butler arranged for Jilian Kelley to oversee the visitation.
The two women traveled from Hugoton, Kansas, to the Four Corners region to collect the children on the fateful day.
According to the affidavit, Adams informed Butler that morning that something had come up, and she would not be able to pick up the children. Concerns arose when Butler failed to appear at a birthday party later that day, leading family members to locate her vehicle near Four Corners and contact law enforcement.
The OSBI then launched an investigation, which included an interview with the original custody supervisor. This individual stated that Adams had instructed her to take a “couple of weeks off from visitation.”
Delving into the child custody case history, the OSBI found recordings of Rickman discussing death threats made by Adams and her boyfriend, Tad Cullum. Rickman’s grandmother disclosed that Adams had assured him the custody issue would soon be resolved, as she had a plan in place and knew the route the judge took to work, mentioning an intention to “take out Veronica at drop-off.”
A hearing was set for April 17, 2024, and Butler’s attorney informed the OSBI that it was likely Butler would be granted unsupervised visitation.
On April 1, the OSBI obtained a search warrant for Adams’ phone, uncovering web searches for taser pain levels, gun shops, prepaid phones, and methods of removing someone from their home.
The affidavit revealed that Adams had purchased five stun guns from a Big R store in Guymon on March 23, 2024, shortly before the women vanished. Additionally, she had bought three prepaid cell phones from a Guymon Wal-Mart in February, with all three phones being in the vicinity of where Butler’s car was found around the time of their disappearance.
On April 3, court records indicate that the OSBI interviewed the teenage daughter of Cora Twombly, one of the women arrested in the case. The teenager disclosed that she had overheard group conversations about Butler and was informed by Cora that the group was implicated in the deaths of Butler and Kelley.
The teenager also stated that Adams provided the group with burner phones for communication.
Court documents detail that the teenager disclosed to agents that Cora and Cole Twombly, Adams, and Cullum were all part of the “God’s Misfits” religious group. Regular meetings were allegedly held at the Twombly residence.
The teenager further revealed that Cora and Cole Twombly had told her they would be away on a “mission” on the morning of March 29th. They later informed her that things had not gone according to plan but that there would be no further concerns regarding Butler.
The teenager also shared that there had been previous attempts to kill Butler in February near Hugoton, Kansas, but Butler had refused to leave her home. The OSBI noted in the affidavit that this aligned with the web search found on Adams’ phone about removing someone from their house.
The initial plan, as detailed in the affidavit, was to launch an anvil through Butler’s windshield while she was driving, attempting to stage the incident as an accident, as “anvils often fall off of work vehicles.”
Cell phone records were thoroughly examined by the agents.
According to the affidavit, two of the three prepaid phones purchased by Adams were traced to a property beneath a dam near a pasture, approximately 8.5 miles from where Butler’s car was discovered.
At this location, agents reported finding a hole that had been dug and filled back in, then concealed with hay.
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