MCALESTER, Okla. — A jury trial is set to begin Oct. 2 in the case of the murder of Holly Cantrell, a McAlester woman who was five months pregnant at the time of her death.
New details about the investigation of the murder of Holly Cantrell were released in 2022 when the Pittsburg County Sheriff's Office arrested 36-year-old Cody Ketchum.
Cantrell, a pregnant mother of three, disappeared on Jan. 20, 2017 while on her lunch break from the McAlester Regional Health Clinic. She was seen getting into a green truck with Ketchum and leaving but she never came back.
Pittsburg County Sheriff Chris Morris says it's taken a long time to get all the evidence in place to get a warrant for the arrest of Ketchum. When they went to his work to take him into custody, Morris says Ketchum dropped his head and never said a word, complying with law enforcement.
Morris tells 2 News that Cantrell was married, but Ketchum was her boyfriend and she was pregnant with his child at the time.
In 2018, items of Cantrell's were found near Lake Eufaula, and just a few miles from them, human remains were found near Cardinal Point Recreation Area. It took over two years for the remains to be identified as Cantrell's.
Morris says waiting for those two years for an ID was the most frustrating part of this investigation.
"If you think it was frustrating for us, you know it's frustrating for the family because that’s your loved one and you want to know what happened to them," says Morris. "It looks like we weren’t doing anything but it just takes time to do it right.”
Once the remains were confirmed to Cantrell's, PCSO went forward with interviews and search warrants. Ultimately, Morris says his department took the case to a grand jury to subpoena witnesses. The grand jury eventually indicted Ketchum once enough evidence
was gathered.
“I know it's a relief for the family. I talked to the husband and son and they were both very grateful and thankful and seemed almost in tears, you know," says Morris. "They’ve got relief and this was put to rest that their mother's killer was captured.”
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