OK OK, Veronica Butler 27 & Jilian Kelley 39, Vehicle Abandoned, Texas County, 30 Mar 2024 #2 *Arrests*

[B4igo2it]

... and I said, ‘What are you going to do?’ She went, ‘We’re going on the boat with the kids, and we’re not coming back to Hugoton till Tuesday,' - This could have been a planned Spring break event with the family.

 

[carbuff]

This is just getting weirder and weirder.

 

[NewMommy09]

I thought the "supervised" implied that she or another authorized person had to be with them the whole time?

IF this was to be a longer visit, such as overnight or weekend etc, that would mean VB had satisfied whoever might be overseeing the case, such as DHS for visits to be increased, and a supervisor would no longer be required. It would give more insight to motive and timing of these disappearances. If that report is true. MOO

 

[concernedmother]

IF this was to be a longer visit, such as overnight or weekend etc, that would mean VB had satisfied whoever might be overseeing the case, such as DHS for visits to be increased, and a supervisor would no longer be required. It would give more insight to motive and timing of these disappearances. If that report is true. MOO

Maybe VB was going to go on a boat with her bf after seeing the kids and would be home on Tuesday. JK would want to spend Easter with her family and her church . Don't think a court would send an appointee away but just a few hours. jmo.

 

[NewMommy09]

Yes, that's possible too. Maybe the plan was to pick up the kids for the birthday party and then a weekend away for the couple after the visitation was over? MOO

 

[Hestia's Fire]

I'm also leaning toward the friend misunderstanding what Veronica told her. If she was at the point where she would be able to have her kids overnight for several days, Jilian wouldn't have been there. I've never heard of a court-appointed supervisor going away for a long weekend with the people they're supervising. It just doesn't make sense. You can't supervise someone for 24 hours because you have to sleep sometime and then anything could happen while you're not watching.

Maybe what she actually said was that after the visit, she and her fiance were going somewhere with a boat for the rest of the weekend and she wasn't coming back until Tuesday, and the friend got confused and thought the kids would be along for the whole trip.

 

[Knox]

That would actually make a lot of sense of why VB's husband was alerted so quickly, they had plans and were on a time schedule, no reason for her not to be back with the kids quickly? MOO.

So odd that a Pastor's wife would make those kind of plans on Easter weekend? There is a lake in Indianola, NB - where JK was planning to move soon. But the friend says the boat is in Liberal. I got nothing - stumped on this one.

 

[Deepinthought52]

Could VB have been under the impression she was getting an extended visitation? Or was it just a fun party at a waterpark? Boat feature? Actual boat boat?

I find it especially sad that she didn't get to see her children that day.... nor since.



JMO

And I wonder what the poor kids were told??surely they must have been looking forward to the arrival of their mom and going to the birthday party? They are young, but 8 is old enough to maybe know a few things? Hope they are able to gently and lovingly interview them. Jmo

 

[B4igo2it]

The Oklahoma City FBI has jurisdiction, I suspect they are investigating this case for the following reason:

"The FBI has special investigative jurisdiction to investigate violations of state law in limited circumstances, specifically felony killings of state law enforcement officers (28 U.S.C. § 540), violent crimes against interstate travelers (28 U.S.C. § 540A0), and serial killers (28 U.S.C. §540B)."

 

[NDreu]

What is that body of water northeast of Liberal?
Anything on Cimarron River? Like a glass bottom boat cruise? Or a boat ramp for personal boats, like a pontoon?
Where was JK moving to in 5 weeks? Is there any body of water there?

JK was moving to NE with her family as her husband was taking on a new church job.

 

[NDreu]

News Nation Interview of regional person searching the local area from VB and JK by Ashley Banfield - talking about local people being scared to speak out for fear of being “next”.

 

[NDreu]

 

[GRT]

What is that body of water northeast of Liberal?
Anything on Cimarron River? Like a glass bottom boat cruise? Or a boat ramp for personal boats, like a pontoon?
Where was JK moving to in 5 weeks? Is there any body of water there?

Meade State Park has a lake and it's about half an hour from Liberal. Did family keep a boat there?

Still, that sounds off...

 

[NDreu]

 

[NDreu]

Meade State Park has a lake and it's about half an hour from Liberal. Did family keep a boat there?

Still, that sounds off...

Meade Camp Map

The official website of the Kansas Department of Wildlife & Parks

ksoutdoors.com

 

[GRT]

News Nation Interview of regional person searching the local area from VB and JK by Ashley Banfield - talking about local people being scared to speak out for fear of being “next”.

The woman talks about people being afraid of getting on the wrong side of "the family."

Those small-town dynamics can be pretty powerful.

We have yet to hear who is included in the "family," but it sounds like some other residents might feel terrorized into keeping their mouths shut.

I also have to wonder about her comment that local LE has nothing to do with the investigation--that it's all OSBI and (now) the FBI.

What does that say? Is she insinuating local LE is in cahoots with "the family" so they're being excluded?

I am not a legal expert, but I would think the county Sheriff's Department would be heading up the case--jurisdiction-wise.

There's something about an elected Sheriff being the highest law enforcer in a county that makes me question her claim.

All MOO.

 

[otto]

Wait. To Liberal for the weekend? I thought they were coming back to Hugoton for a birthday party? Is my old brain mixing up cases again?

"on the boat with the kids" ... Where in Liberal?

It sounds like Veronica expected to spend the Easter Vacation with her children (and supervisor Jilian Kelley), and she planned a 3 day boat trip until Tuesday ??

It sounds like the birthday party on Saturday afternoon for Veronica's daughter did not include any pedophiles, and was followed up with a plan to go boating. But that didn't happen because Veronica was kidnapped that same day.

Google Maps

 

[GRT]

Those are some powerful claims!

It looks like the media (and public speculation) is focused mainly on "the family" of VB's ex-husband.

Big fish in tiny ponds can become power-hungry.

Has the family been pushing their weight around, and were they afraid VB would get more custody of the kids? That's what it sounds like everyone around there is thinking. MOO

 

[NDreu]

The woman talks about people being afraid of getting on the wrong side of "the family."

Those small-town dynamics can be pretty powerful.

We have yet to hear who is included in the "family," but it sounds like some other residents might feel terrorized into keeping their mouths shut.

I also have to wonder about her comment that local LE has nothing to do with the investigation--that it's all OSBI and (now) the FBI.

What does that say? Is she insinuating local LE is in cahoots with "the family" so they're being excluded?

I am not a legal expert, but I would think the county Sheriff's Department would be heading up the case--jurisdiction-wise.

There's something about an elected Sheriff being the highest law enforcer in a county that makes me question her claim.

All MOO.

The Ashley Banfield interview goes on to say that OSBI is in charge of the VB and JK case with the FBI supporting their efforts and local police are being excluded.

I am sure the issues surrounding the OSBI and FBI taking the reins in the case will be discussed further in coming days. But, we have seen in other cases where local corruption of law enforcement by powerful influences locally interfere with justice.

Have you seen a County Sheriff address the residents in this region or demonstrate involvement at any level? Not once in the nearly 2 weeks of this tragic case has a local Sheriff spoken up. To me, that says a lot here.

Locals not speaking imo shows that they don’t believe their local Sheriff can or even want to get justice for VB and JK and frankly that is disturbing too.

We also don’t yet know if there is local involvement of law enforcement in what happened to VB and JK. Perhaps this is another reason for the OSBI taking the reins and excluding the locals.

We saw WR stand up in Court and go on the record in the custody case effectively saying that his mother had local LE “in her pocket”. If a son is willing to go on the record with a statement like that then imo it’s a message about the situation with LE in the region as it relates to the family and folks surrounding WR and VB.

OSBI seems to have been concerned enough about the situation to actively exclude local LE. I trust their judgment as they have to have a long history of understanding this remote region and its local power structure.

MOO

 

[AppleTreeGreen]

I do have the impression that OSBI fortunately knows a lot more than they are sharing publicly and that perhaps they have a few very promising leads in the investigation. I do hope both women are returned safely to their loving families and communities. For me, being targeted and attacked while you and your friend are in an isolated area without anyone around to help is nightmarish and is something I sometimes worry about when going on road trips to areas I am not familiar with.

I wonder if LE were able to obtain any possible available dash cam footage from the trucks that drove in or near the area to see if they can spot the car at the VB and JK were driving? Perhaps that could help establish a more narrow timeline?

Thinking more about identifying a primary crime scene, I wonder too if it is possible that soil samples from the tires or the drone spotting old tire tracks or even shards of broken glass would be helpful in LE locating it?

If the perp or perps drove the car to a secondary location perhaps his or her shoes left debris or some type of material on the pedals and car floor that could help LE maybe determine where they work or live or in what type of field or industry they are employed in?