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A messy custody battle was the alleged motive behind the kidnap and murder of two mums from Kansas who went missing while on their way to pick up children, court documents have revealed.

The bodies of 27-year-old Veronica Butler and 39-year-old Jilian Kelley, who were both from Hugoton, were found in a "very rural area" of Texas County in Oklahoma on Sunday after they were murdered in what authorities have called an "absolutely brutal crime". They were discovered a short distance from their abandoned vehicle, which was found covered in blood on March 30, according to information shared at a press conference.

Sanya Garcia, FBI special agent, said: "I want to express our sincerest condolences to the families" She added that she hoped the four arrests made in the case over the weekend would help to "provide a sense of closure", and said that the bureau would continue to be an "advocate for Jilian and Veronica".

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Jilian, who was the wife of a preacher, and her friend Veronica had been travelling to Oklahoma to pick up Veronica's children to take them to a birthday party in Kansas. Jilian supervised Veronica's visits with her children.

The children were living with their paternal grandmother, 54-year-old Tifany Machel Adams, in Eva, Oklahoma. Veronica was going through a "problematic custody battle" with the children's father, according to court documents obtained by ABC News.

The custody battle between Veronica and the children's father, Wrangler Cole Rickman, began in 2019, according to the documents. Investigators obtained child custody case recordings in which Rickman allegedly talked about death threats made by his mum and her boyfriend.

Adams, Rickman's mother, was arrested on Saturday along with her 43-year-old boyfriend Tad Bert Cullum. Married couple Cole Earl Twombly, 50, and Cora Twombly, 44 were also arrested.

The group has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of kidnapping and one count of conspiracy to commit murder in the first degree. According to court documents the Adams, Cullum and the Twomblys are allegedly members of an anti-government group called "God's Misfits".

On the day of their disappearance, Jilian was selected to supervise Veronica's court-ordered custody exchange with Adams, which was supposed to happen at 10am local time.

Investigators said Adams preferred a different custody supervisor named Cherly Brune, who told them Adams had told her to take time off. Adams claimed she was home at 9am local time when Veronica called her to cancel the custody exchange.

All four suspects are scheduled to make their first court appearance on Wednesday. Commenting on the case, District 1 District Attorney George Leach said: “Everybody came together — somewhere of the neighbourhood of 100 law enforcement officers, truly no exaggeration — working night and day. Right now there are no suspects at large, the public is not in danger — that’s what’s important to us."

He added that law enforcement is "extremely grateful" and the arrests in the "absolutely brutal crime" were made "without incident". Hunter McKee, Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation public information officer, said the investigation yielded “significant physical evidence". He stayed tight-lipped about most of the details of the upcoming case.

The investigation was led by the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation and included the FBI, the Texas County Sheriff’s Office, District One District Attorney’s Office, and the Oklahoma Medical Examiners Office.