Women embrace after a news conference where law enforcement officials announced that the body of 11-year-old Audrii Cunningham was found in the Trinity River near her home in Livingston, Texas, Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2024, in Livingston. (Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle via AP)
A family friend accused of killing 11-year-old Audrii Cunningham was supposed to take the Texas girl to her school bus stop when they left her home in his vehicle nearly a week before authorities found her body in a river, according to court documents released Wednesday.
A large rock was tied to her body when search teams found it Tuesday in the Trinity River in a rural area north of Houston about 10 miles (16 kilometers) from her home, according to the capital murder criminal complaint filed Tuesday against Don Steven McDougal.
Audrii’s family reported her missing on Feb. 15 when she failed to return to her Livingston home after school. Investigators discovered that she never got on the bus to go to school that morning.
The Trinity River is seen near where law enforcement found the body of 11-year-old Audrii Cunningham, Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2024, in Livingston, Texas. Divers have recovered the body Cunningham days after the girl went missing, and authorities are preparing to file a murder charge against a friend of her father who lived on her family’s property, a sheriff said Tuesday afternoon. (Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle via AP)
McDougal, 42, lived in a camper on the family’s property near the shore of Lake Livingston and had previously taken Audrii to the bus stop or to school when she missed the bus, according to Polk County Sheriff Byron Lyons.
Polk County Sheriff Bryon Lyons speaks as he and other law enforcement officials announce Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2024, in Livingston, Texas, that the body of 11-year-old Audrii Cunningham had been found in the Trinity River near her home. (Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle via AP)
McDougal was arrested Friday on an unrelated assault charge and it was not clear if he had an attorney who could comment on the capital murder case. The justice of the peace who released the complaint did not know if McDougal had hired an attorney yet but said he had indicated he did not want a court-appointed lawyer.
A backpack that authorities believe belonged to the child was found Friday near the Lake Livingston dam. That lake is one of the state’s largest reservoirs and was created with a dam on the Trinity River.
This undated photo released by the Polk County Jail shows Don Steven McDougal of Livingston, Texas. McDougal has been named as one of the persons of interest involved in the disappearance of 11-year-old Audrii Cunningham. (Polk County Jail via AP)
Lyons has said there is “substantial evidence” in the case. He said cellphone data was used to help identify places to look and that the local river authority slowed down the outflow of the reservoir to help search teams that were in the water.
Polk County District Attorney Shelly Sitton, left, speaks alongside Sheriff Byron Lyons, right, as she and other law enforcement officials announce that the body of 11-year-old Audrii Cunningham was found in the Trinity River near her home, Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2024, in Livingston, Texas (Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle via AP)
“My heart aches with this news,” Lyons said Tuesday.
Polk County District Attorney Shelly Sitton has not said whether her office will seek the death penalty.
Audrii lived with her father, grandparents and other family members, authorities said.
Court records from Brazoria County, south of Houston, show McDougal pleaded no contest in 2008 to two felony counts of enticing a child and was sentenced to two years in prison.
People listen during a news conference at which authorities announced that the body of 11-year-old Audrii Cunningham had been found in the Trinity River, Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2024, in Livingston, Texas. (Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle via AP)
The sheriff said Audrii’s body was taken to the Harris County medical examiner’s office in Houston to determine the cause of death.
A candlelight memorial was planned for Audrii on Wednesday evening in Livingston on the grounds of an outdoor venue.
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Associated Press writer Sean Murphy contributed to this report from Oklahoma City.
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The name of the girl who was killed has been corrected in the headline to Audrii Cunningham, instead of Audrii McDougal.
The Trinity River is seen near where law enforcement found the body of 11-year-old Audrii Cunningham, Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2024, in Livingston, Texas. Divers have recovered the body of Cunningham from the Texas river days after the girl went missing, and authorities are preparing to file a murder charge against a friend of her father who lived on her family’s property, a sheriff said Tuesday afternoon. (Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle via AP)
People react after a press conference where law enforcement officials announced that 11-year-old Audrii Cunningham was found dead in the Trinity River near her home in Livingston, Texas., Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2024, in Livingston. (Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle via AP)
Polk County District Attorney Shelly Sitton speaks as she and other law enforcement officials announce that the body of 11-year-old Audrii Cunningham was found in Trinity River near her home in Livingston, Texas, during a press conference, Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2024, in Livingston. (Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle via AP)
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