Authorities searching for two missing teens on a rural Oklahoma property discovered
the bodies of seven people
Monday , including the suspected remains of the teens and a convicted sex offender who was wanted along with them, the local sheriff said.
The United States Okmulgee County Sheriff, Eddy Rice, reported that the state coroner will have to confirm the identity of the victims, but "we believe we have found the people."
He said the bodies were believed to include those of 14-year-old Ivy Webster and 16-year-old Brittany Brewer, along with Jesse McFadden, the offender the teens were traveling with, authorities had said.
"We're not looking anymore," Rice said. "We think we found everything we were looking for
this morning. Our hearts go out to families and friends, schoolmates and everyone in between."
The police had launched an alert for the disappearance of the two teenagers, who were seen with a former prisoner for rape.
Photo: AP
The police chief refused to give details about how the young women had died or other information about the macabre discovery.
The bodies were found during a search near the city of Henryetta, a town of about 6,000 located about 145 kilometers east of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation spokesman Gerald Davidson said.
The disappearance of the girls
An endangered missing person notice had been issued
for the two teens earlier in the day
before it was canceled Monday afternoon by the Oklahoma Highway Patrol.
The notice about Webster and Brewer said they had apparently been seen traveling with McFadden, who
was listed on the state's sex offender registry
.
Oklahoma Department of Corrections Administration jail records show that McFadden had been convicted of first-degree rape in 2003 and released in October 2020.
A pastor hugs the father of one of the missing and apparently murdered girls in Oklahoma on Tuesday.
Photo: AP
Court records indicate McFadden was scheduled to appear in court Monday for the start of a jury trial on charges of offering payment to prostitute a minor and possession of child pornography.
A message sent Monday night to McFadden's attorney in that case was not immediately returned.
Brittany Brewer's father told KOTV in Tulsa that one of the bodies discovered was his daughter's.
"Brittany was an outgoing person. In fact, she was selected for the Miss Henryetta pageant ... which will be held in July for the Miss National competition in Tulsa. And now she's not going to make it because she's dead. She's gone." lamented Nathan Brewer.
At a vigil Monday night, Brewer told hundreds of people: "This is a parent's worst nightmare, and I'm living it."
She said that her daughter dreamed of being a teacher or a veterinarian.
"I'm just lost," she added.
Schools closed due to bereavement
The umbrella organization for Henryetta public schools posted on Facebook and on its website that they are closed due to the loss of their students.
"Our hearts are heavy and we have considered what would be best for our students in the days ahead," the note read.
Officials advised that the college would be in session, and mental health professionals and clergy would be available to counsel the students.
But they said they would understand if families want to keep their children home instead of sending them to school.
In another case in Okmulgee County, the bodies of four men were found on October 14 in the Deep Fork River in Okmulgee, a town of about 11,000 located about 40 miles south of Tulsa.
Joseph Kennedy, 68, is charged with four counts of first-degree murder in that case.
Source: AP
BC
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