US: Authorities find 7 bodies during search for missing Oklahoma teens

Authorities in the US state of Oklahoma found the bodies of seven people on Monday (May 1) while searching a property in rural Oklahoma for two missing teenagers. According to a report by the news agency Associated Press, Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation spokesman Gerald Davidson said that the bodies were found near Henryetta town which is located about 145 kilometres east of Oklahoma City.

Davidson said the state medical examiner would have to identify the victims and authorities were no longer searching for the missing teenagers -- 14-year-old Ivy Webster and 16-year-old Brittany Brewer, or the man they were travelling with. The man, Jesse McFadden, was on the state’s sex offender registry.

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Speaking to reporters, Okmulgee County Sheriff Eddy Rice said, “We’ve had our share of troubles and woes, but this one is pretty bad." Rice declined to confirm the identities of the seven bodies, where they were found or information about weapons that might have been discovered on the property.

The County Sheriff also said that there was no other threat to the community, the Associated Press reported.

Earlier on Monday, a missing endangered person advisory was issued for Ivy Webster and Brittany Brewer. However, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol cancelled the advisory later in the day. The advisory said that Webster and Brewer were reportedly seen travelling with Jesse McFadden.

As per the Oklahoma Department of Corrections prison records, McFadden was convicted of first-degree rape in 2003 and released in October 2020. Court records showed that 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.

Meanwhile, Brittany Brewer's father Nathan told KOTV that one of the seven bodies discovered was his daughter's. “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 said.

In a separate case last year, the bodies of four men were found in the Deep Fork River in Okmulgee. Joseph Kennedy, 68, is facing four counts of first-degree murder in the case.

(With inputs from agencies)

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