4 People Are Charged in the Disappearance of 2 Kansas Women

Two Kansas women who disappeared last month were likely targeted over a custody dispute, the authorities said, after four people involved in an anti-government group were arrested on murder and kidnapping charges.

Two bodies were recovered as part of the investigation, but they have not yet been identified, the authorities said on Monday.

Tifany M. Adams, 54; her boyfriend, Tad B. Cullum, 43; Cora G. Twombly, 44; and her husband, Cole E. Twombly, 50, were arrested on Saturday and each was charged with two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of kidnapping and one count of conspiracy to commit murder in the first degree. Court documents did not include contact information for lawyers for any of the four people. They were being held without bond at Texas County Jail, in Guymon, Okla., The Oklahoman reported.

On March 30, Veronica Butler, 27, and Jilian Kelley, 39, were traveling from Hugoton, Kan., to Oklahoma. They were reported missing after Ms. Butler didn’t arrive at a birthday party later that day. Members of Ms. Butler’s family found her vehicle abandoned that same day in a rural area of Texas County, Okla., which is about 270 miles northwest of Oklahoma City.

Hunter McKee, a spokesman for the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, said at a news conference on Monday that there was no chance that the women were still alive, though two bodies recovered during the investigation into their disappearance had not yet been identified by the state medical examiner.

“This case was tragic,” Mr. McKee said. “You have two people who are dead and four people that committed an absolutely brutal crime.”