"Late Monday afternoon, an Amber Alert was discontinued due to a lack of leads in the case."
I'm sorry, I'm having a hard time dealing with this one. There is one paragraph in Nina Golgowski's↱ report for the Huffington Post that isn't completely and utterly devastating; it is the one-sentence paragraph at the end, asking for help, and offering the police phone number in Richardson, Texas (972.744.4800).
A desperate search is underway for a 3-year-old Texas girl whose father says vanished after he left her outside at night as punishment for not drinking her milk, according to police.
Sherin Mathews was last seen wearing a pink top and black pajama bottoms outside of her home in Richardson, just north of Dallas, around 3 a.m. Saturday, local authorities said in a release. She has "developmental issues and limited verbal communication skills," according to the authorities.
Sherin's father, Westley Mathews, allegedly told police that he ordered the three-feet-tall, 22-pound child to stand by a tree near an alley as punishment over the milk dispute. He returned to check on her 15 minutes later but found her gone. He didn't call police until five hours later, Sgt. Kevin Perlich told Dallas-Fort Worth station KXAS-TV.
Sherin Mathews was last seen wearing a pink top and black pajama bottoms outside of her home in Richardson, just north of Dallas, around 3 a.m. Saturday, local authorities said in a release. She has "developmental issues and limited verbal communication skills," according to the authorities.
Sherin's father, Westley Mathews, allegedly told police that he ordered the three-feet-tall, 22-pound child to stand by a tree near an alley as punishment over the milk dispute. He returned to check on her 15 minutes later but found her gone. He didn't call police until five hours later, Sgt. Kevin Perlich told Dallas-Fort Worth station KXAS-TV.
Everything else is just a wasteland of the soul.
• "Why was the last sighting at 3 o'clock and the parents not call us until after 8 a.m.? That's the question we want answered as well," Perlich told the station.
• Mathews was arrested later that night for abandoning or endangering a child, police said.
• According to a copy of the arrest affidavit obtained by local television station WFAA, the girl's father told police that he knew coyotes had been spotted in the alley where he left his daughter. The home is also near railroad tracks.
• ... the family has previously had contact with the department [of Family and Protective Services].
• Late Monday afternoon, an Amber Alert was discontinued due to a lack of leads in the case.
• Mathews was arrested later that night for abandoning or endangering a child, police said.
• According to a copy of the arrest affidavit obtained by local television station WFAA, the girl's father told police that he knew coyotes had been spotted in the alley where he left his daughter. The home is also near railroad tracks.
• ... the family has previously had contact with the department [of Family and Protective Services].
• Late Monday afternoon, an Amber Alert was discontinued due to a lack of leads in the case.
I have yet to get past the proverbial #WTF stage.
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Notes:
Golgowski, Nina. "3-Year-Old Missing After Left Outside For Not Drinking Milk: Cops". The Huffington Post. 9 February 2017. HuffingtonPost.com. 9 February 2017. http://bit.ly/2yC7X8p