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Authorities identify remains as missing 4-year-old Athena Brownfield

Authorities on Thursday said they have positively identified remains found Jan. 17 as those of missing 4-year-old Athena Brownfield. Photo courtesy of Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation/Facebook
Authorities on Thursday said they have positively identified remains found Jan. 17 as those of missing 4-year-old Athena Brownfield. Photo courtesy of Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation/Facebook

Jan. 27 (UPI) -- The Oklahoma chief medical examiner's office has positively identified remains found last week as those of missing 4-year-old Athena Brownfield.

The remains were found Jan. 17 in rural Grady County outside of Rush Springs, amid a search for the 4-year-old that was sparked a week earlier after her 5-year-old sister was found by a postal worker wandering the streets near their home in the town of Cyril, located about 65 miles southwest of Oklahoma City.

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The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation made the announcement Thursday in a brief statement after initially saying it could not confirm that the remains belonged to Athena Brownfield and that they had been transferred to the examiner's office for positive identification.

"Due to a gag order filed in Caddo County District, there is no additional comment on the investigation from the OSBI," the bureau said.

The Brownfields' caretakers, married couple Ivon and Alysia Adams, have been charged in connection to the child's death.

Ivon Adams, 36, has been charged with one count of first-degree murder and one count of child neglect while his 31-year-old wife has been charged with two counts of child neglect.

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According court documents, Alysia Adams "confessed" that her husband beat Athena Brownfield to death on Christmas Day.

He then left the residence at 1 a.m. Dec. 26 with Athena Brownfield's body and later told his wife that he had buried the child's remains near the fence perimeter of their old house in Rush Springs.

Authorities have said that the children's parents were cooperating with their investigation.

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