A second individual arrested in reference to the disappearance of a 4-year-old girl in Oklahoma has been charged with murder, authorities stated Friday.
Ivon Adams, 36, was taken into custody Thursday in Arizona and was to be extradited to Oklahoma on prices of murder within the first diploma and youngster neglect, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation stated.
He remained jailed early Saturday in Maricopa County, jail data present.
His arrest comes a day after OSBI introduced his spouse, Alysia Adams, 31, had been taken into custody.
They have been described as caregivers for Athena Brownfield, who authorities have been looking for since Tuesday after a postal employee discovered her 5-year-old sister wandering alone close to their house in Cyril, Oklahoma.
Alysia Adams was arrested by the Grady County Sheriff’s Office on two counts of youngster neglect, the state bureau stated. The company stated Thursday that Athena’s sister was discovered exterior Alysia Adams’ house.
The girl is in state protecting custody and didn’t require medical care when she was discovered, OSBI spokesperson Brook Arbeitman stated.
The company didn’t present particulars about Ivon and Alysia Adams’ relation to the kids. Arbeitman stated through e mail that the women had been of their care “for an extended period of time.”
Earlier this week, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol issued a lacking endangered individual alert for Athena that was despatched to residents inside a 15-mile radius of Cyril.
The company didn’t subject an Amber Alert, an emergency alert for kidnapped kids that reaches a nationwide community, “because there was no indication of an abduction,” an company spokesperson stated.
“This case did not meet the criteria in this particular guideline for issuing an AMBER alert,” Sarah Stewart stated in an e mail Friday.
Penny Brownfield, Athena’s paternal grandmother, stated the little girl’s disappearance has been “quite a blow.”
“I’ve just got to be strong for my children,” she stated by cellphone Friday from her house in Lawton, Oklahoma. “It’s affecting my children. It’s really affecting my oldest son, which those are his babies, which means those are my babies, too.”
She stated she was determined for any information about Athena’s whereabouts. “She’s not just going to vanish,” she stated.
Trash service in Cyril, a city about 80 miles southwest of Oklahoma City, has been postponed as investigators proceed their seek for clues in Athena’s disappearance.
Arbeitman stated Thursday evening that officers stay optimistic.
“We’re just digging for every clue, processing everything that we can to see if it can help us locate her,” she stated.
Residents with information or safety digital camera video that would assist in the search are requested to contact the police.
Athena was final identified to be sporting a pink butterfly sweater and pink pants, in accordance with a missing person poster. Arbeitman stated she has “limited verbal skills.”
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This article was initially printed on NBCNews.com
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