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

[kkdj]

This is one websleuth site I have trouble with not feeling sick to my stomach. Just the thought of these parents leaving a 3 year old home alone, scared and abandoned makes me sick, that's if she was even alive.

 

[Grouchymom]

I am so confused about Sherin's real disabilities, if any. The orphanage said the only thing wrong with Sherin was she had one eye smaller than the other one. They said she was very playful running around happy and she was chatty. They also said she loved to drink her milk.

None of that supports Sherin was a child with serious disabilities, and needs.

I would like to hear from Sherin's daycare teachers or someone outside of the home that would be unbiased because I don't trust anything being said by her parents.

IMO

I really don’t want to monopolize the thread today but I can’t seem to stop LOL.
This is purely speculation on my part but after looking at so many pictures of beautiful little Sherin I can’t help but wonder if she suffered from some sort of dwarfism. The orphanage pictures show her with what appears to be a head out of proportion but the later pictures with the weight gain and addition of that beautiful head of hair doesn’t show as much emphasis on the head size but her wrists and elbows make me think her growth had been stunted somehow. Now it could be as simple as the malnutrition that was alluded to previously especially if it was for an extended time. When I look at the pictures of her with the sister the size difference is considerable if there were 2 years between them but if the newer report of less than a year between them is accurate I think there must be an issue.

JMHO

And a video link
[video]https://drive.google.com/open?id=1UTZMyw1s143IvhUHKzKPi_EjlS1tgwCmjA[/video]

 

[Considering]

I am so confused about Sherin's real disabilities, if any. The orphanage said the only thing wrong with Sherin was she had one eye smaller than the other one. They said she was very playful running around happy and she was chatty. They also said she loved to drink her milk.

None of that supports Sherin was a child with serious disabilities, and needs.

I would like to hear from Sherin's daycare teachers or someone outside of the home that would be unbiased because I don't trust anything being said by her parents.

IMO

According to The Dallas Morning News, LE said Sherin had multiple special needs. I don't recall reading or hearing what the disabilities were nor the severity of them. I would hope that LE confirmed those disabilities and didn't only take the word of the two adults with whom Sherin resided.

Sherin Mathews had multiple special needs that her parents sought treatment for before her death, Richardson police confirmed to The Dallas Morning News on Friday.

https://www.dallasnews.com/news/cri...ecial-needs-3-am-feedings-part-doctors-orders

 

[katydid23]

This will be very unpopular but I have to say it anyway.

I do not understand why we allow people to adopt children from foreign countries when we have so many kids here that need families.

I especially do not understand why we allow the adoption of special needs foreign children when we have so many special needs kids in need of families here.

There, I have said it.

It is my opinion.

One of the reasons that happens is that some families who try to adopt in the US were not eligible because of age restrictions or marriage requirements. At one time, there were other countries that had more lenient requirements.

 

[Pamela_Brewer]

According to The Dallas Morning News, LE said Sherin had multiple special needs. I don't recall reading or hearing what the disabilities were nor the severity of them. I would hope that LE confirmed those disabilities and didn't only take the word of the two adults with whom Sherin resided.



https://www.dallasnews.com/news/cri...ecial-needs-3-am-feedings-part-doctors-orders

https://www.dallasnews.com/news/cri...ecial-needs-3-am-feedings-part-doctors-orders
"A social worker visiting the home suggested several strategies, the news agency reported."

This makes me wonder if Sherin was "falling off" the growth curve. (failing to gain weight compared to her height)

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3474389/
I am curious if a social worker became involved if it wasn't suspected that she was not being fed appropriately at home.
I know other feeding issues can develop, but I am referring to the parents PURPOSELY only feeding her protein shakes/supplements as opposed to balanced meals.
With mom being a nurse I also question the multiple develop mental issues.
Above and beyond having to learn to communicate.
Was Sherin meeting her developmental milestones?
For some reason I have a boggling feeling some, if not all were fabricated by the mother.
Perhaps munchausen
by proxy.
I just can't get past why a pediatric RN would need a social worker to give her advice/ideas on how to get a child to eat... [emoji848]

That's like a gas attendant telling a mechanic how to put gas in a car!!

IT DON'T MAKE NO SENSE!



MOO

 

[georgiajean]

Is it possible that Sherin is 2 and not 3? If both girls were the same age, then Sherin is extremely tiny. In photos and videos, Sherin barely reaches her sister's shoulders. That's very small for a 3 year old.

Sherin's sister was born at least 6 months before Sherin, based on photos I saw on Facebook before things were cleaned.

 

[agilbe]

https://www.dallasnews.com/news/cri...ecial-needs-3-am-feedings-part-doctors-orders
"A social worker visiting the home suggested several strategies, the news agency reported."

This makes me wonder if Sherin was "falling off" the growth curve. (failing to gain weight compared to her height)

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3474389/
I am curious if a social worker became involved if it wasn't suspected that she was not being fed appropriately at home.
I know other feeding issues can develop, but I am referring to the parents PURPOSELY only feeding her protein shakes/supplements as opposed to balanced meals.
With mom being a nurse I also question the multiple develop mental issues.
Above and beyond having to learn to communicate.
Was Sherin meeting her developmental milestones?
For some reason I have a boggling feeling some, if not all were fabricated by the mother.
Perhaps munchausen
by proxy.
I just can't get past why a pediatric RN would need a social worker to give her advice/ideas on how to get a child to eat... [emoji848]

That's like a gas attendant telling a mechanic how to put gas in a car!!

IT DON'T MAKE NO SENSE!



MOO

Bolded: I have wondered that myself. It might to some extent explain why she LOVED eating out. Maybe that was the only time she was getting food food.

 

[Gigglingtoes]

I agree and it almost seems like he’s starting to tell on his wife... I have the feeling she was way more involved and this arrest... just like her husband is a good start to a strong case and stronger charges. LE hasn’t said much... leads me to believe they know a lot.


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I dont think he "told on her" on purpose. I think after being questioned so many different ways and times and being so tired and stressed out it probably slipped...Like in his eyes if you read how he said it, it was "HIS idea to go to dinner and leave Sherin" BUT she then went on to say "But sini was not coerced or threatened in any way"
That makes me think it was..it came out that she was in the kitchen when they got back from dinner..
Cops: "So you and your wife left Sherin at home while you went to dinner?"
WM: "Well it was MY IDEA-"
Cops "But she wasnt coerced, you didnt threaten her?"
WM: "No! never."

Just a guess.
jmo

 

[rosesfromangels]

This will be very unpopular but I have to say it anyway.

I do not understand why we allow people to adopt children from foreign countries when we have so many kids here that need families.

I especially do not understand why we allow the adoption of special needs foreign children when we have so many special needs kids in need of families here.

There, I have said it.

It is my opinion.

Perhaps it is easier to adopt a child from another country vs the US?

 

[Gigglingtoes]

I have a hard time having any sort of sympathy for Sini.
She allowed Sherin to die...whether she was involved or was just doing as WM said.
It's really no different than a mother who's in a relationship with another guy and he starts abusing the child and the mom just allows it to happen. She then tells LE "well he was controlling and I had no choice but to stand there. I feared for my life."
Sini is just as guilty as WM.

IMO

This. My gut feeling is not that she was any sort of "victim." I feel she was just as much a part of this and made choices that resulted in her daughter being found in a culvert...and again SHE NEVER EVEN LOOKED FOR HER MISSING CHILD. Red flag. If your child is missing, and your abusive husband is in jail- wont you go LOOK FOR HER????

 

[Trinitee]

Bolded: I have wondered that myself. It might to some extent explain why she LOVED eating out. Maybe that was the only time she was getting food food.

I wonder if solid foods were being withheld from Sherin intentionally. In other words, was she slowly starved to death with the expectation that cause of death would be attributed to her health issues? JMO and speculation of course.

 

[georgiajean]

Sherin's sister is pictured in photos, as a very new infant, January 19, 2014. so her birth date could either be late Dec. 2013, or Jan 2014. You can scroll down and find the FB post in this article. I can't post it because her sister's face is visible.
http://www.cbs19.tv/news/amber-alert-issued-for-richardson-girl/481741763

In this article, you can scroll down to find a photo from their adoption of Sherin, and Sini is holding the older sister. This was June, 2016, so Sherin's sister was 2 and a half at the time, and Sherin was 2, for a size comparison http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5012505/Father-missing-girl-3-arrested-death.html

What I think happened was if someone saw Sherin's sister's birth year as 2013 (even though it was late Dec) they may have said she was 4 without really thinking. She will be 4 in late Dec or early Jan.

 

[Deleted member 158085]

Perhaps it is easier to adopt a child from another country vs the US?

I think it can be. I read an article yesterday that said India used to be one of the easier places to adopt from.

I know that until recently, single people and LGBT folks had a hard time adopting here, but could easily adopt from other countries.

I went to school with two girls who were part of a very large adopted family - kids from all over the world. They would have been adopted in the mid 70s. One was Indian and the other was Korean. Their siblings were from everywhere else under the sun. It was really, really easy to adopt from certain countries back then.

But I think the Mathews simply adopted from their home country because it seemed more natural to them.

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[crelisacorder]

Yes, that was 30 years ago, just about the time people were just beginning to understand the mechanics and effects of Domestic Violence (I personally think dv minimizes the issue). Men had been allowed to treat women as their property. By law a husband could not rape his wife. Law enforcement didn’t respond to “domestic calls” or if they did they warned the wife not to do whatever had made him angry again, or they said they couldn’t do anything because they didn’t see who started it. Women’s shelters were just getting started and they were overflowing, poorly supplied and easy for him to find.

”Barefoot and pregnant” was still hanging on. Wifes were just being allowed to have credit of their own. A woman getting her tubes tied required her husbands written consent. Homes and vehicles were still regularly only in the husbands name. (A wife could get her name on deed or title with his permission) Going directly to the prosecutors office with fresh wounds and pictures from previous incents got nothing but, ‘I’’m sorry”.

If women were fortunate enough to access that last flicker of free will and hope and escape, law enforcement would notify the husband if they found the vehicle that a wife left in and allow him to take it, even if the woman’s name was on the title. The police looked the other way while the wife was terrorized. A husband could have his wife committed for 30 days with just his signature.

Stalking laws were just beginning but were rarely applied when the stalker was a husband or ex-husband. Even if a police officer heard the wife's life threatened, they responded with, “we can’t do anything until he actually does something, and then we can consider him a possible suspect. A restraining order wasn’t worth the paper it was written on. The husband or ex-husband could show up at school and take the children with impunity. Landlords were hesitant to rent to a wife without her husbands consent and once divorced it didn’t get much better. Punishing dead beat dads was just beginning to happen with any regularity but he had to be 3 months in arrears to get any help. A court order was counted as income recieved whether you recieved it or not.

How do I know? It happened to me. That was my life my story, In 1989 I escaped with my daughter (who he threatened to kill in front of me to hurt me) I don’t want sympathy. I survived. I wasn’t better than those who didn’t, I was luckier. I was lucky because that fateful day his guns were upstairs and I heard him loading them. I was able to get my child out the door and into our secret place before he came downstairs loaded and ready to kill. I didn’t have time to get out too, so I headed toward him to buy her precious time to hide. When I lied about where she went, he left to find her after knocking me to the ground with the butt of his rifle. Once he left armed to locate his own daughter, I retrieved her and left. I ran and didn’t stop until there were several states between us. We were stalked for years and through several states. I have lived in my car, eaten restaurant ketchup for spaghetti sauce and potted meat sandwichs to survive. My daughter never went hungry and we survived. I am much stronger for it.

I don’t think Sini was abused. I do think she and WM acted in concert, to leave her alone and to dispose of the body. I am not sure who actually caused her death or how but if I am wrong and she was abused I hope she can get the help she will need and I too certainly hope we have progressed past 1987 and we place the blame where it lies the abuser.

JMHO

[emoji22]

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[MissMalowe]

Some good points made in the last few pages (about the protein drinks/milk vs. real food)
While it wouldn't normally raise any red flags for me when a child prefers to eat outside the home (pot roast vs McDonalds happy meal....I know which one *I* preferred as a child �� ) It wouldn't surprise me to find that perhaps dinner was offered and when that was refused, a protein drink/milk was offered as an alternative (again, doesn't seem too odd) but when a refusal to drink it turns into being left behind while the rest of the family goes out to eat, that's where it becomes unbelievably cruel to me (even if you set aside the fact that it meant she was left home alone)

Did they go out to eat often and either always leave Sherin behind? Did they often bring her along but not allow her to eat if the protein drink/milk wasn't drank first?

When they told the social worker who was doing the check-ins / updates for the adoption about her only liking to eat outside the home was that to mean dining out or eating anyone else's home cooking?

Was she willing to eat outside the home because milk was the only thing being offered inside the home or because outside the home there was less pressure therefore less struggle and stressors for little Sherin regarding eating?

In any of the videos/photos, were any celebrations/parties or things where food was involved or a main part of the event? Was a protein drink or milk present in any of those photos (if they exist)? Does anyone remember/know?

 

[Deleted member 158085]

Sherin's sister is pictured in photos, as a very new infant, January 19, 2014. so her birth date could either be late Dec. 2013, or Jan 2014. You can scroll down and find the FB post in this article. I can't post it because her sister's face is visible.
http://www.cbs19.tv/news/amber-alert-issued-for-richardson-girl/481741763

In this article, you can scroll down to find a photo from their adoption of Sherin, and Sini is holding the older sister. This was June, 2016, so Sherin's sister was 2 and a half at the time, and Sherin was 2, for a size comparison http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5012505/Father-missing-girl-3-arrested-death.html

What I think happened was if someone saw Sherin's sister's birth year as 2013 (even though it was late Dec) they may have said she was 4 without really thinking. She will be 4 in late Dec or early Jan.

I agree with GrouchyMom that perhaps Sherin had some sort of dwarfism. One of my cousins had, not dwarfism, but some other condition that made her not grow as well. They had her at mayo clinic all through the 80s. She was always more pale and small for her age. I never did have any idea what her condition was called.

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[MarisaS1985]

I think it's a shame that the original information on the older sister took so long to be corrected but I am happy it was.

I struggle to believe much of what orphanages say simply because so many people get their child home and find out all sorts of things they had never been told, or had not been in the childs file. Including heart issues, brain issues and so on.

It would be expensive to run all of these tests on every child to go into the orphanage and kids tend to learn to self-soothe and such very very young. They simply don't have someone giving the same amount of one-on-one that they get from a parent, in order for many issues to be noticed.

With Sherin, they say she loved milk and also said they didn't have enough for every child to receive everyday. So, one must assume this means that when it was that child's turn they would be excited as it would be a treat for them. Sherin, for her age, appears to be underweight in the orphanage pictures. She didn't have any baby weight, no chubby rolly arms, no pinchable cheeks and so on. Not the 2 year old we are USED to seeing. She may have been an excellent eater because she was simply never completely full. We also don't see photos of other kids in the orphanage from the same time. Perhaps food was very scarce and all the kids were doing well, but not thriving.

I think one of the top issues of international adoptive parents is they have eating issues. The children will over eat whenever allowed and can gain weight too fast and become unhealthy, they may need to have their calories watched because of this. The hoarding I have heard of can be anything from sneaking foods into their room, to keeping foods that are rotting and decaying etc with an almost "just in case" mentality. As if the child is thinking when the food runs out in the kitchen they won't have to go without again. IMO these overeating and hoarding issues lend to the idea that orphanages simply do not have enough food to offer to each child.

The other feeding issue I have heard (though less frequently), is a child who comes and eats really well, then stops. They realize they can afford to say no and there will always be more food offered. They are asserting themselves, coming into their own. Taking some control and so on.

If Sherin was suddenly refusing to eat (and the parents were actually offering her food?!) it could have simply been her being a typical 3 year old who felt confident in saying NO. I have a little cousin who will ONLY eat with ketchup. EVERYTHING has ketchup. He has done that since he was about 3. He is about 7 or so now and still does it! That kid will drink a bottle of ketchup. But, it's simply not "worth the fight" to try and force him to eat the food without it. He refuses, gets mad, tantrums ensue, everyone grows frustrated and the kid goes hungry. It's just NOT beneficial. So, as the "best" compromise in his case, they buy the low sugar, low sodium, organic ketchup to at least help keep the extra sugars out of his system. On the other hand, at least he is eating all his fruit, veggies and meat without complaint so long as he has ketchup.

As a result of seeing this type of odd behaviour, and being someone who is picky to the point I have fainted and been hospitalized because of refusing to eat (even as an adult, if I don't like it, i won't eat it), I can completely see Sherin refusing to eat with an "unless" attached, and the parents being so hyper-focused on her eating what they want when they say, that they allowed that to become all consuming, to the point that it did cause a new eating issue altogether. Some people swear by the "she will eat when she is hungry" but my mom was told that with me by the Ped, and a week later the Ped said "feed her what she wants, getting food in at this point is more important".

I simply do not see the Mathews being the type to just "give in" to a strong willed child who is trying to control a situation, whether it was over milk or something else. Right now, the affidavit strongly suggests that not only was Sherin left home alone while everyone else went to eat, because she wouldn't drink her milk (to help boost her calories!) but she then died later on in the night over a battle of wills because of some sort of milk or shake. It sounds like WM and SM were soooo keen on making her eat what they wanted and when they said, that they missed the point that Sherin needed these shakes and extra calories ON TOP of food.

I would THINK most of us would be saying okay lets go out to dinner, take Sherin, and her milk and try and compromise that way. With a "drink your milk and we can get dessert" type of thing. I remember when my son started to assert himself and not wanting to eat, that we would have "races" at the dinner table to see who could finish first. Not the best manners, but making it fun took the focus off of wasting food and then wanting a snack an hour later, to actually eating the initial portion without the drama AND then two hours later at bedtime, a snack wasn't a worry. Best of both worlds, fed children, food not wasted and a bit of a "reward" for them having eaten all their dinner and getting full. I know some moms whose kids will only eat their food if it is made into a face or is on a plate that has the dividers built in. I would think almost all parents struggle with food at some point, and that's why we spend money on gaudy disney place sets, to make the meal "fun".

Sorry for such a long rant. It just really has me swearing mad that simple tweaks on behalf of WM and SM when it came to how they fed Sherin, could have been the difference between a happy family that loved meal time, versus a now destroyed family and a dead child.

JMO, MOO and all that!

 

[MarisaS1985]

Some good points made in the last few pages (about the protein drinks/milk vs. real food)
While it wouldn't normally raise any red flags for me when a child prefers to eat outside the home (pot roast vs McDonalds happy meal....I know which one *I* preferred as a child �� ) It wouldn't surprise me to find that perhaps dinner was offered and when that was refused, a protein drink/milk was offered as an alternative (again, doesn't seem too odd) but when a refusal to drink it turns into being left behind while the rest of the family goes out to eat, that's where it becomes unbelievably cruel to me (even if you set aside the fact that it meant she was left home alone)

Did they go out to eat often and either always leave Sherin behind? Did they often bring her along but not allow her to eat if the protein drink/milk wasn't drank first?

When they told the social worker who was doing the check-ins / updates for the adoption about her only liking to eat outside the home was that to mean dining out or eating anyone else's home cooking?

Was she willing to eat outside the home because milk was the only thing being offered inside the home or because outside the home there was less pressure therefore less struggle and stressors for little Sherin regarding eating?

In any of the videos/photos, were any celebrations/parties or things where food was involved or a main part of the event? Was a protein drink or milk present in any of those photos (if they exist)? Does anyone remember/know?

Not that I have seen. But as someone who used to go to church, there was almost always food and beverages offered afterwards. In the one photo that Sherin is standing on a table, that to ME looks like a church basement. Most weeks the food and drinks offered were very basic baked goods and stuff that some of the older ladies would bake up and bring in, but about once a month we would have a community potluck lunch after church, so we would all bring different items in and there would be desserts and sandwiches and salads, fruit/veggie plates, meat/cheese plates and so on. I have to assume that since WM was at one point a Sunday School teacher at church, that they likely participated in many of the church events, rather than coming in, hearing the weekly message and then leaving promptly afterwards.
JMO

 

[Midge Montana]

I noticed back in the beginning of this case that in one video (standing on a chair wearing a yellow skirt) her body seemed to be out of proportion. In photos of her before her hair grew longer, her head also seemed misshapen, very large at the top. I wondered then about the possibility of dwarfism. It had to do with the odd way her shoulders looked, I think. I also noticed in that photo that her arms were held in an unusual position, as if she perhaps had an issue with supination/pronation. I noticed this because I have a child with that problem.

 

[Pamela_Brewer]

I agree with GrouchyMom that perhaps Sherin had some sort of dwarfism. One of my cousins had, not dwarfism, but some other condition that made her not grow as well. They had her at mayo clinic all through the 80s. She was always more pale and small for her age. I never did have any idea what her condition was called.

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"She was about 22 pounds and 3 feet tall at the time of her death,"
If you plot her out on a pediatric growth chart from the CDC she comes in at just under 25% for her height
And about 3% for her weight.

She was shorter than the average 3yo but in a normal range.
She was teetering in the danger zone for her weight and could have been referred for "failure to thrive".


"failure to thrive is often defined as a weight for age that falls below the 5th percentile on multiple occasions or weight deceleration that crosses two major percentile lines"

http ://www.aafp.org/afp/2011/0401/p829.html

://www.dallasnews.com/news/crime/2017/10/27/sherin-mathews-multiple-special-needs-3-am-feedings-part-doctors-orders

IMO Sini was close to being called out on her mistreatment of Sherin and something had to be done to keep up appearances.
Good thing it boomaranged on her!

MOO