Seven bodies, including two that investigators believe belong to two missing teenage girls, were found on a property in a small town in rural Oklahoma during a search for two missing teenagers, authorities say.
Police said they believe the teenagers they were looking for, Ivy Webster, 14, and Brittany Brewer, 16, were among the dead. They also found the corpse of Jesse McFadden, a felon and registered sex offender who the girls were traveling with. The cause of his death has not been disclosed yet.
Local officials have not provided any additional details about the other four bodies, as they still have not been identified.
Authorities reported that the bodies were found at a property in Henryetta, a city about 90 miles from Oklahoma City. On Monday, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol issued an endangered/missing person advisory for the two teenage girls. The girls had reportedly spent the weekend with McFadden, but never returned home.
McFadden had been scheduled to stand trial on Monday over allegations from 2017 that he used a mobile phone to exchange explicit content with a minor. As he failed to show up, authorities executed a search warrant for his home, leading the police to Henryetta, a town of about 6,000 people, where the seven bodies were discovered.
Okmulgee County Sheriff Eddy Rice said he believes Ivy and Brittany were found in the search, but said the state medical examiner will need to confirm the identities of the victims. The missing person advisory was canceled by Monday afternoon, and the families of the girls were notified.
No suspect is on the loose or being sought, an Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation spokesman said.
“There is no suspect at large that we are looking for right at this moment,” bureau spokesperson Gerald Davidson told reporters Monday. “So … there is no threat to the community.”
“We believe to have found everything that we were seeking this morning,” officer Rice said. “Our hearts go out to the families and friends, schoolmates and everyone else.”
Henryetta Public Schools said they are “grieving over the tragedy of the loss of several of our students,” in a message on its website addressed to parents and guardians.
“Our hearts are hurting, and we have considered what would be best for our students in the coming days,” the school representatives said.
The message also stated that students would be provided access to mental health professionals and faith-based clergy, but classes would not be canceled.
“We understand if you feel it is more appropriate to keep your student at home,” the message continued. “Please continue to keep these families in your thoughts and prayers.”
A vigil for the “families affected by this tragedy” was scheduled for Monday evening, the school system said on Facebook.
