This story is absolutely horrifying. Police are searching for a 3-year-old girl from Dallas whose father said she went missing over the weekend after he left her outside as punishment for not drinking her milk.

Wesley Mathews, 37, left his 3-year-old daughter Sherin Mathews outside their home in a coyote-infested area in suburban Dallas as a form of punishment for not drinking her milk over the weekend. She hasn’t been seen since. Wesley said he left the toddler, who has a development disability, next to a tree across an alley from their home, behind a fence, around 3 a.m. on Oct. 7, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by ABC News. Authorities are still searching for the little girl after her father reported her missing when he found she was not where he left her when he stood her outside. Wesley said he went outside 15 minutes after leaving her alone to check on her, but she was gone, according to the affidavit. Sherin was reportedly wearing a pink long-sleeved shirt, leggings, and pink flip-flops at the time she went missing.

Sherin’s father didn’t tell the authorities she had gone missing until about five hours later, according to Sgt. Kevin Perlich. The officer says that this delay “is certainly concerning to us.” “That does not seem like a normal response that one would do if you have a missing child,” the sergeant said. The father told the police that coyotes have been spotted in that alley, but authorities say they have found no indication that Sherin was taken by one. Wesley was arrested the day his daughter went missing on the charge of abandoning or endangering a child. He posted bond later the next day.

Sherin is the adopted daughter of Wesley and his wife, according to Perlich. The little girl was malnourished when they adopted her. Wesley told authorities that Sherin would wake up in the middle of the night to eat to increase her weight, according to Perlich. This is a possible explanation for why Sherin was punished in the wee hours of Saturday, according to the sergeant. Click here to see the saddest celebrity deaths of 2017.

Authorities have taken three vehicles, cellphones and laptops from the home and are also reviewing surveillance footage from the area in an attempt to figure out what happened. State Child Protective Services removed a 4-year-old child from Sherin’s home today, according to the officer. While CPS spokeswoman, Marissa Gonzales, said the agency has dealt with this particular family before, she did not release specific information about the case.

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