‘Body found’ in search for missing Audrii Cunningham five days after Texas girl, 11, vanished
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THE body of a missing 11-year-old girl who vanished while on her way to a bus stop has been found.
Audrii Cunningham's remains were pulled from the Trinity River six days after the girl went missing in Livingston, Texas, about an hour north of Houston, on February 15.
The Polk County Sheriff's Office revealed officials were able to recover Audrii's body after lowering the water levels on the river.
A cause of death was not immediately disclosed.
Polk County District Attorney Shelly Bush-Sitton said her office has filed capital murder charges against Don Steven McDougal, 42.
McDougal was previously named a person of interest in Audrii's disappearance and was arrested on Friday on an unrelated assault charge.
Polk County Sheriff officials said McDougal disclosed to investigators that the Trinity River was one of the locations he visited after Audrii went missing.
McDougal did not tell sheriff's officials that the 11-year-old's body was in the river, Polk County Sheriff Byron Lyons said on Tuesday.
AUDRII GOES MISSING
Audrii was last seen at around 7 am near her home in Livingston on Thursday.
Police say the 11-year-old was supposed to board a school bus near her home but never got on the bus and was absent from school that day.
Investigators said McDougal's dark blue 2003 Chevrolet Suburban was involved in Audrii's suspected kidnapping.
Polk County Sheriff Byron Lyons said McDougal, who lives in a camper behind the home where Audrii lives with her father and other family members, was likely the last person to see the girl before she went missing.
The Texas Department of Public Safety previously said that foul play was believed to be involved in Audrii's case.
"We are hopeful that we can bring Audrii home alive and that's what we are absolutely working for right now," the Texas Department of Public Safety said in a statement.
"But based on the evidence we've got, we understand that foul play is a factor as well."
McDougal has a lengthy criminal record dating back to the early 2000s, according to court documents.
He was convicted of two counts of enticement of a child in 2008 and sentenced to two years for each count.
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