4-Year-Old Oklahoma Girl Athena Brownfield Reported Missing After Postal Worker Finds Her Sister Wandering Alone
Jan. 12 2023, Published 4:00 p.m. ET
Police in Cyril, Oklahoma, are desperately seeking to find a missing 4-year-old Athena Brownfield, after a postal worker discovered her 5-year-old sister "wandering" near their home unattended, RadarOnline.com has learned.
The postal employee found Athena's older sister alone, near the children's residence on Tuesday, and immediately alerted authorities to the concerning situation. The worker said she knew the 5-year-old "wasn't where she was supposed to be."
Athena was then reported missing.
The Cyril Police Department and Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation have called on the community's help to expand their search efforts.
The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI) provided updates on its Facebook page.
"Additionally, community members are encouraged to search their own property for Athena," the post read. "Please do not self-deploy to search anything other than your own property."
Police asked community members to "think of a place where a (child) could crawl" on their properties. Police did not confirm reports that the toddler is autistic but did reiterate that Athena "has limited verbal skills."
In addition to asking Cyril community members to conduct searches of their property for the missing toddler, local police and OSBI are also interested in any security camera footage that could provide clues on the child's whereabouts.
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Investigators suggested that a neighbor's Ring camera history or a local business's security footage could potentially provide crucial information that could fill in gaps in the missing child's timeline, like how the two girls got outside their home and a timeframe for the day of Athena's disappearance.
Community members with smart home camera systems or own a business with security cameras are urged to go to the Family Life Church in Cyril, where investigators have established a search site home-base, with any information or tips.
OSBI Public Information Officer Brook Arbeitman spoke with local news KOKH Fox 25 on active search efforts.
Local news questioned the OSBI officer on the children's parents.
Arbeitman said of the parents that the investigation is "active and outgoing," and did not elaborate further on any suspicions.
"Right now our top priority is locating her and sorting out who's responsible will come next. But we need to find this little girl," the OSBI public information officer said.