Body of missing 11-year-old Audrii Cunningham found in Trinity River

POLK COUNTY, Texas – The body of missing 11-year-old Audrii Cunningham, the Livingston girl at the center of an AMBER Alert, was found in Trinity River on Tuesday, according to KPRC 2 sources and a family friend of the girl.

During Tuesday’s news conference, Polk County Sheriff Byron Lyons confirmed investigators found Audrii’s body at the Trinity River Boat Ramp off U.S. 59 after lowering water levels. The AMBER Alert has officially been discontinued.

Audrii’s body will be transported to the Harris County Medical Examiner’s Office to determine what happened to her and the cause of death.

A spokesperson for the Texas Department of Public Safety said this case has now turned into a criminal investigation.

Several emergency vehicles were at the scene Tuesday morning, including officials from Liberty County, The Texas Department of Public Safety, Texas EquuSearch, and a dive unit from the Harris County Sheriff’s Office.

Caution tape was placed around the area and media was kept far away from the scene.

Lyons said they were able to locate Audrii’s body with the substantial amount of evidence provided by witnesses’ cellphone video, several points of interest provided by the person of interest and surveillance videos.

He said investigators also used evidence collected from cellphone analysis and information they received from 42-year-old Don Steven McDougal.

“We start talking about how we link in evidence to McDougal and linking evidence to this case. We want to be very careful of how we do that and will feel safe to say there is substantial evidence through the evidence that we’ve gathered,” Lyons said. “And so that evidence was even gathered by the wonderful witnesses and wonderful folks out there in the social media who sent those videos, who sent those pictures. So that even that evidence helped us to be able to come up with these locations, as well as the evidence from cellphone videos.”

What happened

Audrii was reported missing on Thursday, Feb. 15, and investigators said Don Steven McDougal was likely the last person who saw her alive that day.

McDougal was named as the main person of interest in Audrii’s disappearance, although investigators said they haven’t ruled anyone out as a suspect. He is currently in the Polk County Jail on an unrelated charge.

Investigators said McDougal admitted to leaving the house with Audrii last Thursday morning, but he hasn’t said whether or not she made it to her school bus. But the sheriff said he provided some clues that led to them finding her body.

“He agreed to work with us and has taken us to certain locations,” Lyons said.

McDougal lived in a camper behind Audrii’s father and grandmother’s home and sometimes took her to the bus stop or school if she missed it.

“He was a friend of the family, a friend of the father, and he was allowed to live there in a trailer behind the house,” the sheriff said.

McDougal, who has a lengthy criminal history, was previously convicted of enticing a child in Brazoria County, records obtained by KPRC 2 show.

In March 2007, McDougal allegedly attempted to engage in sexual contact with a girl under the age of 17.

According to a grand jury indictment, McDougal removed another female from the bed where the victim was sleeping before he got in the bed with the victim and “(pulled) her pajama bottoms and panties down.”

A Brazoria County grand jury indicted him in July 2007 and his bond was set at $25,000 at the time.

Charges in the case of Audrii’s disappearance have not been filed at this time.

What’s next?

Polk County District Attorney Shelly Sitton said that based on the evidence that has been gathered, they are preparing an arrest warrant for McDougal.

Capital murder charges against McDougal are pending as the District Attorney’s Office waits on the medical examiner’s office results.

“Based on all the evidence that law enforcement has collected, they are in the process of preparing the appropriate arrest warrants for Don Steven McDougal at this time,” Sitton said. “We believe the appropriate arrest warrant is going to be for capital murder in the death of Audrey Cunningham. He is currently still in jail under an unrelated felony charge here. I understand that this is a very difficult time for Audrey’s family and for our community.”

This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.

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