Remains of child found during search for missing 4-year-old girl

CYRIL, Oklahoma — A missing 4-year-old Oklahoma girl was beaten to death on Christmas night by her guardian and then buried, according to court documents released Tuesday.

Athena Brownfield has been missing since Jan. 10 when a mail carrier found her 5-year-old sister alone near the house the girls shared with caregivers, Yvon Adams and Alicia Adams, in Cyril, about 70 miles southwest of Oklahoma City.

The search for the child is now a “recovery operation,” the Oklahoma Bureau of Investigation said Monday.

Yvonne Adams, 36, was arrested in Arizona on charges of murder and child neglect and is awaiting extradition. Alicia Adams, 31, has been jailed in Oklahoma on charges of child neglect.

The affidavit states that Alicia Adams told investigators that her husband beat the child around midnight on December 25.

Athena “didn’t move and her eyes were barely open,” Alicia Adams said, according to an affidavit from OSBI Lieutenant Brenna Alvarez. Ivon Adams “put her on the ground and hit her in the chest at least three more times” and the baby “never moved after that.”

Ivon Adams left the house with Athena at around 1:00 am on December 26, and later returned saying that he had buried her body on land once owned by Adams, near the nearby town of Rush Springs, about 15 miles (24 km) to the south. east of Cyril. site with a “big broken branch”.

Authorities searched the area and announced on Tuesday that they had found the child’s remains. The Oklahoma Bureau of Investigation said it could not confirm that the remains belonged to Athena Brownfield.

“The remains will be taken to the Oklahoma City medical examiner’s office for positive identification,” the agency said in a Facebook post.

Ivon Adams has refused extradition to Oklahoma and remains in jail in Maricopa County, Arizona, pending extradition.

“I want to get out there and take care of it,” Adams told the judge during a hearing Friday in Maricopa County Court. “I need to get out there and fight it.”

Court documents do not list any attorneys who could act on behalf of any of the Adamses.

Brandon Bryant, who said he and his wife were once Adams’ neighbors, said Tuesday he had little contact with the couple but saw nothing unusual about them.

“I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. We spoke with Alicia several times, with Ivon – never, ”said Bryant. “We never went to their house, Alicia came to our house several times … we gave her a car seat.”

Bryant, whose children are 5 and 10, said he still considers Cyril, with a population of about 800, a safe place.

“It’s a small city, it’s probably one of the few places on earth where I would consider leaving my doors unlocked at night… it’s still a good place to live,” Bryant said.

OSBI stated that the girls and Adams are related, and the affidavit states that the children’s biological mother left them with the couple 1.5-2 years ago, and the girls called Alicia “Mom” or “Ali” and “Yvon.” Papa” or “Uncle Ivon”.

According to OSBI, the children’s biological mother and father are cooperating with the investigation.