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RICHARDSON, Texas — Sherin Mathews is three years old, three feet tall, and she weighs just 22 pounds.

So why was the now-missing girl put outside by her father — across the alley from her family home — at three o’clock Saturday morning as a punishment? That’s what Richardson Police and the public want to know.

“I find it very strange,” local mom, Allison Underwood, said. “Our children wouldn’t be outside at 3 a.m. regardless of what was going on.”

The father, Wesley Mathews, is facing child endangerment charges and a $250,000 bond thanks to his admission that he put little Sherin out back as punishment for not drinking her milk.

The police report says:

Wesley Mathews said he directed his daughter to stand near a large tree at approximately 3:00 AM on 10/07/2017, because she wouldn’t drink her milk. At approximately 3:15 AM, he went back to the spot where he directed his daughter to stay and she was gone.”

It’s worth noting that the Mathews have an approximately eight foot tall fence their backyard, and the tree Sherin was next to is beyond that fence and on the other side of a single lane alley.

She wasn’t reported missing until five hours later at 8:00 a.m., setting off an Amber Alert.

Those in their quiet Richardson neighborhood are struggling to explain his actions.

“If our child was missing, if we didn’t find her, I would be panicked within a minute,” Underwood, a mother of four, said. “If we didn’t find her, I don’t know how to put a timeline on that, but it certainly wouldn’t be five hours. We would’ve called the police immediately.”

Searches were called off around dark Saturday night, and before some started searching again this afternoon, there was little action at the house other than a group coming to visit and a pair of women leaving in an unmarked Police unit for an unknown reason.

But what happened to Sherin Mathews?

We’re still waiting.

If you’ve seen Sherin or know anything about her disappearance, you’re asked to call Richardson PD at 972-744-4801.