Thursday afternoon, February 15, Audrii Cunningham doesn’t arrive home at her usual time. Family members look for her, assuming she became distracted during the walk home from the bus stop.
Panic sets in, then police are notified at 5:30 p.m. and an AMBER Alert is issued.
Investigators start putting together a timeline of events. Police say Audrii was dropped off at her bus stop by her dad’s friend, the man who lives behind their house, Don Steven McDougal. As investigators retrace Audrii’s footsteps, they find that Audrii never made it to school. In fact, she didn’t get on the bus.
Investigators ask for security video, from various security cameras in the area and develop of Vehicle of Interest, a dark blue, 2003, Chevrolet Suburban. They also have a person of interest, the last person known to be with Audrii Cunningham, Don Steven McDougal.
McDougal is arrested and placed in the Polk County Jail. Not for the disappearance of Audrii Cunningham, but on an unrelated aggravated assault with a deadly weapon charge. The public now finds out that McDougal has a criminal record dating back to 2001.
Authorities say he was convicted on a charge of enticing a child and was sentenced to 2 years. So far, investigators continue to search areas around Lake Livingston where a backpack believed to be Audrii’s was found.
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[Feature Photo: Audrii/Polk County SO; McDougal/Montgomery County Jail]
