The body of a missing 11-year-old girl from Texas, Audrii Cunningham, was found in the Trinity River, Polk County Sheriff Byron Lyons said Tuesday.
Polk County District Attorney Shelly Sitton said arrest warrants are being prepared for Livingston, Tex., resident Don Steven McDougal, 42.
“At this time, we believe the appropriate arrest warrant is going to be for capital murder in the death of Audrii Cunningham,” Sitton said.
McDougal, she said, is currently in jail for an unrelated felony charge. He was arrested on Friday, according to investigators.
Audrii, dressed in a black hoodie with a red backpack, was last seen Thursday around 7 a.m. local time near her residence in Polk County, law enforcement authorities said in an earlier statement. She did not get on her school bus that day or show up at school, it said.
Investigators narrowed in on McDougal as a person of interest last week. He was known to Audrii’s family, the Associated Press reported, citing authorities.
Officials were able to determine her body’s location through cellphone data, videos and information received from McDougal, Lyons told reporters Tuesday. The outflow from a nearby reservoir was slowed to lower the water levels in the Trinity River, assisting recovery efforts, he said.
“We will continue to process the evidence that has been gathered to ensure that there is justice for Audrii,” he said.
