LIVINGSTON, Texas — Texas EquuSearch founder Tim Miller said searchers found 11-year-old Audrey Cunningham’s pants Tuesday along the banks of the Trinity River near where her body was recovered. revealed. Miller revealed details of the recovery effort Thursday in an interview with Nancy Grace on Crime Stories.
Miller told Nancy Grace that the team “found something along the shoreline that ended up being evidence.” Grace asked for more information, which revealed that the girl’s panties had been found in the Trinity River under U.S. 59 and the railroad bridge.
“Was that a garment?” Grace asked.
“It was clothing,” Miller replied.
“Were those pants?” asked Glade, pushing harder. “Yes,” Miller said.
Grace then asked rhetorically, “Why aren’t 11-year-old girls wearing pants?”
“He raped her. He raped her,” Grace said in response to her own question. “This animal raped this 11-year-old girl.”
Polk County law enforcement officials have not yet charged murder suspect Don Stephen McDougall with the rape of Audrey Cunningham. McDougal is being held without bail in the Polk County Jail on capital murder charges in connection with Audrey’s death. He is also charged with an unrelated charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
In addition to Miller, Nancy Grace, Breitbart Texas Deputy Editor Bob Price, Breitbart Texas Legal Analyst and Livingston attorney Lana Shadwick, Cold Case Foundation Director Chris McDonough, Joe Scott Morgan, professor of forensic science at Jacksonville State University, and CEO of Oxygen Forensics will be on the show. Lee Leiber, a mobile device forensics expert, Andy Kahan, director of victim services and advocacy for Crime Stoppers of Houston, and a convenience store employee who saw McDougall on the day of the alleged murder of Audrey Cunningham. Leslie Gaskins.
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Miller also explained how he and his team used advanced SONAR technology to locate Audrey’s body. He said the search was extremely frustrating because although an image of what he thought was her body was found, he was never able to find it again.
He said he first spotted the image on Sunday but was unable to make a definitive identification because the river was high and flowing fast. On Monday he returned to the same area but could not find her.
“I literally drove through that area over 80 times,” Miller explained. “Then they got another image and lo and behold, they said they could see the legs and arms.”
At this point, law enforcement officials contacted the Trinity River Authority and asked them to reduce the flow of water from Lake Livingston Dam. The efforts eventually lowered the water level and slowed the river near the bridge, allowing a Texas Department of Public Safety dive team to locate and recover Audrey’s body on Tuesday.
A Polk County Sheriff’s Office arrest affidavit states that Audrey’s body was “found with a large rock tied to the child victim’s body.” The rope matched the rope observed in McDougall’s car during a traffic stop two days earlier. ”
Editor’s note: This is a developing story. Additional information will be added.
