Oklahoma: seven bodies found on convicted sex offender's property during search for missing teenagers

Authorities searching a rural Oklahoma property for two teenagers have discovered the bodies of seven people, including the suspected remains of the two girls and a convicted sex offender who was due to appear in court.

Oklahoma police issued a missing endangered persons advisory for Ivy Webster, 14, and Brittany Brewer, 16, on Monday morning, after the two girls disappeared. The Independent reports the pair were supposed to be going swimming at a creek with the teenage daughter of Jesse McFadden, a convicted sex offender.

But the alert was called off later that afternoon, when officers found seven bodies - which Reuters reports likely included the missing girls, McFadden and members of his family - during a search of a property reportedly belonging to McFadden, on the outskirts of Henryetta, a town of about 6,000 people 90 miles east of Oklahoma City.

Okmulgee County Sheriff Eddy Rice said while the state medical examiner was yet to confirm the identities of the victims, “we believe that we have found the persons”. He said police were "no longer looking" for the teenagers, or McFadden.

“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," Rice said.

The Oklahoma Highway Patrol advisory for Ivy and Brittany said they were reportedly seen travelling 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 showed he was scheduled to appear in court on Monday for the start of a jury trial, on charges of soliciting sexual conduct with a minor and possession of child pornography.

Brittany’s father told KOTV in Tulsa 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.

At a Monday night vigil, Mr 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 vet. “I am just lost,” he added.

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.

The Oklahoman reports Ivy's mother Ashleigh Webster said in a Facebook post on Sunday her daughter was supposed to be home by 5pm, after visiting nearby McAlester with a friend. She wrote that her last contact with Ivy was about 11am Sunday. The post was widely shared overnight.

At around 8am on Monday, Brittany's father Nathan Brewer posted a similar plea, noting his last contact with his daughter was at 10am Sunday and that she was also due home by 5pm that day. Monday, KRJH's Erin Christy wrote in another Facebook post that she spoke with Ivy's mother, who said her daughter's phone tracking service was turned off. Christy also noted that the two girls never went to McAlester.

The news outlet also said court records showed McFadden was accused of the most recent crimes while he was a state prisoner serving a 20-year sentence for first-degree rape, which he was convicted of in 2004. The Muskogee Phoenix previously reported McFadden was accused of having a cell phone while an inmate at Jess Dunn Correctional Center in Taft in July 2016.

He was accused of using the phone to communicate with a 16-year-old girl in Muskogee, the newspaper reported.