'God's Misfits' linked to disappearance of two missing Kansas women case

GUYMON, Okla. (KOKH) — An affidavit on Monday uncovered details about two missing Kansas women.

The details include more information about the four people arrested in the disappearance of Veronica Butler and Jilian Kelley, an anti-government religious group known as "God's Misfits", and a lengthy custody battle.

The Texas County Sheriff's Office requested the assistance of Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation on March 30 after Butler and Kelley's vehicle was found abandoned near the Four Corners region in the Oklahoma Panhandle.

According to the affidavit, law enforcement found the car and evidence of "severe injury" which included blood on the road, Butler's glasses near a broken hammer, and a pistol magazine.

Interviews with law enforcement lead OSBI to Tifany Adams. Adams was the grandmother of Butler's children. Wrangler Rickman was the father of those children. Rickman is Adams' son.

Law enforcement discovered Adams was in a problematic custody battle with Butler and had been since 2019. Rickman was in a rehab facility in Oklahoma City at the time of Butler and Kelley's disappearance.

Butler's visitation with her children was court-ordered to be supervised every Saturday. Adams had a particular person she preferred to supervise those visitations, and that person was not available on March 30, she told law enforcement.

Butler arranged to have Jilian Kelley supervise the visitation.

Butler and Kelley traveled from Hugoton, Kansas to the Four Corners region to pick up the kids on March 30.

According to the affidavit, Adams told police she called Butler that morning, and Butler said something came up and she wasn't going to make it. Family members of Butler's became concerned when she didn't show up to a birthday party later that day, and located her vehicle near Four Corners and called the police.

OSBI agents then started their investigation.

OSBI said they interviewed the original custody supervisor whom Adams' said wasn't available that day. The person said Adams told her to take a "couple of weeks off from visitation" according to the affidavit.

OSBI agents also looked through the past history of the child custody case.

In one instance, they found recordings of Rickman (Adams' son) discussing death threats by Adams and Adams' boyfriend, Tad Cullum. According to the affidavit, Rickman's grandmother said Rickman had told her they didn't have to worry about the custody battle much longer because Adams had it under control, and that Adams knew the "path the judge walked to work" and allegedly said "we will take out Veronica at drop off".

A hearing was scheduled for April 17, 2024, in which Butler's attorney told OSBI that Butler was likely to receive unsupervised visitation.

OSBI received a search warrant for Adams' phone on April 1. They found web searches for taser pain level, gun shops, prepaid phones and how to get someone out of their house, according to the affidavit.

According to the affidavit, OSBI agents later found out that Adams' had bought five stun guns at the Big R store in Guymon on March 23, 2024, just a few days before the women went missing. Agents also discovered Adams bought three pre-paid cell phones from the Guymon Wal-Mart in February. Agents said all three were in the area where Butler's car was found around the time of the disappearance.

On April 3, court records show OSBI agents interviewed the teenage daughter of Cora Twombly, one of the women arrested in the case. The teenager said she had overhead group conversations related to Butler and was told by Cora that the group was involved in the deaths of Butler and Kelley.

The teen also told OSBI agents that Adams gave the group burner phones to communicate on.

According to court documents, the teen told agents that Cora Twombly, her husband Cole Twombly, Adams, and Cullum were all part of an anti-government religious group known as "God's Misfits". Regular meetings are said to have occurred at the Twombly's home.

The teen also told agents that Cora and Cole Twombly told her they wouldn't be home the morning of March 29 because they were going to be on a "mission". Court documents said the pair told the teen later that things had not gone as planned but that they would not have to worry about Butler again.

The teen told OSBI agents that Cora and Cole blocked the road to stop Butler and Kelley and divert them to where Adams, Cullum, and another person were. The teen told agents she asked why Kelley had to die and was told by Cora that "she wasn't innocent either, as she had supported Butler."

The teen also told OSBI agents there had been other attempts to kill Butler in February near Hugoton, Kansas but Butler wouldn't leave her house. OSBI agents noted in the affidavit this was consistent with the web search discovered on Adams' phone about how to get someone out of a house.

The affidavit said the original plan was to throw an anvil through Butler's windshield while driving, making it look like an accident "because anvils regularly fall off of work vehicles".

Agents combed through cell phone records in the case.

According to the affidavit, they found two of the three pre-paid phones Adams bought pinged at a property below a dam near a pasture, about 8.5 miles away from where Butler's car was found.

Agents said they found a hole had been dug and filled back in and then covered with hay at the location.

Cora and Cole Twombly, Adams and Cullum are all facing murder, kidnapping, and conspiracy charges.