The three-year-old went missing about two weeks prior, when her father left her outside at 3 AM as punishment for not drinking her milk.
UPDATE: Body Found, Believed To Be 3-Year-Old Special Needs Child Who Was Forced To Stand Outside At 3 AM
Richardson, TX – On Sunday afternoon, Richardson police officially announced that they believed they had found the body of the missing three-year-old Sherin Mathews.
The child, who had mental disabilities which render her unable to communicate, was reported missing by her father about two weeks ago, according to Fox News
Detectives from the Richardson Police Department discovered a body around 11 AM on Sunday in a culvert beneath a road near her father’s residence.
Police believed it to be Sherin’s body but could not be certain until there is a positive identification by “proper officials.”
Questions had surrounded the adopted child’s disappearance, after her father said that he left her outside at 3 AM to punish her for not drinking her milk.
He reported her missing about five hours after he left her outside, in an area that he described as populated by coyotes.
Detectives also discovered on the night Sherin disappeared that someone had driven the family SUV away from their home in Richardson, and didn’t return until an hour later.
Wesley Mathews had also changed his story about Sherin’s disappearance since he first talked to police. Mathews did not report to police until days after her disappearance that he had done laundry before he reported her missing.
Sherin’s mother was reportedly asleep when she went missing.
Police had used search warrants to seize multiple items of potential evidence, including a vacuum cleaner, trash bags, hair fibers, cell phones, and laptops.
Other items that were seized which may have significant evidentiary value include a blue string, dark hair-like fibers, vacuum contents, two yellow gloves, dish scrubber inside two grocery bags, the washer and dryer, and surveillance video from the neighbors.
Other seized items included receipts, grass, and other debris from three vehicles belonging to the Mathews family. DNA swabs had been collected by officers from Wesley Mathews and his wife.
Sherin had been adopted by the Mathews in June, 2016, after she were abandoned in her native country of India.
Wesley Mathews had been charged with child endangerment but had been released from jail on bond. He is currently wearing an ankle monitor to keep track of his location.
The couple’s four-year-old daughter is right now in the custody of a family friend. Child Protective Services said that they are familiar with the family but would not release any additional details.
Utah police are currently searching for a couple they say killed a newborn baby last month.
Couple kills 13-day-old baby found covered in bruises with broken spine and ‘massive’ brain swelling: Cops
WTVT reported that the 13-day-old was found dead in a West Jordan home September 17, leading to the investigation that allegedly uncovered evidence of abuse throughout the boy’s short life.
Police believe 21-year-old Dylan James Kitzmiller had been physically abusive toward the newborn and girlfriend Maria Elena Sullivan, 26.
Sullivan, the infant victim’s mother, is wanted for failing to stop the abuse and after it occurred, report it and seek medical treatment for her son.
NEW: WJ police are looking for these 2. Cops: Dylan Kitzmiller beat a 13 day old to death, the mother, Maria Sullivan, doesn't report. pic.twitter.com/zwii4cNOmh
— Chris Jones (@jonesnews) Ngày 21 tháng 10 năm 2017
An examination of the victim found the boy weighed nearly a pound less than his birth weight and his body was totally covered with bruises and cuts. Reports indicate he had a fractured spine, broken rib and “massive” brain swelling.
Sullivan reportedly told police Kitzmiller regularly used heroin and abused her son, but admitted leaving him in the man’s care.
On the evening of the boy’s death, she reportedly heard him gasping for air and called medical dispatchers, who were not able to restore his breathing.
Police say Kitzmiller admitted using heroin — along with Sullivan — in front of the child. He reportedly said Sullivan was not responsible for any of the victim’s physical injuries.
Authorities had obtained an arrest warrant for both suspect