What Happened to Athena Brownfield? Oklahoma Child Still Missing

Police searching for missing child Athena Brownfield say their investigation has now become a "recovery operation" to find her body.

Detectives believe the four-year-old was beaten to death on Christmas Day by her caregiver, according to court documents that were released on Tuesday and obtained by 13 News.

The little girl was first reported missing exactly a week ago, after her five-year-old sister Adina was found wandering alone in the street by a postal worker last Tuesday near the small town of Cyril, Oklahoma. Heartbreakingly, the child reportedly said she was hungry and had lost her sister.

Officers arrested 31-year-old Alysia Adams and her husband Ivon Adams, 36, who had been caring for the little girls, on suspicion of child neglect on Thursday.

It has now emerged that police allege Ivon Adams beat the child to death at the home on December 25, with Alysia Adams reportedly alleging he left the house with the girl's body in the early hours of December 26 to bury her near their old home in Rush Springs.

He now faces one count of first-degree murder and one count of child neglect, while his wife is facing two counts of child neglect.

Bereaved sister Adina has been taken into protective custody.

A statement released by the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI) on Monday said: "The search for missing Cyril four-year-old Athena Brownfield is now considered a recovery operation. Special Agents from the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, along with our partners at the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, have been searching areas of Caddo County for the toddler's remains."

Officers begged members of the public not to get involved, saying: "The OSBI is asking that the public not self-deploy to search for Athena. Individuals who search for Athena on their own could be trespassing or worse, interfering with the investigation by contaminating potential evidence."

Who Are Alysia and Ivon Adams?

Alysia and Ivon Adams aren't the girls' parents, and Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation spokesperson Brook Arbeitman said last week that the whereabouts of the children's mom and dad was "part of the ongoing investigation."

The children's biological parents haven't been named, but they have now been found and are cooperating with the authorities, the OSBI said this week.

Alysia Adams is related to the youngsters, who had been in her care for "at least a year," officials said. She also has four children of her own.

The 31-year-old reportedly calls herself a "beauty influencer" and often posts on social media, particularly TikTok. She also regularly uploads photos of her life to Instagram, and although her own four children feature in some of the images, the two little girls she was looking after don't appear to have ever been shown.

Although she is still married to Ivon Adams, 36, the couple are said to have separated and she has a new boyfriend, according to some reports.

Less is known about Ivon Adams, but he was arrested in Phoenix, Arizona, and will be extradited back to Oklahoma.

He is currently being held in Maricopa County Jail, CNN reported, while Alysia Adams is in custody at Caddo County Jail in Oklahoma. It remains unclear if either has legal representation and how they intend to plead.

Newsweek has reached out the OSBI for further information and comment.

According to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs), some 600,000 individuals go missing in the U.S. every year and an estimated 4,400 unidentified bodies are recovered.

Tragically, the Athena Brownfield case is not unique and police in other parts of the country are also searching for children they believe have died. Last month, police have said they believe four individuals are responsible for abducting five-year-old Michael Vaughan, who is feared dead.

And separately, a Georgia mother was charged with the murder of her four-year-old, Jayceion Mathis, after human remains were discovered by authorities during a missing child investigation.