Audrii Cunningham was last seen by her family on Thursday (Picture: Facebook)
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
Caption: Don Steven McDougal.Police in Texas have identified a person of interest in the disappearance of 11-year-old Audrii Cunningham, who was reported missing after she did not show up to school on Thursday, according to authorities.The Polk County Sheriff?s Office arrested Don Steven McDougal, 42, on an unrelated charge, the Texas Department of Public Safety – Southeast Texas Region said in a statement over the weekend. He was charged with aggravated assault for an unrelated incident on Friday, jail records show.McDougal is “one of the persons of interest” in the disappearance of Audrii, authorities say. The sheriff’s office did not comment on how many persons of interest they have identified so far in the investigation.Provider: MONTGOMERY COUNTY JAIL; POLK COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE
Arrest warrants are being prepared for McDougal, said Polk County District Attorney Shelly Bush Sitton.
McDougal was residing in a trailer on the Cunningham 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.’
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