Bodies recovered after two Kansas mothers go missing

Police have recovered two dead bodies in rural Texas after two mothers went missing in the nearby state of Oklahoma.

The mothers, Veronica Butler, 27, and Jilian Kelley, 39, from Hugoton, Kansas, vanished on March 30.

Police said their car was later found abandoned in rural Oklahoma, near the Kansas border.

Coroners have yet to identify the bodies, but officials said they believe the two women have been killed.

Four people have since been arrested in connection to their disappearances.

The recovery of the bodies was announced Sunday by police, who said they have since been transported to the Office of the Oklahoma Chief Medical Examiner for identification and to determine the cause of death.

At a press conference on Monday, officials said they believe the mothers were murdered.

"You have two people who are dead and four people that committed an absolutely brutal crime," said Hunter McKee, the public information manager with the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigations (OSBI).

Oklahoma police announced the arrest of four people on Saturday. Each was charged with two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of kidnapping, and one count of conspiracy to commit murder in the first degree.

The names of those arrested are: Tad Bert Cullum, 43, Tifany Machel Adams, 54, Cole Earl Twombly, 50, and Cora Twombly, 44. Authorities said they were arrested without incident in both Texas and Cimarron counties in Oklahoma.

Police did not say whether the suspects knew the two missing mothers, and did not share possible motivations or details of evidence that led to the arrests.

Evidence found in the women's abandoned vehicle, plus information gathered from witnesses, as well as family and friends of the victims, pointed officials toward the suspects, Mr McKee said.

He added authorities received multiple tips and used them "throughout the 14-day process" since the mothers disappeared.

Authorities said they do not believe the public is in danger, or that more arrests will be made.

"This wasn't random," said Matt Boley, a sheriff with the Texas County Sheriff's Office. "With some of the information coming, (it appeared to be) more targeted."

Ms Butler and Ms Kelley were last seen in a vehicle before they disappeared, according to a missing persons alert issued by the Texas County Sheriff's Department.

They had been driving through Oklahoma to pick up Ms Butler's children, and authorities said that neither "made it to the pick up location".

BBC's US news partner CBS News reported that Ms Butler had been involved in a custody battle, but it is unclear if it was related to the case. Police on Monday declined to comment on the matter.