Updated at 2 p.m. Oct. 11: Revised to include statement from family's lawyer.

The lawyer for the mother of a 3-year-old girl who has been missing since Saturday when she was reportedly sent outside as punishment said Wednesday that she is "distraught" but still hopeful her daughter will be found.

Sherin Mathews

Kent Starr, who is representing Sini Mathews, said that "all she wants is for her daughter to be returned."

Sherin Mathews was last seen about 3 a.m. outside her family's Richardson backyard. Her father, Wesley Mathews, reportedly was punishing her for not drinking her milk.

Asked why his client had retained a lawyer, Starr said that Sini Mathews has cooperated with police and that "everybody has a right to legal counsel."

Starr — who spent nearly two hours inside the home in the 900 block of Sunningdale before speaking briefly to reporters — stressed that there were no charges against the girl's mother.

"They adopted Sherin; they love Sherin," he said of the family. When asked why Sini Mathews hasn't spoken publicly, he said "some individuals mourn differently."

Richardson police, along with an FBI evidence recovery team, entered the house Tuesday night with a search warrant, police Sgt. Kevin Perlich said.

The search was part of the "natural progression" of the investigation, he said.

Members of an FBI evidence response team work at the family home of Sherin Mathews in the 900 block Sunningdale on Oct. 10, 2017, in Richardson. (Smiley N. Pool / Staff Photographer)

Sherin's father, Wesley Mathews, 37, was arrested Saturday on a charge of abandoning or endangering a child. He was released from custody late Sunday after posting bond.

He is required to wear an electronic monitoring device and surrender his passport as part of the conditions of his bond.

Mathews told police he put Sherin outside and told her to stand next to a large tree about 3 a.m. Saturday, an arrest-warrant affidavit said. The tree was behind a fence, about 100 feet south of the family's home and across an alley.

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Mathews admitted to police that he knew coyotes had been seen in the alley, the affidavit said.

Wesley Mathews (Richardson Police Department)

The Humane Society of the United States says coyote attacks are rare and has recorded only two human fatalities since the 1980s.

Mathews told police he checked on Sherin about 3:15 a.m. and she was gone, the affidavit said.

After looking around for her, he said he went inside to do laundry and decided to wait until it was light out to continue searching or for her to return on her own, Perlich said.

Police weren't alerted to her disappearance until about five hours later.

"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 KXAS-TV (NBC5). "As far as why she was out there, how long she was out there, that's the questions we have for the parents."

The girl's mother does not face any charges. She was in the house at the time, but was reportedly asleep and unaware of what her husband was doing, Perlich said.

Richardson Police return to the area where missing 3-year-old Sherin Mathews was last seen. Appear to have found something. Not sure what. pic.twitter.com/pgr0DfAnyO — Larry Collins (@LarryNBC5) October 9, 2017

Police went door-to-door in the neighborhood and used search dogs and helicopters to look for Sherin.

Investigators will process what they've collected, including security footage, electronics and items in the family's three vehicles that were towed from the home Saturday, Perlich said.

On Monday, police retrieved an item from near the tree where Sherin was left and placed it in a bag. It was unclear what the object was and whether it was of any "evidentiary value," Perlich said.

An Amber Alert issued for the girl Saturday was discontinued Monday because of insufficient tips.

Members of an FBI evidence response team enter the family home of Sherin Mathews in the 900 block of Sunningdale in Richardson. (Smiley N. Pool / Staff Photographer)

"We need to have a specific vehicle or a suspect, and we lack that," Perlich said. He said the Amber Alert could be reissued if authorities develop new leads.

Jose Cherian and others from Emmanuel Bible Chapel, the church Mathews and his family attend, helped search a field and other areas near the family's home.

Cherian told NBC5 that Mathews and his wife are good parents.

"The parents are also loving. They loved Sherin very much," he said. "They take care of her very much."

Child Protective Services spokeswoman Marissa Gonzales said the agency is working with law-enforcement officials on the investigation. She said the couple's 4-year-old daughter was removed from the Richardson home early Monday and placed in foster care.

The family has had previous contact with CPS, Gonzales said, but further details were not released. Neither child had been in foster care before Sherin's disappearance.

Starr, Sini Mathews' attorney, said Wednesday that neither parent had ever harmed Sherin, but he said he could not comment on the previous CPS contact.

Sherin, who has developmental issues and limited verbal communication skills, is described as Asian, about 3 feet tall and 22 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes. She was last seen wearing a pink top, black pajama bottoms and pink flip-flops.

The Mathewses reportedly adopted the girl two years ago from an India orphanage. She was malnourished and physically underdeveloped and does not have the same language skills a typical 3-year-old would in the U.S., Perlich said.

He told NBC5 it wasn't unusual for the girl to be awake late at night to eat in order to gain weight.

Anyone with information is asked to call Richardson police at 972-744-4800.

Staff writer Claire Ballor contributed to this report.