Father Of Missing 3-Year-Old Girl Tells Police That She Died After Choking On Milk

Richardson Police Department

The adoptive father of the 3-year-girl who went missing in Texas changed his story on the events that led to his daughter, Sherin Mathews' disappearance more than two weeks ago.

Wesley Mathews was arrested and charged Monday with injury to a child, a first-degree felony punishable by life or five to 99 years in prison, the Richardson Police Department said.

Police said that Mathews voluntarily arrived at the police station with his attorney on Monday and provided an "alternate statement of events from those he had given previously" regarding Sherin's disappearance on Oct. 7.

Earlier, Mathews had told police that after Sherin refused to drink her milk on the night of Oct. 7, he took her outside to discipline her and told her to stand by a tree in their backyard. He said that he last saw her standing outside their house before reporting her missing five hours later.

At the time, police arrested and charged Mathews with abandoning or endangering a child, but released him on a $250,000 bond.

However, Mathews told authorities on Monday that he had been trying to get Sherin to drink her milk in the garage but she wouldn't listen to him, according to an arrest affidavit.

Eventually, she began to drink the milk and Mathews "physically assisted" her in drinking it.

However, the 3-year-old began to choke. "She was coughing and her breathing slowed," the affidavit said. Mathews no longer felt her pulse and believed she had died.

Wesley Mathews

Richardson Police Department

He then admitted to removing her body from the house, according to the affidavit.

Authorities conducted a weeks-long search around the neighborhoods and surrounding areas where Mathews had last reported seeing Sherin.

On Thursday morning, police found the body of a small child in a culvert beneath a road, Sgt. Kevin Perlich, spokesman for the Richardson police department, said at a press conference. He did not specify how far the road was from Mathews' property.

The medical examiner's office has yet to positively identify the child's body, but police said "indications are that it is most likely" the body of Sherin Mathews. A cause of death has not yet been determined.

Mathews is being held in the Richardson City Jail and his bond was set at $1,000,000.

LINK: Father Of Missing 3-Year-Old Girl Is Arrested After Police Find The Body Of A Small Child

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