3-Year-Old Texas Girl Who Went Missing Was Abandoned in India: Report

The 3-year-old Texas girl whose body was likely found Saturday was reportedly adopted from India after she was abandoned by her biological parents, it was reported.

Police believe that Sherin Mathews’s body was found in a culvert near the family’s home in Richardson County, the police department said, Fox News reported.

“We didn’t want this to come this way. We didn’t want this to happen in this manner. We thought we would find her alive,” Omar Siddiqi, who is a search volunteer, told Fox.

Wesley Mathews, the father, was charged with child endangerment.

The Times of India reported that the Bihar’s State Adoption Resource Agency in India confirmed that the girl, who was originally named Saraswati, was abandoned by her biological family.

“She was a little stubborn but every child has a similar nature. She was very affectionate toward a female caretaker of the NGO whom she called nani. She used to wait for her on the stairs for several hours. The moment Saraswati’s nani arrived, she used to run and embrace her,” the NGO said, reported the newspaper.

Babita Kumari, secretary of the now-defunct NGO, said that she was only one-and-a-half years of age when she was rescued by Bal Kalyan Samiti of Gaya District after her family abandoned her. She was later handed over to the NGO.

“During her initial days, Saraswati used to remain quiet but gradually she opened up at the center,” she told the newspaper.

Mathews and his wife then adopted the girl, who was underdeveloped and malnourished. She didn’t have the language skills of a normal 3-year-old child, the Dallas News reported.

The FBI has seized 47 items from the Mathews’s house, including a washer and dryer, five cellphones, three laptops, trash bags, as well as a digital camera, Fox News reported.

The couple’s 4-year-old daughter was sent to Child Protective Services and was placed in foster care. A hearing for the other child is slated for Wednesday.