Police and the FBI executed a search warrant yesterday evening at the Richardson, TX, home where missing toddler Sherin Mathews disappeared on October 7, according to FOX 4. The three-year-old was last seen when her father reportedly took her outside at 3 AM and made her stand near a tree behind the family’s house as a type of punishment for not drinking milk.
Police said that the execution of the search warrant at the Mathews’ home is a “natural progression of the investigation,” according to NBC 5 (Dallas-Fort Worth). At approximately 6:30 PM yesterday evening, police knocked on the family’s front door and served a search warrant.
The FBI Evidence Response Team was on-scene at approximately 7 PM. The FBI reportedly “combed for clues” in both the front and back yards at the Mathews’ home, NBC relayed. The FBI worked “through the night” processing the Mathews’ home.
Dad surrendered passport, wearing ankle monitor after arrest, release on bond
Police arrested the toddler’s father, Wesley Mathews, 37, on Saturday and charged him with child abandonment or child endangerment. He posted $250,000 bond and was released from custody on Sunday. He had to surrender his passport and he must also wear an electronic ankle monitor as conditions of his release. Wesley and his wife, Sini, have stopped cooperating with law enforcement investigating the case of their missing child.
According to police, Sherin’s father claims that he was doing a load of laundry after he went back outside at 3:15 AM and discovered his three-year-old daughter was not where he told her to stay, NBC reported. Mathews told police that he thought his toddler would come back home on her own.
Father did laundry waiting for toddler to come home and called police 5 hours later
Richardson Police Department Sergeant Kevin Perlich stated, Mathews “did a little laundry” while hoping that he could “do a better check” when daylight arrived, FOX noted. The family did not report the little girl missing for five hours, even though Mathews also told police that he knew that coyotes were in the area.
Additionally, he knew that the family’s home, in an upscale Richardson neighborhood, was against an alley and railroad tracks.
While the toddler was taken outside, when Mathews went to get her, and while her husband did a load of laundry, the little girl’s mother slept. Her father, Perlich said, “elected to call police” not long after 8 AM. He further stated, “That does not seem like a normal response” for a father whose child is missing.
Law enforcement says no signs little girl was taken by coyote or abducted
According to law enforcement investigators, there are no signs that Sherin was dragged away by a coyote, NBC stated. Perlich said the police also “don’t have any indication or evidence” that the toddler was abducted from the area around the family’s home.
Unlike her husband, Sherin’s mother is currently not facing charges, according to FOX and Perlich, who is the public information officer for Richardson Police Department. Perlich also said the child’s mother was in the house, but unaware of what her husband was doing, and was asleep.
Criminal defense lawyer Greg Gibbs spent about an hour at the Mathews’ home yesterday but he did not respond to questions, FOX reported. The husband and wife have separate lawyers, according to police.
Search for Sherin Mathews continues
Police have broadened the search for the toddler. Authorities are making contact with area sex offenders, as well as obtaining any surveillance footage from area businesses.
Strangers have been searching the family’s Richardson neighborhood for the three-year-old.
If the Matthews' believe that their daughter was abducted, volunteer searcher Preethi Abraham told FOX, “It’s just really hard for us to swallow this story that the little girl was disciplined for not drinking milk” at 3 AM.
Perlich explained that “the feeding thing” was the parents’ effort to increase the toddler’s weight, FOX noted. She was reportedly malnourished when the Mathews adopted her from India. The child’s father also told police that the little girl has disabilities, which might make it difficult for her to communicate.
Sherin Mathews stands three-feet tall, weighs an estimated 22 pounds, and has black hair and brown eyes. Police said she was last seen wearing black pajama bottoms, pink flip-flops, and a pink top. Anyone with information that can help locate the toddler is asked to call police at (972)744-4800.
