On Tuesday, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation shared Facebook post that they and the Cyril Police Department arelooking for Athena Brownfield, 4.
Athena was reported missing earlier Tuesday afternoon.
In a follow-up post shared Wednesday morning, the OSBI shared more details, adding that “a postal carrier reported findingAthena Brownfield’s five-year-old sisternear her home.”
“The postal carrier reported the incident to the Cyril Police Department and that was when it was discovered Athena, 4, was missing,” continued the OSBI.
Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation
Those who live or own a business in Cyril, Oklahoma, that could potentially have doorbell camera footage related to Athena are urged to go to the authorities' search site at Family Life Church and contact police, the agency said.
“Additionally, community members are encouraged to search their own property for Athena. Please do not self deploy to search anything other than your own property,” the bureau added.
She said that the unnamed postal worker alerted police after seeing the 5-year-old sister, knowing that she “wasn’t where she was supposed to be.”
Cyril police asked OSBI to help with the search, Arbeitman said.
Asked about the girls' parents, she said that the investigation is “active and outgoing.”
“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,” Arbeitman said.
As for whether Athena could be in danger, Arbeitman said “there’s not anything to indicate that other than she’s a little child and she’s missing. She’s on her own in the elements. Is that in danger? Yeah. But is she a victim of physical harm? That’s yet to be determined.”
She did not confirm reports that Athena is autistic, however, she stated that the child “has limited verbal skills.”
Police also executed a search warrant at the parents' home, a move that Arbeitman said was “standard procedure” to find any clues of her whereabouts.
She went on to ask locals to search their properties and any potential abandoned neighboring properties.
“Think of a place where a (child) could crawl into and look into those places and if you find anything please notify us.”
She saluted Oklahoma Highway Patrol, pointing out that they’ve helped in the search and looked from a helicopter view. OHP also shared photos of itsofficers and volunteers looking for Athena.
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OHP noted in an alert thatAthena was last seen wearinga pink butterfly sweater and pink pants.
In the video briefing, Arbeitman would not provide details on the postal carrier’s interaction with Athena’s sister or where she was found.
In itsmost recent update, OSBi said that “Oklahoma Highway Patrol (OHP) Emergency Response Team (ERT) concluded a grid search with local volunteers. Those volunteers have been released after searching the entire town, every known vacant house and local waterways.”
It added, “Currently, the Oklahoma Department of Corrections (ODOC) has search dogs in the area and the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs (OBNDD) flew their drones over the community. Law enforcement continues conducting interviews and reviewing surveillance videos in an effort to locate Athena.”
It stated that the “entire law enforcement community” that is “assisting with locating Athena appreciates local volunteers, restaurants, churches and all the tips that have been phoned in.”
source: people.com
