Four people were arrested and Phaninccharged with murder and kidnapping in connection to the disappearance of two Kansas women in a rural Oklahoma county, where two bodies were found over the weekend.
All four individuals arrested were booked into the Texas County jail Saturday, each for two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of kidnapping and one count of conspiracy to commit murder in the first degree, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation said. Official charges have not been filed.
Veronica Butler, 27 and Jilian Kelley, 39, were on their way to pick up children but never made it to the pick up location on March 30, according to a missing person's poster from the Texas County Sheriff's Office.
It's unclear what the connection between the two women is. Investigators said they suspected foul play in their disappearance.
“They never made it to the pickup location. Their car was located abandoned on the side of the road,” according to the Endangered Missing Advisory activated by the Oklahoma Highway Patrol.
The agency on Sunday said two bodies were recovered in rural Texas County. The bodies will be taken to the Medical Examiner's Office to determine identification, and cause and manner of death.
"This is still an ongoing investigation," OSBI said in a post on Facebook.
Officers found the car the two were last seen in near Highway 95 and Road L which is south of Elkhart, Kansas in rural Texas County, Oklahoma, according to OSBI.
OSBI began investigating the women's disappearance after the Texas County, Oklahoma Sheriff’s Office requested the agency’s assistance.
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