(UPDATE: As of 5 a.m. CDT Wednesday, April 3, the women are still missing.)
A preacher’s wife and her acquaintance who left Hugoton, Kan., together on Saturday morning to pick up the second woman’s children haven’t been seen since. The vehicle the women were traveling in was found abandoned south of Elkhart, Kan., about 40 miles from Hugoton. The women never reached their destination. The Oklahoma Bureau of Investigation (OSBI) is calling the disappearance “suspicious.”
Missing are Jilian Kelley, 39, and Veronica Butler, 27. Jilian’s husband, Heath, has been serving with Hugoton First Christian Church, but recently was called to minister with Willow Christian Church in Indianola, Neb.
The story of the women’s disappearance is making national headlines and was featured Monday night on the ABC World News Tonight and other news outlets.
The Kelleys’ churches both had prayer services for the missing women on Sunday evening, as did the Hugoton Assembly of God church.
Matt Proctor, president of Ozark Christian College, Joplin, Mo., also asked for prayers via his Facebook page midday Monday. Proctor said the Kelleys’ daughter, Jaelynn Kelley, “is a recent OCC student and a bridesmaid in my son and his fiance’s wedding this upcoming weekend.”
Proctor wrote, “Please join me in praying for the Lord to protect these ladies wherever they are, for the Lord to guide law enforcement to find them quickly, and for the Lord to give His strength and peace to these two families.”
“Their vehicle was found abandoned near Highway 95 and Road L, south of Elkhart, Kansas, in rural Texas County,” the OSBI shared in a release. The bureau’s “special agents, along with local law enforcement agencies, are currently working to locate these individuals.”
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