Sherin Mathews Update: Indian Embassy Involved In Missing Texas Toddler Investigation

Authorities in India are getting involved in the investigation into the disappearance of Texas toddler Sherin Mathews. The 3-year-old was adopted two years ago from an orphanage in India and hasn't been seen for almost two weeks.

"We are deeply concerned about the missing child," India's Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj wrote on Twitter Thursday. "Indian Embassy in U.S. is actively involved and they keep me informed."

Sherin vanished after she was reportedly left outside in the middle of the night by her father as a form of punishment. Wesley Mathews, 37, told authorities he left the girl beneath a tree for 15 minutes at 3. a.m. but that when he returned, she was gone. Mathews himself was later arrested for endangering a child but was released on bond.

A deeper investigation into Sherin's disappearance revealed her father waited five hours to alert authorities. In that time, he reportedly conducted a short search for the girl himself before returning to the house and completing a load of laundry. Furthermore, police said they discovered the family car was missing for about an hour at 4 a.m. the morning Sherin disappeared.

“Why was the last sighting at 3 o’clock and the parents not call us until after 8 a.m.” Richardson Police Sgt. Kevin Perlich told KXAS-TV. “That’s the question we want answered as well. As far as why she was out there, how long she was out there, that’s the questions we have for the parents.”

Child Protective Services said they previously had contact with the Mathews family, though they declined to disclose specifics. The organization also removed a 4-year-old girl from the home after Sherin vanished. Both parents, meanwhile, have stopped cooperating with the search for Sherin and investigation into her disappearance, police told reporters.

The FBI collected a number of items and DNA swabs from the Mathews' home during a Wednesday search. Agents seized some 45 articles, including the family's washer and dryer, a blanket, vacuum cleaner and cell phones. Police also said their searches yielded items of interest, though they did not go into detail.

"We have found some articles that are of interest to us," Perlich told KTVT. "Whether or not they turn out to be evidence in this case remains to be determined."

Sherin's father told police there were coyotes often seen in the area where he left her in the middle of the night, but authorities said there was neither evidence that she had been dragged away by an animal nor was there any evidence she'd been kidnapped. Administrators from the orphanage from which Sherin was adopted cast doubt upon the story about the little girl refusing to drink her milk.

"As a small NGO, we could provide milk to only 50-odd children in the morning," Babita Kumari, the secretary of Mother Teresa Anvant Seva Sansthan, told the Indian Express. "After all the children would line up, we would offer them milk and they drank it without any fuss. [Sherin] would also eat whatever was given to her. We are shocked to learn that she has gone missing."

It's been almost two weeks with no trace of the girl. Police said they would continue to mount specific searches in and around Richardson based on incoming tips and evidence in the coming days.

"We're always hopeful we can find her alive," Perlich said. "But time is our enemy."