Southwest
Texas girl Audrii Cunningham found dead in river as officials eye capital murder charge for suspect
Missing Texas girl Audrii Cunningham was found dead Tuesday afternoon.
The 11-year-old’s body was found in the Trinity River near the US Highway 59 bridge in Livingston, Polk County Sheriff Byron Lyons confirmed during a Tuesday press conference.
“We will continue to process the evidence that has been gathered to ensure that there is justice for Audrii,” Polk County Sheriff Byron Lyons said.
Polk County District Attorney Shelly Sitton said her office is preparing arrest warrants for Don Steven McDougal, 42, in connection with Cunningham’s Feb. 15 disappearance. They are eyeing capital murder charges.
Audrii Cunningham was supposed to get on her school bus on Feb. 15 but never made it, authorities said. (Polk County sheriff)
McDougal was arrested on Friday on unrelated charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and gave him “several opportunities to cooperate” with their investigation into Audrii’s disappearance, said Lt. Craig Cummings, spokesperson for the Texas Department of Public Safety in Southeast Texas.
“He was probably taking her to…the bus stop, and we do feel that he was the last person to see Audrii,” Polk County Sheriff Byron Lyons said of McDougal during the Monday press conference, adding that there were “some occasions” when McDougal would take Audrii to the bus stop or even to school if she missed the bus.
Lyons urged the public not to “jump to conclusions” as his office works to build a strong criminal case.
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Texas authorities issued a statewide Amber Alert for Audrii Cunningham on Feb. 17. (Facebook/ Joshua Cunningham)
The 11-year-old girl should have gotten on her school bus on the morning of Feb. 15, when she was last seen at her residence in the 100 block of Lakeside Drive, in Polk County, Texas, but she never made it on the bus or to school that day, officials said.
McDougal lived in a camper behind the residence where Audrii lived with her father, grandparents and other family, Cummings said. Audrii’s mother, Cassie Matthews, told FOX 26 Houston that she believed McDougal would babysit the 11-year-old girl while he was staying at her father’s home.
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Don Steven McDougal was named as a person of interest in connection with the Feb. 15 disappearance of 11-year-old Audrii Cunningham of Polk County, Texas. (Polk County Sheriff’s Office/ TDPS)
Investigators are trying to piece together a timeline of McDougal’s movements on the morning of Feb. 15. McDougal agreed to show investigators “certain locations” after his arrest, Lyons said.
A statewide Amber Alert was issued on Feb. 16.
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Lyons said later that there is a “high probability” that a backpack located in a wooded area near the Livingston Dam belonged to Audrii.
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McDougal has an extensive criminal history dating back to the early 2000s. His charges range from enticement of a child in Brazoria County in 2008 to assault of a family member and evading arrest in Liberty County, among dozens of other crimes.
Don Steven McDougal was convicted of enticement of a child in 2008. (Facebook)
Investigators are asking the public to submit any video footage they may have of FM 3126 in Polk County between 6:30 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. on Feb. 15.
Authorities are offering a $10,000 reward for information that could help them convict the person responsible for Audrii’s disappearance.
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A man armed with a knife was shot by L.A. police officers responding to an assault with a deadly weapon call overnight, authorities said.
According to the Los Angeles Police Department, officers with the Hollenbeck Division responded to an apartment complex in the 3000 block of Glenn Avenue in Boyle Heights at 1:45 a.m. Saturday after callers reported a male suspect was armed with a knife and had just assaulted someone in the complex.
Arriving officers found the suspect in front of the residence, but he did not comply with officers’ commands to drop the weapon. He then advanced toward the officers and an officer-involved shooting occurred, LAPD confirmed.
“The suspect was struck by gunfire and remained non-compliant,” the LAPD Public Information Officer said on X early Saturday morning. “Officers deployed a 40mm foam round and ultimately took the suspect into custody.”
Video obtained by KTLA shows the man being loaded into an ambulance and taken to a hospital; officials said he was transported in stable condition, adding that his knife was recovered at the scene and booked as evidence.
No officers or community members were injured during the incident. The man’s name was not released.
Dangerous rip currents and high surf are forecast for Los Angeles County beaches, including the Malibu Coast this weekend.
The National Weather Service has issued a hazardous beach statement, warning of the potentially deadly beach conditions. The dangerous conditions are forecast to last from Saturday evening to Monday morning.
“There is an increased risk of ocean drowning,” the NWS forecast reads. “Rip currents can pull swimmers and surfers out to sea. Waves can wash people off beaches and rocks, and capsize small boats nearshore.”
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A guide to surviving rip currents from the National Weather Service (NWS)
Minor Beach erosion and coastal flooding is possible through the weekend. The flooding is most likely to occur during evening high tides from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m.
Beachgoers are advised to stay out of the water and remain near lifeguard towers. Jetties and tidepools are also especially dangerous during the weekend forecast.
“Rock jetties can be deadly in such conditions, stay off the rocks,” the NWS forecast reads.
Similar hazardous beach conditions are also in the forecast for Santa Barbara County. A high surf advisory is also in effect for Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties this weekend, where 10 to 15-foot waves will be possible.
If you live or want to live in Los Angeles, the city controller has released a new dashboard highlighting some of the city’s most notorious problem rental properties, a tool designed to help renters avoid future headaches.
“This project comes at a time when tenants are reporting harassment and illegal evictions violating the City’s Rent Stabilization Ordinance, Just Cause for Eviction Ordinance and Tenant Anti‑Harassment Ordinance, but very few of the complaints end up leading to strong enforcement or real accountability,” L.A. City Controller Kenneth Mejia said in a media release Thursday.
The new Top 100 Problem Rental Properties dashboard includes a searchable database of all residential addresses with reported housing violation cases within the city of Los Angeles, a ranked list of the 100 addresses with the most violations and an interactive map.
“There has never before been an uncomplicated way for anyone to look up years’ worth of violations by address,” Mejia said in the release.
Data for the dashboard was compiled from multiple sources, including the Los Angeles Housing Department, Los Angeles City Planning and the L.A. County Assessor’s Office, according to the controller’s office.
The release also identified the top three addresses with the highest number of reported housing violations:
1. 636 1/2 North Hill Place, Chinatown
192 housing violation cases
2. 11700 West Wilshire Boulevard, Sawtelle
166 housing violation cases
3. 6650 West Forest Lawn Drive, Hollywood Hills
113 housing violation cases
“Our new dashboard is an easy‑to‑understand public tool that we hope will help renters and organizers document patterns of harm, as well as put pressure on both landlords and the City to act,” Mejia said. “Everyone deserves safe, stable and dignified housing.”
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