Arrest made in cold murder case of Oklahoma mother

MCALESTER, Okla. (KFOR) – Five years after an Oklahoma mother of three vanished, a man has been arrested for her murder.

After five years there is a break in the case.

The McAlester News-Capital reports that 36-year-old Cody Ketchum was arrested on a first-degree murder charge connected to the Cantrell case.

Ketchum is now being held on a $1 million bond.

In January 2017, 40-year-old Holly Marie Cantrell, a physical therapist at McAlester Regional Health Center, was reported missing.

Cantrell reportedly took her lunch break at 11:56 a.m. on Jan. 20, 2017 and never returned to work.

Surveillance video showed her getting into a green, short wheel base truck.

Cantrell was spotted at a nearby Braum's about 20 minutes after she left work. However, she was never seen again.

On Feb. 25, 2017, a hunter found Cantrell’s purse in a wooded area near McAlester.

After locating the purse, a group of volunteers searched the Cardinal Point Recreation Area, hoping to find more clues. They found paperwork that belonged to Cantrell, but nothing else of significance.

In 2018, a rabbit hunter came across some human remains in the same wooded area where Cantrell’s purse was found.

The bones, which includes a partial skull,  were scattered over an area measuring about 50 yards by 50 yards, the Pittsburg County Sheriff told the McAlester News- Capital.

Eventually, officials were able to confirm the remains were those of Cantrell.