A new GoFundMe campaign is raising money for Adina Brownfield, the surviving sister of a 4-year-old Cyril girl who was reported missing earlier this month,
Missouri resident Landon Jetmund, who is the brother of Adina and Athena Brownfield’s grandmother, Penny Brownfield, organized the campaign as a fundraiser for the girls. The campaign was originally set up to raise money for Athena’s funeral expenses, but Jetmund later learned that other donors have covered those costs.
The campaign is now raising funds to help Adina, Jetmund said in a phone interview Thursday. Any donations will be put into a trust fund for Adina.
“Every dime of that goes into a trust that cannot be accessed by anyone,” Jetmund said. “It’s for Adina, and she can access it after she turns 21.”
Jetmund said he is working with the First National Bank and Trust Co. in Cyril, where an account to help the Brownfield sisters has already been established.
The bank confirmed on Thursday that the GoFundMe fundraiser is legitimate. Donations may be made via the campaign’s GoFundMe page or mailed to the bank at PO Box 89, Cyril, OK 73029. Donations sent to the bank should be designated “For Benefit of Adina and Athena Brownfield.”
Jetmund has set a goal of $15,000 and has raised $840 as of Thursday afternoon, according to the GoFundMe page.
Wanting to help
Jetmund, who is estranged from his sister, Penny Brownfield, said Thursday he did not know that Athena and Adina even existed until recently. He said the mother of his children from a previous relationship called him last Saturday to ask if he had heard about his sister.
That call prompted Jetmund to find out what had happened, which is how he learned about Adina, Athena and Athena’s disappearance, he said. That information led Jetmund to set up the GoFundMe campaign.
“As soon as I found out, I wanted to help,” he said.
Athena was reported missing Jan. 10, when a mail carrier found her 5-year-old sister, Adina, near a home in Cyril. The mail carrier contacted Cyril police, who quickly discovered that Athena was missing.
The children’s former caretakers, Ivon Adams and his wife, Alysia, were recently arrested in connection with Athena’s disappearance, Southwest Chronicle reported in its Jan. 13 edition. Ivon was charged with first-degree murder and child neglect, and Alysia was charged with two counts of child neglect.
Evidence from the suspects’ cell phones led the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation to a site in rural Grady County, near Rush Springs, where searchers found a child’s remains Tuesday. The OSBI said it could not confirm whether the remains were those of Athena.
The remains will be transported to the state Medical Examiner’s Office in Oklahoma City for positive identification.
Jetmund wrote on the GoFundMe campaign page that Athena’s short life was marked by tragedy and neglect.
“Her beautiful blue eyes hid sorrows no child should ever have to know,” he wrote. “Her precious little heart poured our more love than it received. But now that heart rests in the arms of our Lord & Savior, Jesus Christ.”
To make a donation via the GoFundMe page, visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/official-fundraiser-for-athena-brownfield?qid=b513ce8cbfffafac7fd6a44d3e6f5054.