Five family members were among seven bodies found in Oklahoma on Monday, a woman who identified herself as their mother and grandmother said, after a man who may have been traveling with them skipped out on his court appearance for sex-crime charges.
Authorities say they probably found the bodies of Ivy Webster, 14, and Brittany Brewer, 16, Monday afternoon after the Oklahoma Highway Patrol warning that they may be in danger. According to an alert from the agency, the girls may have been traveling with Jesse McFadden, 39, who was listed on the Oklahoma Sex Offender Registry after being convicted of rape.
Law enforcement officials arrived at a property on the outskirts of Henryetta with a search warrant around 3 p.m. Monday. Later that day, Okmulgee County Sheriff Eddy Rice told local media that authorities were "no longer looking" for the three.
"We believe to have found everything that we were seeking this morning," Rice said. "We believe that we have found the persons, we are just waiting for confirmation" from the medical examiner.
One of the other four people had been McFadden's wife, her mother told The Washington Post on Tuesday.
Holly Guess married McFadden in May 2022, according to court records. She and her children Rylee Elizabeth Allen, Michael James Mayo and Tiffany Dore Guess were among the seven killed, Janette Mayo said.
Representatives from the Oklahoma Bureau of Investigation and the Okmulgee County Medical Examiner's Office declined to identify the bodies Tuesday afternoon.
McFadden did not appear at a Monday court hearing on charges of sexual solicitation of a minor, court records said Tuesday, leading authorities to issue a warrant for his arrest. An attorney listed as his representative did not immediately respond to The Post's request for comment Tuesday afternoon.
A verified GoFundMe page was raising money for Webster, who "was visiting with her best friend and her family," organizer Emily Crescenti wrote. It had raised just over $3,600 about 2 p.m. Tuesday. A verified fundraiser for Brewer thanked people who had donated, though it said a business had offered to cover her funeral expenses.
"Your kindness will touch the hearts of all who mourn their loss," organizer Rhnea Stoy said on the GoFundMe page.
The Henryetta Public Schools system said it was providing counseling for students and faculty members while the community was "grieving over the tragedy of the loss of several of our students."
"Our hearts are hurting, and we have considered what would be best for our students in the coming days," the school's website said Monday, adding that it "will be an extremely difficult day."
