Kendra Battelo has been missing since July 2022. The then-24-year-old was last seen in Enid, Oklahoma. Kendra was last heard from during the early-morning hours of July 7th. Reports state she left the home where she was staying on West Randolph and never returned. Since then, Kendra's loved ones have been searching from answers.
Kendra was in a tumultuous relationship with a man named Colby Sheppard at the time of her disappearance. The couple had been off-and-on for several years, during which there were several reported instances of domestic violence. Both had accused the other of being physically abusive. In fact, Sheppard was facing domestic assault charges in which Kendra was the victim prior to her disappearance. The charges were dropped after Kendra vanished, as she was unable to testify against him.
Family members and loved ones of Kendra have long believed that Sheppard is responsible for Kendra's disappearance. He has never been publicly named as a suspect in the case, as police claim they not been able to find any concrete evidence pointing to his involvement. However, this has not stopped the local speculation about Sheppard, especially amongst Kendra's family.
Nearly a year and a half after Kendra's disappearance, Sheppard himself vanished. The last confirmed sighting of him occurred on December 27th, 2023, at a Pizza Hut in Enid. Sheppard's family members reported him missing on January 4th, 2024. Months later, in August 2024, Sheppard's remains were found in a storm cellar of a local home. An autopsy confirmed that he had been beaten to death.
Shortly after Sheppard's body was found, four people were arrested in connection to his murder. Amongst those four people is Victor Battelo - Kendra's uncle. Authorities believe that Sheppard was lured to his death in retaliation for Kendra's disappearance. Court documents state that "authorities believe Victor may be the mastermind behind the incident and that he told a witness he had to kill Sheppard because of what he did to Kendra."
The charges against Victor Battelo and the others are currently pending. Several questions about Kendra's disappearance remain unanswered, and Sheppard's death has led to even more questions. If Sheppard was, in fact, responsible for Kendra's disappearance, did he take information about her whereabouts to the grave? If not, is the person responsible still out there? Perhaps the simplest but heart wrenching question that remains unanswered is: Where is Kendra Battelo?
The evening of July 6th - the early morning hours of July 7th.
At the time of her disappearance, Kendra and Sheppard were renting a room from a woman named Tanya Dixon Glasco at a house on West Randolph. Kendra was last seen at said house, and Sheppard and Glasco were amongst the last two people to have seen Kendra before she vanished.
As previously noted, Kendra's loved ones last heard from her during the early-morning hours of July 7th, 2022. Kendra's grandmother Lillian Reyes told reporters that she received text messages from Kendra's phone around that time stating that Glasco had accused her of stealing her dog and that she had to move out.
Glasco reportedly later told Reyes that, on the evening of July 6th, Kendra and Sheppard got into an argument. At some point, Kendra left the house, and Sheppard went after her. Glasco said she was told that Kendra was going to Reyes' house, but she never arrived. Reyes, on the other hand, believed the arguments had resolved, as she did not hear anything further from Kendra.
Kendra is reported missing.
Days later, Reyes told reporters that Glasco reached out to her to inquire about Kendra's whereabouts. As mentioned above, Glasco said she thought Kendra had gone to Reyes' house after an alleged fight with Sheppard. However, Kendra was not with Reyes, nor had she ever shown up at her house. It was then that Kendra's family members realized that Kendra had vanished as nobody had seen or heard her from since the early morning hours of July 7th. She was subsequently reported missing on July 12th, 2022.
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| Source: Facebook |
The search for Kendra, a reported sighting, and local speculation.
Reports state that Colby Sheppard was questioned by police several times. He repeatedly denied involvement in Kendra's disappearance. Investigators reportedly executed search warrants on both Sheppard's home and vehicle, and several items were taken in for forensic testing. Despite this, police hesitated to publicly label Sheppard as a person of interest.
Police received a tip about a potential sighting of Kendra that occurred on July 20th, 2022. A resident in Pawnee, Oklahoma contacted police and said that a woman matching Kendra's description had knocked on her door and asked for a glass of water. The resident learned of Kendra's disappearance shortly thereafter, and subsequently contacted police to report the incident.
It does not appear that police were ever able to confirm this sighting. However, investigators also claimed they were unable to find any evidence that Kendra met with foul play at the hands of Colby Sheppard. In September 2022, a detective with the Enid Police Department told reporters, "we’ve conducted several interviews, executed multiple search warrants on several vehicles, residences and devices, conducted several field searches, employed our department’s drone and followed up on each and every tip we’ve received."
This did not stop the online and local speculation about both Sheppard and Glasco from growing, especially as the weeks ticked on without any sign of Kendra. As those weeks turned into months, it appeared that the speculation about Sheppard and Glasco amongst Kendra's family, friends, and other Enid locals differed from opinion of Enid police.
For example, a flyer was distributed about Kendra's disappearance - both locally and on Facebook - that lists Sheppard and Glasco as the last known people to have seen Kendra. However, in August 2024, it was reported by KOCO 5 that "Enid police said in interviews with Sheppard that he mentioned he hadn’t seen [Kendra] for a while before she vanished. Officials said they don’t know who the last person was to see [Kendra.]"
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| Source: Facebook |
It's worth noting that this flyer, along with the local and online speculation about Sheppard and Glasco being the last two people to see Kendra, came long before the above-mentioned August 2024 report. However, besides the unconfirmed July sighting shortly after she was reported missing, there have not been any other publicly reported sightings of Kendra. No evidence that she was with any other people around the time she vanished.
Additionally, Kendra's grandmother Lillian Reyes spoke to different reporters in October 2024 and said that Glasco herself said that she and Sheppard saw Kendra before she vanished. Despite this, and despite the search warrants and questioning of the two, Sheppard and Glasco have still not publicly been named as persons of interest in the case.
December 27th, 2023: Colby Sheppard is killed.
Nearly a year and a half after Kendra went missing, her loved ones were still no closer to answers. Still, their belief that Colby Sheppard was responsible for Kendra's disappearance remained strong. Investigators believe that the determination that Sheppard had killed Kendra is what ultimately led to Victor Battelo planning and executing Sheppard's murder on December 27th, 2023.
Court documents state that Sheppard was "lured to a party" by a woman named Heaven Jordan. Once there, Sheppard was confronted by Charles Jordan, then 55, and Victor Battelo, then 45. The two men reportedly beat Sheppard to death while another man, Devin Harris, stood outside during the incident, acting as a guard.
Afterwards, the suspects reportedly wrapped Sheppard's body in a tarp and hid it in a storm cellar of a nearby home. Sheppard's family reported him missing on January 4th, 2024, after they were unable to get in contact with him.
August 2024: Sheppard is found; murder charges filed.
At some point after Sheppard was reported missing, Victor Battelo and Charles Jordan were arrested on unrelated charges. Eventually, another inmate tipped police off about both men's involvement in Sheppard's murder. The tipster also provided police with information about where Sheppard's body was hidden.
In August 2024, said tipster's information was proven to be accurate: investigators found Colby Sheppard's body tied in rope and wrapped by a tarp in a storm cellar just a few blocks away from the home of Charles Jordan. On August 27th, 2024, it was announced that Victor Battelo, Charles Jordan, and Devin Harris were charged with first-degree murder. Days later, Heaven Jordan was charged as well.
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| Left to right: Charles Jordan, Heaven Jordan, Devin Harris, Victor Battelo. |
Kendra's fate still unknown; theories.
The charges against Battelo, Harris, and the Jordan's are still pending. Meanwhile, Kendra remains missing, and her loved ones remain without answers. There are some theories about what might have happened to Kendra, but none of them have been confirmed.
The most common theory is that Colby Sheppard is responsible for Kendra's disappearance in some way - whether he killed her himself or disposed of her body after an overdose or some other accident. Since Sheppard is now deceased, he is unable to provide any answers.
There has also been a lot of online speculation that Tanya Dixon Glasco - who lived with Sheppard and Kendra at the time of Kendra's disappearance - might have more information about Kendra's case than she has disclosed. However, Glasco has not been publicly named as a person of interest or suspect. Most news articles about the case have declined to even use Glasco's name in their reports. Still, many believe that Sheppard and Glasco may have acted together; or that Glasco has information that she has covered up.
Another theory is that Kendra's disappearance is unrelated to Sheppard and Glasco altogether. If that July 20th sighting was, in fact, Kendra, then more weight is added to this theory. Police still maintain that they have not found any evidence that ties Sheppard to Kendra's disappearance. While this does not necessarily mean Sheppard is not guilty, it does open up the possibility of another person or circumstance being responsible for Kendra's disappearance.
The search for answers continues.
Kendra remains missing today. Her case is still open and being investigated by the Enid Police Department. If you have any information that could lead to her whereabouts, or any other information that could help the investigation, please contact Enid authorities at 580-242-7000.
