Athena Brownfield Update: Missing 4-Year-Old Likely Beaten To Death On Christmas Night

Remains of a child were found during the search for the missing 4-year-old Oklahoma girl Athena Brownfield, who was reportedly beaten to death on Christmas night, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI) said Tuesday.

"The remains will be transported to the Medical Examiner's Office in Oklahoma City for positive identification," according to an OSBI statement. "This is [an] active homicide investigation, and until the remains are positively identified, the OSBI will not be commenting further."

The remains were discovered near Rush Springs, about 15 miles (24 kilometers) from the Oklahoma community of Cyril, where Athena was reported missing. Athena was allegedly beaten to death and buried by one of her caregivers, Ivon Adams, according to court documents released this week.

Authorities first discovered that Athena was missing on Jan. 10, after a mail carrier found her 5-year-old sister wandering unattended outside of a home in the Oklahoma town of Cyril, the Associated Press reported.

Athena's caregivers were arrested on Thursday. Alysia Adams, 31, faces two counts of child neglect, while her husband, Ivon Adams, 36, faces one count of first-degree murder and one count of child neglect. Alysia later confessed that Ivon beat the child around midnight on Dec. 25.

Athena "was not moving, and her eyes were barely open," Alysia said, according to the affidavit by OSBI Lt. Brenna Alvarez. Ivon "then laid her on the ground and punched her at least three more times in the chest" and the child "never moved after that."

Ivon and Athena left home at about 1 a.m. Dec. 26. He later returned, saying he buried her body on land the Adams once owned near Rush Springs, marking the site with "a large broken branch."

The search for the child turned into a "recovery operation," the OSBI said Monday.

Ivon has waived extradition to Oklahoma and remains in prison in Maricopa County, Arizona, pending extradition.

"I want to get there and take care of it," Ivon told a judge during a hearing Friday in Maricopa County court. "I need to get there and fight this."

The OSBI said the girls and the Adams are related. The affidavit indicated the children's biological mother had left them with the couple a year-and-a-half to 2 years ago, and the girls called Alysia "mom" or "Aly" and Ivon "dad" or "Uncle Ivon."

The children's biological mother and father are cooperating with investigators, according to the OSBI.