Okmulgee police confirm identities of 6 victims found dead on Henryetta property
Seven bodies were found on Monday on a Henryetta property while authorities searched for two missing teenagers
OKMULGEE, Okla. —The Okmulgee Police Department confirmed the identities of the six victims murdered and the suspect found dead Monday at a property in Henryetta amid the search for two missing Oklahoma teenagers.
This missing poster provided by the Oklahoma Highway Patrol shows 14-year-old Ivy Webster, left, 16-year-old Brittany Brewer, center, and Jesse McFadden, who were reported missing Monday, May 1, 2023. Authorities discovered the bodies of seven people later in the day while searching a rural Oklahoma property for the two missing teenagers. Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation spokesman Gerald Davidson said the state medical examiner will have to identify the victims, but authorities were no longer searching for the missing teens or a man they may have been with. The teens were reportedly seen traveling with McFadden, who was on the state’s sex offender registry. (Oklahoma Highway Patrol via AP)
Police Chief Joe Prentice said during a news conference Wednesday that the six victims were Holly Guess, Rylee Elizabeth Allen, Michael James Mayo and Tiffany Dore Guess, as well as the two missing teens – 14-year-old Ivy Webster and 16-year-old Brittany Brewer. He said a preliminary report shows all six died from gunshot wounds to the head.
Prentice also said the suspect, 39-year-old Jesse McFadden, died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.
All six victims were found outside a home the McFaddens rented on Holly Road in Henryetta. Three of the victims were found on one part of the property while the other three were found on another part of the property, Prentice said.
Prentice said he didn’t want to call the murders an execution, but he believes McFadden shot all the victims.
Authorities determined a 9-millimeter handgun was used in the murders. Holly Guess purchased the firearm in January 2022, according to Prentice.
“The evidence is that Jesse McFadden murdered six people and then killed himself,” Prentice said. “Beyond that, I don’t know what his thought process was. Whether he planned this – and if he did, how long – I don’t have any evidence to base an opinion one way or another on that.”
The police chief said he didn’t want to speculate on a theory on McFadden’s motivation behind the murders.
“Normal people that understand care, love, compassion wouldn’t understand if I could come up with it anyway,” Prentice said. “Normal people can’t understand why. People who perpetuate crimes like this are evil, and normal people like us can’t understand why they do it.”
The investigation started after the Oklahoma Highway Patrol issued a missing endangered advisory for Webster and Brewer. The advisory said they believed the two were with 39-year-old Jesse McFadden.
Okmulgee County deputies learned Monday morning that Webster left during the evening hours of April 29 to spend the weekend with a friend. She was supposed to be home by 5 p.m. on April 30, but authorities said she didn’t come home.
Webster was reported to be staying with McFadden, who, along with two other family members, were believed to be heading to McAlester to work on a ranch. The Okmulgee County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release that they learned no one from the family went to the ranch, and there hadn’t been any contact with them since Sunday.
‼️HAPPENING NOW: Okmulgee Police Chief Joe Prentice is giving an update on the 7 bodies found in Henryetta, OK Monday. | @koconews pic.twitter.com/fonk8UWc0k
— Meghan Mosley (@KOCOMeghan) May 3, 2023
Deputies learned that another teenager, Brewer, was with them and was picked up Saturday evening.
During the mid-afternoon hours of Monday, the Okmulgee County Sheriff’s Office announced that seven bodies were found on a property on Holly Road in Henryetta. Although authorities did not confirm the names of the people found, the sheriff said, “we believe that we have found the persons.”
Online records show that McFadden was convicted of first-degree rape in 2003 and that he was sentenced to a 20-year term. He was released from prison in October 2020.
Records also showed that McFadden was supposed to be in court on the day of the murders on child pornography charges.