The search for a missing 3-year-old North Texas girl has ended after authorities confirmed a body found over the weekend are her remains.
Sherin Mathews went missing in the early morning hours of October 7 from her home in Richardson.
Police said a body was discovered around 11:00 a.m. Sunday in a culvert underground during a search operation in the area of Spring Valley and Bowser Road.
The Dallas County Medical Examiner’s Office and the Richardson Police Department confirmed on Tuesday the body found was Sherin.
The child was identified using dental records. Her official cause of death is pending, authorities said.
Her adoptive father, Wesley Mathews, was arrested following her disappearance and charged with felony endangerment to a child. He was placed on electronic ankle monitoring and surrendered his passport as a condition of making bond on October 9.
Mathews initially told police he put her outside their home at 3:00 a.m. for not drinking her milk.
He changed his story weeks later, saying she choked on milk in the garage.
He was again arrested again on Monday, after giving a conflicting account of what happened in the early morning hours of October 7. He has been charged with felony injury to a child.
“She was coughing and her breathing slowed,” the arrest warrant stated. “Eventually, Wesley Mathews no longer felt a pulse on the child and believed she had died.”
Mathews then admitted to police that he removed the body from the home, the warrant also said.
An Amber Alert was issued following her disappearance but was later discontinued.
