11-year-old Audrii Cunningham found dead, court documents reveal new evidence
POLK COUNTY, Texas - The community is left heartbroken after the search for 11-year-old Audrii Cunningham ends with the discovery of her remains. The 11-year-old's body was found in the Trinity River at Highway 59 in Polk County yesterday afternoon.
Flowers, balloons, and stuffed animals are being left on the banks of the Trinity River for little Audrii.
"We're heartbroken that this has happened to her," says Polk County resident Lisa Tidwell.
People from all around are adding to the growing memorial for the 11-year-old. "I have grandchildren around that age, and it's a horrible, evil world that we live in," adds Montgomery County resident Becky Shoults while choking back tears.
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"I know it's a sad ending. It's not the one we wanted, but considering the circumstances, this is the very best outcome that we could have had, and I'll get a little emotional," says Texas Equusearch Founder Tim Miller.
In fact, Miller says the search for Cunningham and finding her deceased isn't easy, even for seasoned law enforcement.
"It was emotional. We saw Texas Rangers wipe tears out of their eyes. We wiped tears out of our eyes," Miller explains.
It was Tim Miller's boat that captured sonar images in the Trinity River that led to the 11-year-old's body being found.
"This was a team effort. God just put us where we needed to be," Miller says.
A friend of the Cunningham family who lived in a camper on their property, Don Steven McDougal, has been charged with Capital Murder for Cunningham's death. Investigators say McDougal, who has a long criminal record, was supposed to take Cunningham to the school bus stop Thursday, but they say he never did.
One charge from McDougal's past includes Attempted Indecency With a Child in Brazoria County in 2007, but he was allowed to plead guilty to a lesser charge of Child Enticement, meaning he did not have to register as a sex offender.
"I think we're all very angered and in disbelief that he could have been, he could have been stopped. It could have been prevented," Tidwell adds.
According to court documents released today, evidence found at the crime scene was also seen in McDougal's SUV during a traffic stop two days before Cunningham disappeared, and according to the documents, cell phone records and surveillance video prove McDougal "lied about his whereabouts" on the day Cunningham vanished.
"I said in the very beginning, wherever Audrii is, it's not a place she chooses to be, so we don't have a choice except to help find her," says Miller.
McDougal appeared before a justice of the peace on Wednesday and the judge denied bond.