WILBURTON, OKKFOR) – Two people have been charged following a 2012 homicide investigation in Latimer County, according to the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation.

The OSBI says the Pittsburg County Sheriff’s Office requested assistance from the office on September 28, 2012, following the suspicious disappearance of 54-year-old Barbara Durant.

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Officials say Durant has not been seen or heard from since July 9, 2012. OSBI special agents tried several times, but they were unable to find Durant.

On February 1, 2020, skeletal remains were found in Wilburton, Oklahoma. They were taken to the chief medical examiner’s office where they were identified as Durant. The cause of death was determined to be a gunshot wound. The investigation into Durant’s death led officers to 68-year-old Mary Ballard and 49-year-old Billy Thomason.

According to the OSBI, Ballard and Thomason were charged on October 25, 2024, with first-degree murder by the Pittsburg County Prosecutor’s Office. Ballard was arrested on October 28 by the United States Marshals Service and the Natchitoches Sheriff’s Office in Louisiana. Thomason was already in custody on unrelated charges.

The investigation is still ongoing.

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