The autopsy report for 11-year-old Audrey Cunningham, whose body was found tied to a rock at the bottom of a Texas river six days after she disappeared, was released Thursday.
The Livingston girl died from “homicidal violence, including blunt head trauma,” according to the Harris County Coroner’s Office.
Cunningham was reported missing on February 15 after failing to catch the school bus and failing to attend class.
She was last seen by family friend Don McDougal, 42, who was charged with secret murder in her death Wednesday.
The child’s lifeless body was found by divers in the Trinity River in Livingston the day before, but investigators believe she was murdered the same day she was reported missing.
A frantic search for Cunningham led to the discovery of a Hello Kitty backpack believed to belong to her on the riverbank, days before her body was recovered.
According to the indictment, McDougall, an alleged neo-Nazi with a lengthy rap sheet that includes a prison sentence for child enticement, was friends with the girl’s family and lived on their property in a camper.
He said he often walked Ms Cunningham to her bus stop before the horrific crime of killing the girl and abandoning her body in a river.
When investigators pulled Cunningham’s body from the water, they found “a large rock tied to the child victim’s body,” the document said.
“The rope used was consistent with the rope observed in McDougall’s vehicle during a traffic stop two days earlier,” the document added.
McDougal was first taken into custody on February 16 on an unrelated assault charge, and was sitting in the Polk County Jail when police discovered the girl’s body. He is currently being held without bail.
Murder suspect has ties to the Aryan Brotherhood and Polk County Sheriff Byron Lyons. This was confirmed to KHOU11.
