Authorities say the person of interest in the disappearance of 11-year-old Audrey Cunningham was supposed to drop the girl off at a Texas bus stop and was last seen with her before her disappearance. It is said that it was this person.
Don McDougal, who has a criminal history, is also a friend of the girl’s family and lives in a mobile home behind the home, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office said Monday.
Cunningham went missing last Thursday, and law enforcement authorities believe a crime was involved and a frantic search continues.
Sheriff Byron Lyons said at a news conference that McDougall, 42, left the house with Cunningham last week but would not say whether they made it to the bus stop. It was streamed on KLTV. The child lives at home with his father, grandmother, and other relatives.
“At this point, we feel like he’s the last person to see Audrey,” Lyons said, adding that in the past he has dropped her off at the bus stop or taken her to school when she missed the bus. He said he had been there before.
McDougal was taken into custody over the weekend on unrelated charges and is serving a prison sentence for child enticement more than a decade ago, a third-degree felony. Reported by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
He was originally charged with attempted child molestation in 2007 for allegedly attempting to have sexual contact with a girl under 17, and later pleaded guilty to solicitation charges in another Texas case in 2008, the department said. This was revealed in court documents.
He was not required to register as a sex offender following the incident, authorities confirmed Monday.
Cunningham’s family also had no knowledge that he had a criminal history involving the girl, Lyons told NewsNation on Monday.
“I spoke to the family and they said they didn’t know about the incident, they knew he had a background, but they didn’t know there was some kind of sexual background involving children. ” Lyons said on “Elizabeth Vargas Report.”
Lyons said McDougall was a family friend and the family saw McDougall as down on his luck.
“They took pity on him and allowed him to move into a small travel trailer behind the house,” Lyons told NewsNation. “And he became friends with his family and that’s how he was able to reach out.”
Lyons said at a news conference that so far, McDougall has only occasionally cooperated with investigators and has not confessed to any crimes. The sheriff took authorities to various locations, but did not provide further details.
No charges have been filed in Cunningham’s disappearance.
So far, the only trace of Cunningham is her backpack near Livingston Dam Lake.
“I hope and pray that she’s still alive,” Lyons said. “I haven’t given up her hope that I can take Audrey home with her.”
