Found Deceased TX - Sherin Mathews, 3, Richardson, 7 Oct 2017 #5 *Arrest*

[Margo/Mom]

https://www.outlookindia.com/newssc...-adjusting-well-but-had-eating-issues/1175180

Perhaps articles like these, which talk about patience, letting children choose to eat, not forcing, etc....
https://www.adoptivefamilies.com/adoption-bonding-home/food-issues-adopted-children/
http://www.chop.edu/conditions-diseases/feeding-difficulties-adopted-and-foster-children


I found this one to be especially interesting (see quote below) https://blogs.psychcentral.com/weig...ome-feeding-problems-qa-with-dr-katja-rowell/

What this makes me think is that feeding issues can develop as a response to abuse, and feeding issues can lead to a cycle of control and punishment. JMO

Yes, and thank you for the resources.

One thing that adoptive families often deal with has to do with responding to the impact of everything that happened prior to their life with the adoptee. An adoption counselor I knew used to say that adoptive families get blamed for a lot of things they didn't do as a result. Not saying this to diminish any sense that WM did not do what he has confessed to and more. But many of our caring and identification systems are built around red flags pointing to the family, and trying to change families. Which makes sense in the context of reasonably intact bio families, but is a poor fit for many adoptive families. Example--sexual acting out is frequently seen in a child who has been sexually abused. Despite some enhanced attention in more recent years to giving adoptive families some decent histories for their kids, adoptive families can be among the first to discover that something happened back there. And sadly the discovery is sometimes in the context of an investigation into themselves. Sometimes issues/symptoms emerge as kids get comfortable in the adopted home and come to believe that they are not going to be sent away (or fear that they will soon be sent away, like has always happened to them before). And then all hell breaks loose.

All of which I am just offering as context for the apparently emergent feeding difficulties in the case.

 

[georgiajean]

https://m.rediff.com/news/special/the-child-god-took-away/20171026.htm

This article has details we have not seen of Sherin/Saraswati's life in India. Though I am concerned about the year dates (she was adopted in 2016, not 2015), and don't know if the dates are all accurate.
From the article:
She was found at about 6 months old, abandoned in a bush Feb. 15, 2015. She was estimated to be 6 months old because she could sit up and eat light food.
Later that month in 2015, she was sent to "Nalanda and to Kumari's Nalanda Mother Teresa Anath Seva Ashram, the nearest agency for housing orphans, to join 15 other parent-less children."
But the dates that Kumari gives make it seem like she only spent 6 months there, and was adopted by the Mathews in 2015. So something is off here.

 

[MsMarple]

I think we can all agree, there was nothing typical about giving milk in the garage.

But that then raises the question of why they were in the garage. My first thought was that there might be an out of use high chair stored in the garage and the angry/frustrated WM took her there to restrain her in the chair until she drank the formula/milk. But, I don't see a chair there, or even any space for really anything other than cars. My mind then went along the same lines thinking that he was using the car seat in the same way (as a restraint)--leading up to forcing the formula on her. And then there are the other suggestions, the least objectionable of which involves taking her to the garage for corporal punishment, so as not to wake the rest of the household. And that's about as far as I can conjecture.

I'd sure like to know what, if anything, LE found in the garage, like spilled milk on the floor, chairs or stools or anything that would indicate Sherin was regularly fed there. Or not.

List of what was seized prior to finding Sherin's body is here:

http://www.wfaa.com/news/local/dna-...chardson-missing-girl-investigation/484289189

Has LE returned to the house now that WM is calling the garage the crime scene? I haven't seen anything in msm unless I missed it.

Reposting the link to video of the garage:

https://www.facebook.com/MariaGuerreroNews/videos/1039832706159513/

 

[Margo/Mom]

I agree and have been wondering about that too. I have been trying to think of anyone in any of the cases i have followed that committed a heinous crime against a child and fessed up straight off the bat to LE, and i couldn't think of any? Maybe other posters might know of some other case like that? The guy just gave himself a life sentence if he gets max penalty at Trial.

I can think of two explanations. One is that what he did was far more horrendous to what he is copping to and he hopes to prevent further investigation that would reveal what it is. The other is that he actually feels shame and remorse for his role in the death and disappearance of his daughter and sought to end the tension of awaiting an inevitable arrest by confessing. No bets either way, though.

 

[TaylorJ4]

And on another note , I am shocked at how many people that I know ( and respect and love in several cases ) have no idea if this case , they don't have any interest , they don't watch the news because it's depressing , the reasons are unbelievable .
It's no wonder these things occur ..
I am so grateful for all of you ... for this site , for all the knowledge , time and effort and genuine concern for these precious children that in most cases can't speak for themselves ... keep doing what you do ! It matters !

My son's family lives within an hour of this town, and they had not seen or heard anything about this until I told them

Sent from my ONE A2005 using Tapatalk

 

[Margo/Mom]

https://m.rediff.com/news/special/the-child-god-took-away/20171026.htm




memorial service for Sherin

Small note from article:

Kumari has no details of what the girl was wearing or if she had any bangles, threads on her wrists or religious markers on her little person when Gaya's local child-line services found her.

Threads on wrists?

Thinking back to the items taken in the search. There was a blue string (or thread?) with several fibers (possibly hair). I wondered if this was taken as a hair sample for DNA matching. But, I am curious about "threads on wrists." Anyone know anything?

 

[JaneEyre]

Small note from article:


Threads on wrists?

Thinking back to the items taken in the search. There was a blue string (or thread?) with several fibers (possibly hair). I wondered if this was taken as a hair sample for DNA matching. But, I am curious about "threads on wrists." Anyone know anything?

From Wikipedia

Kalava*(Sanskrit:*कलाव&#2366 is the sacred*Hinduthread also called*mauli*(मौल&#2368 or*charadu*in Hindi.*It is tied by *advertiser censored*priest*or an older family member, typically grandparents or parents on the wrists of all the people attending the prayer ceremony. The Kalava is tied on the right wrist of men and unmarried women and on the left wrist of the married women. Cotton strings in form of yarn in full red are most common as is red with small bits of yellow, however, other dye combinations exist. It sometimes has knots which are tied up while reciting sacred*mantras*to invoke*Satvik*state of human nature and is worn to ward off evil from the person who wears this red thread. A stylised form of the Kalava is used for the holiday of*Raksha Bandhan.

(There's more here https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalava?wprov=sfla1

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

 

[MissMalowe]

I think its exactly the same jmo

http://m.kidshealth.org/en/parents/cosleeping.html?WT.ac=

 

[georgiajean]

Small note from article:


Threads on wrists?

Thinking back to the items taken in the search. There was a blue string (or thread?) with several fibers (possibly hair). I wondered if this was taken as a hair sample for DNA matching. But, I am curious about "threads on wrists." Anyone know anything?

Kumari was referring to when Saraswati was found in the bushes as a 6 month old. No clues to anything about her was found on her, that is what I took it to mean.

 

[osu]

I did a swallow test, which was normal. Yet I continue to have issues swallowing anything from yogurt to granola bars, and occasionally aspirating small amounts of liquids. Thank you for that tip, though.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

Sorry, just catching up. My father just recently had a Modified swallow test. He'd had a stroke and they were concerned with his swallowing. He passed the test with flying colors and his speech pathologist told us that what he needs to do is to increase his fluid intake by an additional 1 liter per day, over what he was already drinking. He said that lack of saliva in the paroid and salivary glands will effect your swallowing ability.
If you're not producing enough "slippery saliva", it can feel like some foods are getting stuck in your throat. Hope this helps. [emoji4]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[rsd1200]

this^^^---When a mom has very small children, she will hear noises in the night and wake up, because it is innate and natural to do so.

I have a hard time believing that a nurse in a pediatric hospital, wouldn't be attuned to the care of her two very young daughters, in the middle of the night.

My husband would sometimes be the one to get up in the middle of the night, if one of our kids cried or got up for some reason---but even if he got up and took care of it, I still kind of had one eye open---because I was Mom.

I can't imagine my husband getting up at 3 am, to get some milk for my 3 yr old, and I would not notice that he took her into the garage, did laundry, took the car for a spin, and returned home at dawn....:no:

BBM

I'm a very sound sleeper and even I find that hard to believe. That's just too much activity to not awaken, at least enough, to realize your spouse is not in bed, maybe look at the clock, and go back to sleep. Then again, maybe they slept in separate quarters?

 

[Amonet]

I just did a Google search on people going to police stations to voluntarily confess, and just from the first two pages of results it does seem that the majority are those who are feeling the weight of what they've done.

That doesn't mean there can't be any other reason, only that this seems to be the reason for the largest percentage.

But these cases appear to (mostly?) be ones where the police weren't onto the perpetrator, and the crimes they're admitting to can be ongoing for years and still ongoing, or they can be 10 or 15 year old crimes that they've decided they want to admit to. So in that sense they're not identical situations.

I would think that even if the guilt is weighing on someone, knowing that knock on the door will come in the next 48 hours that they might just take the time to get their affairs in order, enjoy their last few days of freedom as much as that can be enjoyed knowing what's coming next, and of course I think the majority would still be hoping against hope that the police can't make a solid case against them.

So I guess that either WM called the attorney and asked him to visit and accompany him to the police station, or during a visit with the attorney WM insisted he wanted to confess to the police and the attorney had no option other than to agree to accompany WM at a set time rather than waiting for the police to come out and risk that being at a time that was inconvenient to the attorney. I don't know exactly the rules for a situation where a client admits guilt to their attorney, but if someone did that, then the attorney should advise them to turn themselves in, shouldn't they?

I did think WM looked guilt-ridden (or something) the way he had his head down at the hearing over custody of the elder daughter.

 

[Seajay]

What if they take turns getting up with the kids? Back when my children were young, I was a SAHM, husband slept through everything.

Later, after they were gone, husband's snoring got louder and louder. I started sleeping with earplugs or I wouldn't have slept at all. I even wore them when the grandkids were here.

Maybe they rotate who gets a good night's sleep on any given night? Just a thought. That could be why she wouldn't hear all this commotion.

 

[Love Never Fails]

I cannot imagine that the COD, if one can be determined, will be able to shed any light on the presence or absence of love. Or the motivations driving the adoption.

I do think those are questions that fall in the general bucket of our desire to identify a point at which someone missed something that might have prevented this. Because that helps us to situate this more comfortably in our psyche. To believe that we know how to change the world to prevent this ever happening again. And if that is possible then by all means we should do so. But I think we also need to remain open to the possibility that this couple not only gave off no clues, but also were not basically different than most of us. They adopted because they wanted a second child. For all the normal reasons (btw, as an adoptive parent it used to drive me crazy when people asked my why I decided to adopt--nobody goes around asking other people why they got pregnant). There may have been enhanced pressures emanating from the child's needs (and no, these are not always foreseable) that drove WM into dangerous waters vis a vis his responses that might not have emerged otherwise. Or maybe he had latent proclivities that he felt free to act on with a child not related biologically. All speculative at this point, however.

I agree that there are currently holes in what we know that make for a story that doesn't add up. Presumably LE knows more. I am just reluctant, in the absence of evidence, to stuff Sini in to try and fill those holes.

Hi again. You certainly make a good argument for the defense.

Lets suppose it it is more sinister just for the heck of it. They went to India to adopt a baby girl. The dad did all the talking. That was stated upthread. Then they come back to the U.S. and the dad does all the calling to talk to the little girl to hear her sweet voice, it says. So Mom not terribly invested IMO. Mom takes care of child one, the biological daughter. Dad takes care of child two, the adopted daughter. Maybe he sleeps with her, molests her. She is now old enough to start talking and crying and resisting. (Yes I read a lot on news websites and it angers me what people can do). Of course this is conjecture and can only be substantiated by the investigation and autopsy. Just trying to think of why the heck he killed that precious baby girl. Eating difficulties? I doubt that very much. Love her? NO WAY! Had he loved her, he would not have dumped her like she was a dead animal. So he is a sick and hateful man.

Of course, I like your story better because it sounds like a fairy tale where everyone is decent and innocent. Just doesn't apply to WM at all.

i hope you are one hundred percent correct. And Sini is innocent until proven otherwise.

P.S. I have friends who have adopted and know others who were adopted themselves and this is no reflection on that. Praise God for caring and loving people who want and deserve to raise a child. But I do not care about WM's possible "enhanced pressures". I am a parent of four and it is difficult at times. But it comes with the territory and as a mom I love them so much I would likely destroy anyone who hurt my baby and threw her away! No excuses.

 

[Margo/Mom]

Kumari was referring to when Saraswati was found in the bushes as a 6 month old. No clues to anything about her was found on her, that is what I took it to mean.

That is what I understood as well.

Just thought the family might follow the same tradition and that might explain the blue string. From the wiki post, I think maybe not (wrong color, wrong religion).

Alternatively I thought it might have been one of those thread wrap hair things that kids sometimes get at fairs/carnivals, along with face painting. Maybe they had cut it out to preserve it and it still contained the hair. Which, again, would be helpful in DNA matching.

 

[JaneEyre]

That is what I understood as well.

Just thought the family might follow the same tradition and that might explain the blue string. From the wiki post, I think maybe not (wrong color, wrong religion).

Alternatively I thought it might have been one of those thread wrap hair things that kids sometimes get at fairs/carnivals, along with face painting. Maybe they had cut it out to preserve it and it still contained the hair. Which, again, would be helpful in DNA matching.

The colors can vary, but red is the most common. I didn't dig deep, though. There could be another cultural explanation buried on page 2 or 3 of the Google search, honestly.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

 

[BlinkOfAnI]

Information concerning the adoption follow up reports:

""The social worker who visited Sherin Mathew's family for follow-ups records that "eating has become more and more challenging for the family". "She likes to eat food outside but not at home"."

"The fourth, and the last report before Sherin's death, notes, "We discussed several different strategies that may be helpful" and that "additional mealtime strategies are needed to break this cycle and avoid more serious long term eating concerns".
According to CARA CEO Lt Col (retd) Deepak Kumar, "The child was undernourished right from the time she was adopted. She weighed less for a girl her age. There were concerns about her eating habits and her parents wanted to look into that."

"The girl was born on July 14, 2014 and was surrendered by a parent in Gaya, Bihar. She was sent to an orphanage, Nalanda Mother Teresa Anaath Seva Ashram, which is now shut, the CARA CEO added.

He also said that due procedures of law were followed during the adoption of the child and the adoption agency in the US the case submitted timely and detailed reports.

"Apart from Sherin’s eating habits, there were no concerns. The post-adoption follow up was carried out properly," he told PTI.

There are certain commitments which a receiving country and a sending country have to give as per the Hague Convention and in this case the US has been fulfilling those requirements, he added.

"There can be aberrations but that doesn't mean there is anything faulty in the system."

He said the reports submitted to the CARA were detailed and spread over 5-6 pages, each of them carrying 4-5 photos of the child.

The four reports submitted recorded the girl’s one-month, three-month, half-yearly and annual progress after she was placed with the adoptive family in the US.

These were submitted to CARA on September 17, 2016, October 21, 2016 and then January 11 and July 13 this year. Each of these reports were notarised by the state of Texas.

As per CARA's adoption regulations, the country receiving the child has to submit four reports in the first year after the adoption and two reports in the second year.

Kumar told PTI that the authorised foreign adoption agency had the recognition of the nodal body for adoption there -- the US Central Authority for Hague Adoption.

The agency was also accredited under the Hague Convention and was vetted by the Indian Embassy in the US.

The submissions also describe how Sherin went on holidays with her extended family in Houston and spent some time in Dallas. The photos in the fourth report also show her cutting a cake at a party.

Her adoptive parents are overseas citizens of India.

The nationality by birth of the father, Wesley Mathews, is Qatari and that of the mother, Sini Mathews, is UAE. They are both US citizens."

https://www.outlookindia.com/newssc...-adjusting-well-but-had-eating-issues/1175180

 

[faw720]

Just finished watching local NBCDFW5 at 5pm. They are reporting that medical examiner says it could be several more week before a COD is determined. I absolutely do NOT understand why it takes so long.

 

[wgram]

OK--I believe her name appears as many as 4 times, misspelled once? Looks like a typo to me.

Not only that but lawyers don't type their own letters. It would have been his secretary.

Sent from my SM-T580 using Tapatalk

 

[CanadianWells]

Just finished watching local NBCDFW5 at 5pm. They are reporting that medical examiner says it could be several more week before a COD is determined. I absolutely do NOT understand why it takes so long.

Would that indicate the tox report is going to prove very important?