The cause of Audrii Cunningham’s death has been revealed after her body was found in a lake tied to a rock with a rope matching that found in the car of a family friend accused of her murder.
He was found to have died from blunt force trauma. The death was ruled a homicide following an autopsy.
Don Steven McDougal, a tattooed Nazi family friend who authorities say was supposed to take Audrii to the school bus stop the day she disappeared, has been charged with the 11-year-old girl’s murder.
He was already in police custody in connection with an unrelated assault in Livingston, Texas.
An Amber Alert was issued for the girl after she did not board the school bus on Feb. 15 and was absent from school. She was last seen around 7am near her home in Livingston.
His body was discovered in a river on Tuesday with a “large rock” tied to his body after police used cellphone records, video analysis and information from McDougal.
“The rope used matched the rope observed on McDougal’s vehicle in a traffic stop two days earlier,” the criminal complaint against McDougal states, CNN reported.
Audrii Cunningham’s body was found in a lake tied to a rock with a rope that matched the one found in the car of a family friend accused of her murder. Audrii was found to have died from blunt force trauma. The death has been declared a homicide following an autopsy.
Don Steven McDougal, a tattooed Nazi career criminal who lives on his father’s property in a trailer, has been charged with the 11-year-old girl’s murder.
Cunningham’s father, Joshua, photographed with the man accused of killing his daughter, Don Steven McDougal. The suspect’s swastika and SS tattoos are clearly visible on his left arm.
Police say the girl’s body was recovered Tuesday in Trinity River after using cell phone records, video analysis and information from McDougal.
The alleged killer had taken the girl to the bus stop in the past or would take her to school if she missed the bus, authorities said.
After she was reported missing, investigators discovered that she had not boarded the bus to school the morning she disappeared.
A Hello Kitty backpack that authorities believe belonged to the girl was found Friday near the dam on Lake Livingston, one of the state’s largest lakes.
McDougal, who has a criminal record dating back to the early 2000s, joined the search efforts and was seen knocking on neighbors’ doors while asking if anyone had seen Audrii.
He claimed on social media that he had “done nothing wrong,” CNN reported.
“I have done everything I can to help find her. I have done nothing wrong,” he wrote in a comment on a Facebook page.
Audrii’s family reported her missing Thursday after she did not return to her home in Livingston after school.
Pictured: A mugshot of McDougal, the last person to see the young man alive, according to police.
Audrii Cunningham’s body was found Tuesday in the Trinity River near US-59, Polk County Sheriff Byron Lyons announced. “My heart hurts with this news and I express my deepest condolences and condolences to everyone who knew, cared for and loved Audrii,” Lyons said.
The sheriff also said the Trinity River Authority lowered water levels in the river, which led to the discovery of his body.
McDougal had allegedly accompanied Audrii to school the morning she disappeared.
As authorities investigated Audrii’s disappearance last week, they named McDougal as a person of interest and he was arrested Friday on an unrelated assault charge.
Prosecutors have said there is “substantial evidence” in the case and that cellphone data and videos helped identify search locations. Authorities added that the Trinity River Authority lowered water levels in the river, which led to the discovery of his body.
Court records in Brazoria County, south of Houston, show McDougal pleaded no contest to two counts of felony luring a child stemming from a 2007 incident and was sentenced to two years in prison.
The sheriff said the girl’s body was taken to the Harris County Medical Examiner’s Office in Houston to determine the cause of death.
Audrii lived with his father, grandparents and other family members, authorities said.
McDougal has a criminal record dating back to 2001 that includes convictions for two counts of luring a child.
Audrii sparked a statewide search after she went missing early Thursday morning in Livington, about an hour north of Houston, when she didn’t show up for school.
As authorities investigated Audrii’s disappearance last week, they named McDougal as a person of interest and he was arrested Friday on an unrelated assault charge.
While the search was still going on, the girl’s mother asked the public for help and said it was not like her daughter to run away or disappear.
“We have no clues, so we cling to any thread, any sign, anything in general,” he said. KPRC At the time.
“There’s no feeling you feel,” he explained.
‘You’re broken, you’re angry, you’re empty and right now I’m empty.
“I’m not going to be the same unless my baby is returned to me and neither will her family, any of us, any of her friends, any of the people she’s been connected to in the community.”