Earlier this month, a 3-year-old girl went missing after her father left her outside overnight as punishment for not drinking her milk. Authorities just found the lifeless body of a small child less than a mile from her home, and they believe it is her.
According to Richardson police, the body was found in a culvert near the residence Sunday morning. Cops with canines tracked down Sherin Mathews’ body that morning after days of unsuccessful attempts of finding the lost child.
Wesley Mathews, the girl’s father, admitted to leaving Sherin outside in an alley at three in the morning. He also told one of the first responding officers when he called the cops in the morning that coyotes had been spotted in that alley before.
The father told authorities that he checked on her fifteen minutes after putting her outside, and she was no longer there. Instead of looking for her immediately, he figured she would turn up eventually, so he waited until dawn while doing laundry.
Sherin Mathews reportedly had limited verbal communication skills and other developmental issues. Wesley Mathews and his wife, who was asleep the night of October 7th when Sherin went missing, adopted Sherin from an Indian orphanage.
Wesley got charged with child endangerment and authorities confiscated his vehicles for any potential evidence. Although the body has yet to get identified, police say they have no reason to think it’s not that of Sherin Mathews.
“The indications are that it is most likely her. However, we have not had a positive ID. So until we have a positive identification, we are not going to say it is Sherin,” Sgt. Kevin Perlich told WFAA. “As the investigation continued to unfold, more and more stuff came to [the] surface and we followed up on that.”
Wesley Mathews and his wife, Sini, learned Monday during a court hearing that their biological daughter, 4, will remain in custody of Child Protective Services (CPS) for three more weeks. The parents will have to find a civil attorney before the custody hearing on November 13th.
Two years ago, the Mathews couple adopted a malnourished baby in an Indian orphanage, and it’s unfortunate that her story had to end this way. Jimmy Spivey, Richardson Police Chief, said in a tweet that if the body found is determined to be Sherin’s, he’s happy she will be properly laid to rest.
This article was inspired by CBSNEWS//Texas police find body of small child, believe it may be missing girl