Losing Sweet Holly

Holly Cantrell was a mother of two boys and a wife to an ill husband. Holly was a Physical Therapist Technician at the McAlester Regional Health Center. She was a Bouncy Brunette with a fun sense of Humor. Holly made friends easily and often had lunch with friends at work. Friends, to have a charming Physical therapist while they are pushing and pulling on the sore parts, is such a good thing. But things were noticeably different one cold Friday Morning in January.

On the morning of January 20th, 2017, Holly Cantrell took her kids to the bus stop then she got ready for work and kissed her husband, Tommy Cantrell goodbye. This was the last time Tommy was to ever see her.

Holly often drove the boys to the bus stop before getting ready for work as she did on the morning of the 20th, Dear Friends. When Holly got ready for work that fateful morning she put on her green scrubs. Friends, note this fact. It becomes a key point later in our story.

At work, Holly had a semi-regular morning. She planned to go to lunch with her work friend, Johnny Cullin, another physical therapist tech like Holly. They planned lunch at Taco Bell. After that Holly had planned to take the afternoon off from work to start her weekend early. But Holly received a text, and she changed her plans with Johnny. This was according to court Records, my Lovely Friends.

Friends, our sweet Holly, received a text from her secret lover, Cody Lee Ketchum. Yes, Friends, you heard me right, our Holly was cheating on her husband with Ketchum. They had met at a time when Holly was lonely and vulnerable.

Tommy Cantrell, at the time all of her cheating happened, was treated for cancer. He was unable to perform in the bedroom and testified not only to that embarrassing fact in court, but also to the fact they had not touched in months. Please forgive me, Friends, spoiler alert.

Ketchum picked up Holly from where she worked. A beautiful color picture was present at trial as well as in the Tulsa World newspaper. The Picture was of Holly in her Green scrubs getting into Ketchum’s truck. It was not one of blood, thankfully.

Cell phone Data proved they drove out to Cardinal Point Recreation Area right on Lake Eufaula, Oklahoma. It’s about 12 miles northeast of McAlester, Friends.

Cody was with Holly that much was known. There was an exchange of text messages. Both phones pinged off the same tower, Friends. Someone’s been watching those crime scene investigation shows. I think he was watching closely enough. You can’t answer the messages yourself; you need a co-conspirator.

Friends, this gets worse. There was paperwork in Holly’s purse that she was pregnant and Ketchum was the father. So, I’m guessing they fought about it. Holly thought this romantic interlude was meant to save her from her cancer sick husband who could end up terminal. Cancer is sneaky that way. Holly wanted free of the life she was in, and She thought she was in love. I am so sorry sweet Holly, so sorry. Life sometimes does give us what we really want sometimes.

Friends, she was used by one of those kind of people who find it safer to date a married woman. If married, they don’t get as fussy because they must keep the secret. Those women have something to lose, but those kinds of men don’t. Thankfully, not all men are like that. There are a number of good men out there, these are the ones who give men a bad name. Let’s not forget, the gentlemen out there shall we sisters?

Meanwhile, Tommy Cantrell waited for his wife, Holly, till 6:00 that evening. He loaded the boys in his truck and went looking for Holly. He found her truck empty and unattended at her work. He sent one of the boys in to check and see if Holly was inside, she was not. Tommy finally went to the police who told him he had to wait 24 hours to report her missing. He did and her case was opened up.

Oklahoma is kind of funny. We don’t throw up roadblocks and search everyone at the border each time someone goes missing. Hell, a missing person’s poster barely gets posted. You might be lucky if the missing person’s report ends up on the six pm news. The hope of finding someone missing in Oklahoma is not good. Most of it is left to the people, law enforcement isn’t seen to do much when a missing person’s case comes up. They will tell you they have hundreds of missing people in Oklahoma, and they aren’t wrong, but most of them no one official really wants to find it seems like.

A month later, a rabbit hunter was in the same area as the signals the phone had pinged on Lake Eufaula. It was February 25, 2017, Holly’s purse and contents including the pregnancy paperwork had been found. Upon examination it looked as if it had been freshly dumped. This raised eyebrows. Someone was playing games and slowly trying to absolve themselves of a crime.

Detective Rodgers from the McAlester Police Department interviewed Ketchum on January 23rd, 2017. Ketchum told Rodgers he had dropped Holly off at Brahms then been on his way. The problem for Ketchum, Rodgers checked this ably out thoroughly, it fell through quicker than a pine needle roof in a hailstorm, Friends. This immediately put him under suspicion with Rodgers and MPD.

Holly’s remains were found on February 25, 2017, at most southern part of Cardinal Point Recreation Area. There is a peninsula in the sought-after for good rabbit hunting. Her skeletal remains were found there. Her femur was sent to a lab in Texas for identification.

An Oklahoma Jury found Cody Lee Ketchum Guilty of First-degree murder and destroying evidence. He received life without parole plus one year for the destruction of evidence.