POSITIVELY IDENTIFIED

Officials Identify Human Remains as Missing 4-Year-Old Athena Brownfield

It took authorities more than a week to positively identify the remains.

A child’s body discovered during the search for Athena Brownfield in rural Oklahoma has been positively identified as the missing 4-year-old. On Jan. 17, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation confirmed the remains were found in Grady County, outside of Rush Springs. They were transported to the Medical Examiner’s Office in Oklahoma City for positive identification. “The Oklahoma Office of Chief Medical Examiner has positively identified the remains Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation agents recovered on January 17 ... as those of Athena Brownfield,” the bureau said in a statement obtained by The New York Daily News. According to the News, investigators allege she was punched to death by her caretaker on Christmas Day. The caretakers – a married couple charged with taking care of the girls, have been charged; Alysia Adams, 31, with two counts of child neglect and 36-year-old Ivon Adams with one count of murder in the first degree and one count of child neglect. A gag order prevents authorities providing additional comment on the case.