Father of missing 3-year-old Sherin Mathews charged after child's body found

Wesley Mathews, 37, changed his story about night his adopted daughter went missing, say police

The father of a missing three-year-old girl has been charged after changing his story about her disappearance.

Wesley Mathews, 37, was arrested having voluntarily submitted to a new round of questioning over Sherin Mathews' disappearance nearly three weeks ago.

It came after investigators found the body of a child in a culvert about half a mile from their home on Sunday.

They await confirmation of identity, but police have said the body is "most likely" Sherin's, according to the Dallas Morning News.

Sgt Kevin Perlich, of Richardson Police Department in Texas, said that on Monday Mr Mathews had given different answers than previously.

He has been charged with first-degree felony injury to a child, which carries a maximum of life in prison, and is being held on $1m (£757,000) bond.

Initially the adoptive father had told police he ordered the girl to stand outside the family home at about 3am on 7 October as punishment for not drinking her milk.

When he went to find her about 15 minutes later, she was gone, he had told investigators. When she failed to come back he went back inside, washed some clothes and waited until it became light, he said.

He was first charged with child endangerment.

But Sgt Perlich told the Morning News after the renewed questioning: "He provided an alternate series of events from what he had previously given us."