Police searching for the missing 3-year-old girl Sherin Matthews have found the body of a child in Richardson, Texas.
Sherin went missing on Oct. 7 after being left to stand by a tree at 3 a.m. as a punishment for not drinking her milk.
Richardson police said that the body of a child was found on Sunday morning, less than a mile away from where she was last seen.
A formal identification has yet to be made, although police said that they had no reason to believe that the body belonged to another child.
“Since the time Sherin Mathews was reported missing on Saturday morning, October 7th, the Richardson Police Department and other law enforcement entities have been working 24/7 to locate her,” said a statement by the Richardson Police Department. “Today, 10/22/17, at approximately 11:00 a.m., during one of those search operations, the body of a small child was discovered in the area of E. Spring Valley Rd. and S. Bowser Rd.”
The day after Sherin went missing, her father, Wesley Mathews, 37, was arrested on charges of child abandonment and endangerment.
No further charges have been made following the discovery of the body.
Sherin is developmentally disabled with limited communication skills.
She was told by her adoptive father, Matthews, to stand near a tree next to their home for not finishing her milk on Oct 7. It was 3 a.m.
According to police, he did not alert them until 8 a.m.
Police initiated a search, scouring fields and creeks and wooded areas, with local businesses handing in their surveillance footage.
“As the investigation continued to unfold, more and more stuff came to [the] surface and we followed up on that,” Perlich said in a video posted by the police department. “It led to the search of that area with canines, and that’s how we came across the body.”
Matthews was released after posting $250,000 bond.
A 4-year-old child of his was placed in foster care, the Dallas News reported.
