Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation confirmed that they had found the remains of a child in rural Grady County while searching for a four-year-old believed beaten to death on Christmas.
WARNING: The story contains details that may be disturbing.
Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation said they could not confirm if the remains were Athena Brownfield. However, they are transporting the remains to the Medical Examiner’s Office in Oklahoma City for identification.
State and local agencies have been looking for the child since a postal worker found her five-year-old sister wandering alone outside a home on Jan. 10. Ivon Adams, 36, has been charged with first-degree murder and child neglect.
Court documents stated authorities interviewed the sister, who told them she had been home alone and was tired of being alone.
Athena and her sister, according to court documents, had been living with Alysia and Ivon Adams for up to two years and, in that time, had never been taken to a doctor’s appointment or enrolled in school.
New court documents paint a gruesome picture of what might have happened to a missing four-year-old Oklahoma child. Officials say, Athena Brownfield, age four, was reported missing around 2:00 pm Tuesday near the 200-block of W. Nebraska in Cyril, OK.
It all began when a postal carrier reported finding Brownfield’s five-year-old sister outside her home. Her sister told the postal carrier she “had been home alone, and she was tired of being alone.”
At that point, the postal carrier reported the incident to the police, and they got in contact with Alysia Adams.
While speaking to the police, the documents state that Alysia Adams asked officers where Athena was. That’s when they realized the child was missing.
Court documents state that the children’s biological mother left the girls in the care of Alysia Adams and her husband, Ivon, for approximately one-and-a-half to two years.
However, officials say Alysia and Ivon never took the children to the doctor for check-ups and did not enroll the five-year-old in school.
OSBI agents arrested Alysia Adams on two complaints of child neglect.
Alysia Adams, photo provided by Caddo County Sheriff.
The next day, authorities confirmed that Adams’ husband, Ivon Adams, was arrested in Phoenix, AZ. He is facing first-degree murder and child neglect charges.
Ivon Adams Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office
According to the affidavit, Alysia Adams confessed that she knew Athena was dead. Court documents show Alysia Adams told investigators that around midnight on Christmas Day, Ivon Adams beat Athena and held her up by her arms.
The report states that Athena “was not moving, and her eyes were barely open. He then laid her on the ground and punched her at least three more times in the chest. [Athena] never moved after that.”
The affidavit states that Ivon Adams told Alysia that he buried Athena’s body near a fence line near their old property in Grady County.
So far, officials have not found Athena’s body.