Body of missing girl, 11, who vanished walking to school bus found in river
The body of an 11-year-old girl who disappeared while walking to a school bus has been found in a river in Texas.
Audrii Cunningham was last seen when Don Steven McDougal, 42, a friend of her father, dropped her off at a bus stop on Thursday morning, according to police.
Her body was pulled from the Trinity River under US Highway 59 on Tuesday, after a five-day search effort, said Polk County Sheriff Byron Lyons.
‘My heart aches with this news,’ he said.
Arrest warrants are being prepared for McDougal, said Polk County District Attorney Shelly Bush Sitton.
McDougal was residing in a trailer on the family’s property near Lake Livingston and had taken Audrii to the bus stop on past occasions, the sheriff said.
He is believed to have left with Audrii from her family’s home around 7am on Thursday, police said.
McDougal has not told authorities whether he took Audrii to stop, but ‘he is our number one person of interest’, Lyons told CNN.
He was arrested on Friday on aggravated assault charges that were not related to Audrii’s disappearance – but at the same time was identified as the main person of interest in her case.
McDougal in his mugshot appeared shirtless, revealing various tattoos including one that read, ‘Aint scared’, across his chest, as well as a swastika near his left shoulder.
The district attorney’s office is preparing capital murder charges to bring against McDougal.
McDougal had joined in the search for Audrii, Lyons said.
‘Some of the witnesses have even said that he was in the community and knocking on doors… asking have they seen her,’ the sheriff told the news outlet.
‘To me, it simply tells me is that he’s trying to give the appearances that he has no play or he’s not at fault in her disappearance and that (he’s) part of the concerned parties who were trying to locate her.’
Audrii’s mother, Cassie Matthews, said she believed McDougal was a friend of her daughter’s dad.
A 2003 blue Chevrolet Suburban that investigators said was a vehicle of interest matched McDougal’s car.
McDougal is being held at the Polk County Jail on a $500,000 bond. He has an extensive criminal record that includes two counts of child enticement, according to Fox 26, going as far back as 2001.
Audrii was seen with a red Hello Kitty backpack before going missing.
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