The week-long search for 11-year-old Audrii Cunningham came to a harrowing end after her body was discovered in the Trinity River near US-59, as confirmed by Polk County Sheriff Byron Lyons. The young girl, who had been reported missing last Thursday in Livingston, Texas, was found on Tuesday after efforts to lower the water level facilitated the search. "My heart aches with this news. I express with my deepest sympathy and condolences to everyone who knew, who cared for and loved Audrii," Lyons said in a statement obtained by the Houston Chronicle.
Following the discovery, an arrest warrant was being prepped for Don Steven McDougal, identified as the main person of interest in Audrii's disappearance. McDougal is set to face a capital murder charge, informed District Attorney Shelly Bush-Sitton. Currently, McDougal is in custody on an unrelated aggravated assault with a deadly weapon charge since last Friday. As reported by KHOU 11 News, the deceased girl's body has been taken to the medical examiner's office to justly determine the cause of her death.
Authorities had scaled up their search for Audrii, concentrating on the area along the Trinity River based on evidence collected through cellphone records, surveillance footage, and information from McDougal. Despite McDougal's reluctance to reveal whether he took Audrii to the bus stop on the day she vanished, law enforcement was able to pinpoint her location by diligently putting together pieces of evidence. Sheriff Lyons acknowledged that, "There was evidence that we were collecting through the cellphone analysis as well as through our videos that we were able to collect and some of the information that we received from him [McDougal], we were able to pinpoint. Several points of interest was turned over to us, and thank goodness, by the grace of God, one of those places of interest, we were able to locate Audrii." according to a statement to KHOU 11 News.
Audrii was a 5th-grade student. Her mother, Casey Matthews stated in an emotion-laden interview with KHOU 11 News, "She should be at home where we know she's safe, and she's warm, and she's fed, and she should be with her little brother. She should be doing what Audrii does -- smiling, laughing, making everybody else smile and laugh,"
