Missing teens likely among 7 people found dead in Oklahoma, authorities say, as woman identifies 4 of the victims
Authorities searching a rural Oklahoma property for two missing teenagers discovered the bodies of seven people Monday, including the suspected remains of the teens and a convicted sex offender who was sought along with them, the local sheriff said. Meanwhile, a woman said Tuesday that her daughter and three grandchildren were among the seven people found dead.
Okmulgee County Sheriff Eddy Rice said the state medical examiner will have to confirm the identities of the victims, but "we believe that we have found the persons." 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 felon authorities had said the teens were traveling with.
"We are no longer looking," Rice said. "We believe to have found everything that we were seeking this morning. Our hearts go out to the families and friends, schoolmates and everyone else."
On Tuesday, Janette Mayo, 59, of Westville, Oklahoma, said she received a call late on Monday from the Okmulgee County Sheriff's Office to notify her that the deceased victims included her daughter, 35-year-old Holly Guess, and her grandchildren, 17-year-old Rylee Elizabeth Allen, 15-year-old Michael James Mayo and 13-year-old Tiffany Dore Guess.
Rice declined to provide details of how the victims died or other details, but Mayo said the sheriff's office told her that her daughter and grandchildren were found shot to death in various locations on McFadden's property.
The bodies were found during a search near the town of Henryetta, a town of about 6,000 about 90 miles east of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation spokesman Gerald Davidson said.
A missing endangered person advisory was issued earlier in the day for the two teenagers but it was canceled Monday afternoon by the Oklahoma Highway Patrol.
The advisory for Webster and Brewer had said they were reportedly seen traveling with McFadden, who was on the state's sex offender registry. Oklahoma Department of Corrections prison records show McFadden was convicted of first-degree rape in 2003 and released in October 2020.
Court records show McFadden was scheduled to appear in court Monday for the start of a jury trial on charges of soliciting sexual conduct with a minor and possession of child pornography. A message left Monday evening with McFadden's attorney in that case wasn't immediately returned.
Brittany Brewer's father told CBS Tulsa affiliate KOTV that one of the bodies discovered was his daughter.
"Brittany was an outgoing person. She was actually selected to be Miss Henryetta ... coming up in July for this Miss National Miss pageant in Tulsa. And now she ain't gonna make it because she's dead. She's gone," Nathan Brewer said.
CBS Oklahoma City affiliate KWTV quotes him as saying he's in shock. "I'm lost. I'm really lost," he said. "End of school's fixing to be here, she ain't gonna be there. I mean, she's gone. I have five kids but she was like my sidekick. She helped me on the cars, she helped me everywhere, and she's gone."
At a Monday night vigil, Brewer told hundreds of people: "It's just a parent's worst nightmare, and I'm living it."
He said his daughter had aspired to be a teacher or a veterinarian.
Henryetta Public Schools posted on Facebook and its website that it is grieving over the loss of several of its students.
"Our hearts are hurting, and we have considered what would be best for our students in the coming days," the note said. Officials said school would be in session, and mental health professionals and clergy would be on hand to help counsel students. But they said they would understand if families want to keep their children home from school.
In a separate Okmulgee County case, the bodies of four men were found Oct. 14 in the Deep Fork River in Okmulgee, a town of around 11,000 people some 40 miles south of Tulsa. Joseph Kennedy, 68, is facing four counts of first-degree murder in that case.