Father charged with murder in death of 3-year-old Indian girl

He reported his daughter missing on Oct. 7, sparking a broad search involving numerous law enforcement agencies before her body was found on Oct. 22. The local police chief said it's been an intense case for his officers. 

"There is virtually no employee in the Richardson Police Department who has not been involved in this case," Police Chief Jimmy Spivey said Friday. "I am happy we are in a place where we can bring justice for this child."

This initial report to police, Wesley Mathews said he waited several hours to report the girl missing and had done laundry as he waited for her to come home. He told investigators the girl had developmental disabilities and was malnourished.

He described a special diet regimen in which she had to eat whenever she was awake in order to gain weight. Workers at the orphanage where the girl had been living before her adoption in June 2016 disputed the child was malnourished.

Weeks later, when a search dog found the girl's body in a pipe that runs under a roadway, Mathews came to the police station in Richardson to change his account. According to court records, he told police he had been helping the girl drink milk when she choked, and when he eventually felt no pulse, he believed the child had died. Investigators wrote that he "then admitted to removing the body from the home."

The affidavit does not say whether Mathews administered any medical aid to his daughter.