Male caregiver arrested in case of missing four-year-old Athena faces MURDER charge
Athena Brownfield's caregiver faces MURDER charge: Estranged husband of woman arrested for neglecting the four-year-old will be extradited from Arizona to Oklahoma
Four-year-old Oklahoma girl Athena Brownfield has been missing since Jan 6
She had been in the care of Ivon Adams and Alysia Adams when she disappeared
Ivon is facing one count of child neglect and one count of first degree murder
Alysia is facing two counts of child neglect – no more details have been released
Athena was only reported missing when a postal worker found her sister Adina
Adina had been found 'hungry' and wandering outside her home on Jan 10
By Aneeta Bhole For Dailymail.Com
A man jailed in Arizona is facing a murder charge in connection with the disappearance of a four-year-old Oklahoma girl that he had been caring for as the search continues for the missing child.
Ivon Adams, 36, and his estranged wife Alysia Adams, 31, had been caring for missing Athena Brownfield, 4, and her older sister Adina, 5, when she vanished.
Adams was arrested on Thursday in Arizona on one count of child neglect in the case of Athena Brownfield, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation said.
Police said in a post to Facebook on Friday evening that 36-year-old Adams is now facing one count of First Degree murder but did not give further details about what led to the charge.
Ivon Adams (left) who was jailed in Arizona in connection to the disappearance of a four-year-old gilr is now facing a murder charge. Earlier, authorities said that they arrested Alysia Adams (right), 31, on two counts of child neglect – police say the pair are married
The Oklahoma Bureau of Investigations continues to search for Athena Brownfield. The four-year-old is said to have vanished Jan 6 and reported missing on Tuesday Jan 10
Adams is being held in the Maricopa County jail in Phoenix pending extradition to Oklahoma.
Earlier, authorities said that they arrested Alysia Adams, 31, on two counts of child neglect, the OSBI saying the 31-year-old is married to Adams.
The bureau has released no further details about the arrests and it's not clear whether either have sought legal counsel.
While authorities have revealed that the pair are married, it appears the couple have since split, with Alysia seen spending a romantic weekend away with her boyfriend just days after Athena went missing.
Athena and her five-year-old sister Adina were being looked after by Alysia. Adina was found by a postal worker wandering the streets outside her home in Oklahoma.
Police said that Athena could have disappeared Jan 6 four days before she was reported missing on Tuesday Jan 10.
Athena is shown with her older sister Adina, who was found on Tuesday wandering around outside the home the girls had been living in
Athena's grandmother Penny Brownfield said the family is trying to remain hopeful
Oklahoma Highway Patrol were seen searching for Athena in a body of water near her home
The child vanished from this house in Cyril, Oklahoma – authorities saying her disappearance only reported four days after she's said to have gone missing
While authorities have said Ivon and Alysia are married the pair appear to have split. It's unclear when this happened. They have four biological children of their own
When the worker said she checked the home no one appeared to be home, she claimed.
Adina is said to have told the worker that she was hungry, and that she couldn't find Athena – who is described as being 'very shy'.
Law enforcement told Fox News that Athena may have been missing since January 6, four days before the postal worker found her sister.
Over the weekend of Jan 7 and 8, Alysia, who had guardianship of the sisters, was seen enjoying a trip to the movies and a meal over an hour away in Oklahoma City with her new boyfriend, Blayden Davis.
Alysia was taken into custody on Thursday on charges of child neglect, whereas Ivon was arrested on Friday.
Athena's caregvier, Alysia, spent the weekend enjoying romantic dates with her new boyfriend, Blayden Davis
Alysia calls herself a 'beauty influencer'. She regularly uploads videos to TikTok but the kids are never shown
Over the weekend of Jan 7 and 8, Alysia – who had guardianship of the sisters with her estranged husband Ivon – enjoyed a trip to the movies and a meal over an hour away in Oklahoma City with Davis
It's remains unclear why Ivon was in the state, or why he and Alysia had custody of the sisters. Adina is now being cared for by the state.
Alysia regularly shares videos of herself rapping on TikTok, singing along to the N-word and making joke clips about her life as a busy mother.
She has four children of her own who regularly feature on her Instagram account, but Athena and Adina are never shown. It remains unclear how the girls ended up in her care.
The children's paternal grandmother, Penny Brownfield, is in Cyril, Oklahoma, and joined the search for her missing grandchild – the girls' biological parents are yet to be named.
Part of the police investigation is identifying where the parents are, according to a spokesman for the Oklahoma Bureau of Investigation on Friday.
Police are now searching bodies of water near the child's home. They have not given any indication of evidence that she is no longer alive.
Caretaker for missing Oklahoma girl Athena Brownfield charged with murder
Holly Willoughby keeps as she takes her beloved dog Bailey on a rainy walk