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3-year-old missing after being punished for not drinking milk, told to stand in coyote-prone area

Posted at 2:48 PM, Oct 09, 2017
and last updated 2017-10-09 14:48:57-04

RICHARDSON, Texas -- Authorities in Texas are still searching for a missing 3-year-old girl who disappeared from a spot near her family's home on Saturday.

Investigators say 3-year-old Sherin Mathews was last seen by her father around 3 a.m. in Richardson, Texas, according to KXAS.

Police say the girl's father, 37-year-old Wesley Mathews, told detectives that he told Sherin to stand by a tree about 100 feet from the family's home because she would not drink her milk.

Mathews told investigators that he went back to the tree 15 minutes later and realized Sherin was gone.

The family called police five hours later to report her missing. Mathews also told detectives that he knew coyotes were seen in the area where he left his daughter.

Police say they are still trying to figure out why the family waited so long, but say Mathews was arrested on a complaint of abandoning or endangering a child.

Sherin is described as 3-feet tall and 22 pounds with black hair. She was last seen wearing a pink top, black pajama bottoms and pink flip-flops.

Police say tell KXAS that she has "developmental issues and has limited verbal communication skills."  Investigators say she was adopted two years ago from an orphanage in India.