Murder In America - EP. 208 - TEXAS: The Killing Of 11-Year-Old Audrii Cunningham

Episode Date: July 18, 2025

In February of 2024, a young girl disappeared in the deep, dark heart of Livingston, Texas. And when the full story was eventually investigated and revealed, the story took a darker turn than the people involved could possibly imagine. In today's episode, we spoke with Cassie Cunningham, Audrii's mother, to share stories and memories of her life, and to help us further understand exactly what went wrong. - Listen to our new show, "THE CONSPIRACY FILES"!: -Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/5IY9nWD2MYDzlSYP48nRPl -Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-conspiracy-files/id1752719844 -Amazon/Audible - https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/ab1ade99-740c-46ae-8028-b2cf41eabf58/the-conspiracy-files -Pandora - https://www.pandora.com/podcast/the-conspiracy-files/PC:1001089101 -iHeart - https://iheart.com/podcast/186907423/ -PocketCast - https://pca.st/dpdyrcca -CastBox - https://castbox.fm/channel/id6193084?country=us - Stay Connected: Join the Murder in America fam in our free Facebook Community for a behind-the-scenes look, more insights and current events in the true crime world: https://www.facebook.com/groups/4365229996855701 If you want even more Murder in America bonus content, including ad-free episodes, come join us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/murderinamerica Instagram: http://instagram.com/murderinamerica/ Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/people/Murder-in-America-Podcast/100086268848682/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/MurderInAmerica TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@theparanormalfiles and https://www.tiktok.com/@courtneybrowen Feeling spooky? Follow Colin as he travels state to state (and even country to country!) investigating claims of extreme paranormal activity and visiting famous haunted locations on The Paranormal Files Official Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheParanormalFilesOfficialChannel - (c) BLOOD IN THE SINK PRODUCTIONS 2025 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Following podcast is not suitable for all audiences. We go into great detail with every case that we cover and do our best to bring viewers even deeper into the stories by utilizing disturbing audio and sound effects. Trigger warnings from the stories we cover may include violence, rape, murder, and offenses against children. This podcast is not for everyone.

You have been warned. It's the day after Valentine's Day of 2024 in the quiet, close-knit town of Livingston, Texas. That week, the students at Creekside Elementary had passed out Valentine's Day cards. They ate candy and cookies and celebrated the day of love. But on this day, there's an empty desk in one of their fifth grade classrooms. It was the desk of 11-year-old Audrey Cunningham. Now, a student missing class is usually not that concerning.

Maybe she was sick or had an appointment that day. So Audrey's teacher marked her absent, and the school, school notified her family, which was protocol. But when Audrey's family found out that she wasn't at school, they immediately felt a sense of panic. That morning, Audrey had put on black pants, a black hoodie, black high top tennis shoes, and grabbed her distinctive red Hello Kitty backpack. She was supposed to be at her bus stop at 7 a.m. However, she never made it there. Soon enough, the entire town of Livingston was out searching for the 11-year-old girl, and eventually they would find her, but not in the way that anyone had hoped. So this is the story of Audrey Cunningham.

I'm Courtney Browen. And I'm Colin Browne. Hi, I'm Cassie Matthews, and I am Audrey's biological mother. We are so honored to have Cassie on this episode. I will say we recorded this in the middle of a thunderstorm, so there are parts that are a little spotty, but this was truly one of the most emotional interviews we have ever conducted, and we are just so thankful that she's willing to share her story with us. But with that being said, you're listening to Murder in America. In this is a small town in the heart of East Texas, with the population of roughly 5,640 residents. It's described as family-friendly, quiet, and affordable. historical downtown is made up of antique shops, restaurants, boutiques, and on Saturdays they hold

their weekly farmer's market. But the most popular thing to do in this town is spend some time on Lake Livingston. It's actually the second largest lake in all of Texas. And year-round, people make their way to the water to enjoy boating, kayaking, fishing, and camping. For a number of residents, their families have been here for generations. It's all they've ever known. And that was the case for Audrey Cunningham. In the year 2012, Cassie Matthews started noticing some pregnancy symptoms.

Now she and her boyfriend, Joshua Lee Cunningham, were both just 17 years old, so they were not expecting this. Shortly followed with me pacing back and forth in my parents' bathroom, freaking out, talking about, it's not the time.

I'm a kid. I don't need to be having a kid while my mom and my Aunt B were on, other side of the lock door trying to comfort me and tell me baby it's okay you know god does everything gives everybody their gifts when it's needed and so they were trying to comfort me the whole time but i was just so terrified from the jump that she well i didn't even know she was the she at the time but i was just so terrified that i wouldn't be you know what this baby needed or that i couldn't give the baby everything that i knew that this baby deserved and it also terrified me to know that i already

loved someone so much in a way that I have never loved anyone and I just found out that I was you know even going to have this baby so it was uh it was terrifying at first but then when I actually me and Josh weren't at the house together at the time so when I got to hold him and I let him know he was just so excited and it completely put a whole different lightness on my heart honestly because we were 17 and I was scared about what could you know come of that and no he was just amazing about it he kept me up for the whole thing he was there for the whole thing I mean it it was it was awesome it was it was really an amazing experience in all the pregnancy actually um went really well uh for the most part I had this weird craving for jack in the box tacos

all the time um to the point where Josh is um stepdad, Phil, had actually talked about going and asking if he could just buy a bunch of frozen ones so that I could fry them when I was ready for them in the middle of the night. I swear they did. They were so supportive. Actually, everybody was extremely supportive and excited about her. And experiencing pregnancy was just, it was unreal. When I felt her move for the first time, I don't even know how to explain it. It was just the most amazing feeling I'd ever felt. I remember one time she stuck her hand out and you could see her hand clear as day through my belly. And Josh was just like, oh, my God, oh, my God, what is that?

Oh, my God, is that hurt? He should booping her little hand. She's pushing harder. On February 5, 2013, Cassie ended up going into labor. But when she got to the hospital, she found out that she would be having a C-section. It wasn't what they were expecting, but they were so excited that she was finally here. Their beautiful little blue-eyed girl, Audrey Daniel Cunningham. She was beautiful when she was born.

She had some long, blonde hair. I counted all of her little toes and her fingers, and she had the little crinkled nose from the beginning. She was just the most perfect baby I've ever played my eyes on. And I have to say, me and Josh have to be extremely grateful for that. because I used to make jokes all the time. How did we make such a pretty baby? Look at us, man. From the moment Audrey made her way into the world,

she had a way of capturing people's hearts. Cassie's life was forever changed. If I hadn't done anything right in my life, I knew when I had that baby, that was the one thing that I could say that I had done perfectly. She was so perfect. I asked Cassie what Audrey was like growing up,

And here is what she had to say. She's always been such a sweet baby. She didn't really cry unless she needed a diaper change or she wanted a bottle. She wasn't really a fan of tummy time. She would just side-eye you, like, what are we doing? Put me back on my back woman. She was kind of sassy, but she's always been so funny. I remember the first time I was watching Spider-Man with her,

I had stepped out the front door. I hadn't closed it all the way, but I had stepped out the front door to ask my mom a question. And when I peeked back in at her because my mom was still talking, she hops up on the coffee table, does the spidey fingers, and goes,

she makes this sound. And I have to shut the door and get myself together in about 0.2 seconds, then open the door and tell her, girl, get your booty down off that table. Now eventually, Cassie and Josh would split up. And from there,

they split custody of Audrey. But soon enough, Cassie, would lose that custody. During my research on this story before I connected with her, I saw some online speculation that it was due to drug use, but Cassie said that that was not the case. She said she never once had to take a court-appointed drug test, nor has she ever had a CPS case against her. According to Cassie, after she and Josh had broken up, she had lost her home, and for a time, she had to move in with some family in Lubbock, Texas.

But because she didn't get permission to bring Audrey there, Josh and his family called the police. And from then on, the relationship between everyone would sour. And I understand completely where he was coming from because, you know, he was hurt too. He was thinking I was going to take her. And that was neither of the case. But I never really got to explain that to him either. He was so upset about it under the assumption that he was going to lose his baby. And he hadn't done anything.

Cassie said that she wishes she could go back and change the way that entire situation went down, especially because soon after she would lose custody of Audrey. All I know is that I went to sleep one night. I woke up to next with my baby, and then I have an officer knocking on my door telling me that I have to hand her over to Josh. I don't even know how to explain it. I was just broken. But I didn't once say anything rude to him.

I didn't once act out of character in front of my baby. I just wanted her to know, you know, that everything was fine. And she loves, she loved Josh so much. She's always been a daddy's girl, really she has. And he's always been such an amazing dad to her. So I didn't want her to think that, you know, when I was handing her over, that there was anything wrong. I gave him everything I had for her, including the potty chair

because she was potty training with me and all of that. I wanted to make sure that, you know, she knew everything was okay. But throughout this rough time, Cassie didn't want her daughter to be put in the middle of everything. She didn't want her to grow up surrounded by parents arguing all the time. I never wanted her to look at me or her dad in any different way. I wanted her to know that I loved her so much. And when she was with my aunt, my uncle, they expressed that. And when I seen, the few times I have got to see her, I expressed that.

but I never spoke Fowley about Josh in front of her. I never spoke about the situation or any of that because that wasn't for her. And I didn't want her to take it any type of wrong and think that, you know, her daddy was doing something wrong or that I was doing something wrong or I just wanted her to have a happy childhood. No matter what the circumstances were, I just wanted her to be happy. Because of this, Cassie didn't get to see Audrey much over the years, which, was heartbreaking. But the one good thing was that she knew Audrey was surrounded by people who loved her. Now, her father Josh had full custody of her, but life as a single parent wasn't always easy. Josh had a job that required a lot of travel. So he and Audrey moved in to his

parents' house on Lakeside Drive. Around 2023, Audrey had a really good support system. She had her dad, her dad's sister Julie, who stepped in to help, and her grandparents, Tabitha and Philip. Audrey was well loved by all of them. Here are her grandparents explaining their situation to KPRC. Yeah, and he lives with us. He's struggling. He works on tugboats down in Houston. But it was a joint effort to raise Audrey between Joshua, Tabby and his sister, Julie. The three of them work together, and the result is what everybody sees.

She was just so happy. She was learning so much. She was looking forward to her life. Now Joshua was only 18 years old when Audrey was born, so he had to grow up quickly, but at the end of the day, he loved being a dad. And Philip and Tabitha loved. loved being grandparents.

Audrey's early years were spent running around outside in the familiar streets of Livingston, barefoot, and free. She loved to ride her bike, play with her little brother, and she and her grandma liked to spend time out in the garden. Audrey's face would light up anytime she saw a vegetable sprouting. If she wasn't out here playing, we were out playing in the dirt, attempting very, and I use the word attempting to grow things, She was so proud that we had radishes and jalapinos.

You just thought we had grown like the bumper crop. She was, any little thing was big to her. Audrey also loved to sing, dance, read, and make art projects. In the 2003-2020-24 school year, Audrey was a fifth grader at Creekside Elementary School. Her most recent art project, titled High Five, was hung up in her school's hallway, with her signature at the bottom in Purple Ink.

purple was her favorite color, but it hadn't always been her favorite. Audrey really started loving the color purple after finding out that it was her grandma's favorite. When you're a little girl and you look up to someone, you want to be like them in every way. That's how Audrey was with her grandmother. She loved all colors, but because grandma loved purple, she kept telling me, you know, purple's my favorite color too. And it's her father's favorite color. And she, she was creative in a way that amazed us sometimes, that she would paint a picture.

I mean, she's 11 years old, so she still was learning, but our refrigerator was often covered with all of her little drawings and paintings that she did, and we encouraged it. We gave her coloring sets, and she would make them and hand them out to people. teachers at school, other kids in her class. But the one thing Audrey loved just as much as art were animals.

She was a very empathic child who loved any living creature, but especially her dogs and cats. She had recently been telling her grandparents that she either wanted to be a vet or an animal trainer or both. As long as she got to work with animals, she didn't care. Any animal in this neighborhood knew Audrey, and Audrey knew them. And she loved her, all of her pets. They're all rescues. And she treated them like they were completely loved and groomed. And she just, anything to do with animals and art, that's all.

And she quite often, throughout the neighborhood, she would help other neighbors with their animals, take them for walks, stop and pet them on her way to school or way home. We could even hear her going to school because the dogs would bark and she would go over and say hi to them. Audrey's mom Cassie said this about her as well. Now, even though she hadn't got to see her daughter much because of the custody issues, Cassie's mother-in-law lived in Audrey's neighborhood, and even she knew that Audrey loved animals. My fiance's mom actually met her because she was walking her dog, and she was telling everyone in the neighborhood that she started her own dog walking business and she was offering for free

to walk everybody's doggies. And so that's actually how my fiance's mom met her. She knocked on the door and she said she opened it and she was like, oh, and looks down and she sees little Audrey. And she was like, well, hi, baby. How are you? And she said, well, I started my dog walking company and I wanted to let you know I could walk your dog. So as you can see, Audrey was not a shy child. She was the type of of girl that could walk up to anyone at any age and start up a conversation. Everyone in her neighborhood knew her as well as all the teachers and students at her school. They described her as a people person with an infectious smile. The friends always knew they could look to her to make them laugh. Audrey's aunt, Brenda Cedars, told People magazine, quote, no matter where she went or who she met,

she just made them light up. She could always make you laugh no matter what kind of mood you were in, End quote. Yeah, all the neighbors knew her, because she would stop and say hi to them, talk to them. One of the neighbors gave her a bicycle so she could write it to the bus stop. Another neighbor led her park her bicycle in front of their house to get on the bus. Her dog would jump over the fence and follow her to the bus stop. and then he would come right back and lay down outside their kennel.

Tabitha and Phillips said that she was the most thoughtful little girl in the world. When Tabitha would come home from work, she would even offer to rub her grandma's feet for her. Audrey really had a heart for others. And she did odd jobs for me, cleaned my shop, helped with the recycling, so she could earn a little money. And the next thing we know we're at church, and she puts that money in the collection at church. and she puts that money in the collection at church. Not for herself.

It was always for others. She just was a loving, caring, compassionate child. We taught her that there was no difference in the world, you know, to not judge people by their exterior, to learn their heart. She was amazing. She loved coming to work with me and helping with the elderly folks bring in little Christmas gifts

or just whatever she could do, she was just full of love and life. By all accounts, Audrey was the type of child that any parent would be lucky to have. They knew that simply by being herself, she touched people's lives. She was a true light in this dark world. But unbeknownst to everyone, there was someone out there that would set out to dim that light, all for his own sick desires. and his name was Don Stephen McDougall. Stephen was born in December of 1981,

and although we don't know much about his upbringing, we do know that Stephen's criminal record started back in 2001. When he was 20 years old, he was charged with possession of marijuana in Cleveland, Texas. The following year, in 2002, he was sentenced to five years for assaulting a public servant. The year after that, in 2003, he was arrested for possession of a unnamed dangerous drug and sentenced to four months in jail. That same year, he was sentenced to three years in jail for assaulting another public servant in Liberty County. In 2004, he didn't have any charges because he was in jail, but in 2005, he was arrested for evading arrest

in Harris County. In 2006, he received an eight-month sentence for theft, more than $1,500, but less than $20,000 in Harris County. Then, one week later, he was sentenced to 180, days for possession of meth. So, as you can see, for five whole years, Stephen was in and out of jail. And it seems like as soon as he got out, he went right back to committing crimes. But 2007 is when he would commit his most concerning crime. It was March 31st, 2007. At the time, Stephen was visiting some family friends at their home in Brazoria County. These friends had a 10-year-old daughter named Carissa. Now that night, Stephen, even decided to spend the night at their house.

And once everyone was asleep, he snuck over to the 10-year-old's bedroom. Here is Carissa talking with ABC 7 about what happened next. I'll never forget his face after that. Carissa Davis would like nothing more than to forget Don McDougal's face. I know he's a nasty man. And what he did to her one night in 2007 when she was 10 years old. She was at her uncle's Brazoria County House for her family gathering.

McDougal's sisters were family friends. And he came into the room that me and my cousin were sleeping in. Davis says McDougal yanked her cousin from their bed, then got into bed with her. I had to take down my pants and I immediately jumped up at that moment. I remember looking at him saying, Do you know how old I am? Davis raced for the door with McDougal in tow.

He grabbed me, and when he did, I just swung my arm and I hit him. Luckily, Carissa was able to escape. was able to escape. But horrifically, once she did, Stephen started searching the house for the 10-year-old girl. There is no telling what he would have done if he would have found her. But Carissa was able to wake up one of her aunts

and tell them what happened. From there, the police were called and Stephen was arrested and charged with aggravated sexual assault of a child, a first-degree felony that carried a potential life sentence. It would also require him to register as a sex offender. However, that would never happen.

Stephen would end up taking a plea deal with the prosecution and his charge was reduced to enticing a child. Now that is still a very serious crime, but it's only a third degree felony with a maximum penalty of seven years in prison. It also meant that he wouldn't be required to register as a sex offender in the state of Texas,

which would go on to be a huge mistake. Now for this offense, Stephen ended up pleading no contest to enticing a child, and he received a two-year prison sentence. But he received credit for time served, so he only ended up in jail for a couple of months before he was released back into the world. And almost immediately, he was back to his life of crime. In July 2009, Stephen was sentenced to 180 days for unauthorized use of a vehicle in Harris County. Then the following year, in February of 2010, Stephen assaulted one of his co-workers.

The man in question, Ehrlich Brian III, said that it had started out like any other night. He had invited Stephen and a few of his friends over to hang out, but after a few hours, Stephen became extremely drunk. He was belligerent, so Ehrlich asked him to leave. And Stephen did leave the house, but a few minutes later, he came back, randishing a knife. Just the sheer look of him, and I hate to judge a book by its cover. but you know, that's one book somebody should have judged. Elic Brian III says he worked with McDougal back in 2010.

One night after some drinks at his house, things got ugly. He got drunk one night. We threw him out of the house, and he come back with a knife and slashed tires and tried to stab me with a knife, and I had to run him off with a gun. And the cops finally come out with dogs and got him. What were those moments like for you, almost getting stabbed? Terrifying. You know, it really was.

I mean, like I said, he seemed like a nice guy, but then he's got this whole other side to me. Years later, when Stephen's future crimes would be revealed, Ehrlich would tell reporters that he wished he had used deadly force that night. But ultimately, for this offense, Stephen was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and sentenced to four years in prison, but it would not be the end of his reckless behavior. On April 13, 2014, he was arrested for theft of property under $500

and sentenced to 30 days in jail. A few months later, in July 2014, he was arrested for reckless driving and sentenced to another 30 days in jail. Then, surprisingly, over the next five years, Stephen seemed to stay out of trouble. It wouldn't be until 2019 when his crime spree started back up again. That July, Stephen was arrested for assault causing bodily harm in Liberty County and sentenced to nine months. For that crime, Stephen asked his friend Corley and her boyfriend Tyler if they could give him a ride to his friend's house. He even offered to give them gas money in exchange, and they agreed.

But as the three rode together, Stephen suddenly asked if they could pull over. At the time, they were in the middle of nowhere in Dayton. Corley said, quote, when we got out of the car, he started getting a little weird. He was like, all right, just pull up to this little driveway right here. Well, the driveway had no house at the end of it. End quote. But again, this was their friend, so they didn't. didn't think anything of it. However, when they all got out of the car, Stephen suddenly grabbed

a metal pipe, ran over to Tyler, and he hit him with it in the back of the head. Tyler started screaming, and Corley immediately pulled out her phone and dialed 911. At this point, Stephen started freaking out, begging Corley to hang up the phone. But when she wouldn't, he threw the pipe into the back of the car and took off running into the woods. Eventually, he stole a car and he tried to flee, but the police caught up with him and he was arrested. Now, the motive as to why he hit Tyler with that pipe is still unclear. But the one thing they knew for sure was that Stephen McDougal was a dangerous and unpredictable man. Corley would later say, quote,

You have to watch who you bring your children around. You have to watch who you associate yourself with because they can act like your best friend to your face. and be all nice to you, but the minute no one's around, they can flip a script in their head. It's crazy how you think you know someone, and then you don't know them at all." The following year in August 2020, Stephen was arrested in Harris County for harassment after threatening to kill his former employer, Ted Bower. Apparently, Stephen had been working for Ted at his trash hauling company in the port and believed he had been underpaid. Ted would later say, quote, he come at me, threatened to kill me.

and everything over 50 fucking dollars. Can you believe that shit? He's a bad apple. He ain't worth a damn. End quote. On September 10th, 2020, he was charged with unauthorized use of a vehicle in Liberty County. He received a two-year prison sentence

and was released on September 12th, 2022. Following his release from prison this time around, Stephen was down on his look. He didn't have a job or a place to live, so he turned to his friend for help. That friend was Joshua Lee Cunningham, Audrey's father. Apparently, Josh and Stephen knew each other through mutual friends. And one day, while they were all hanging out, Stephen noticed that they had a vacant camper in their backyard.

At the time, he was facing homelessness. So he begged them to let him stay in the camper until he got on his feet. Now, Josh, Philip, and Tabby were well aware that Stephen had a rap sheet. In fact, Stephen had been forthcoming about his crimes, saying that drugs had led him down a dark path and that he was working to get his life together. He wanted to get clean and put his past behind him. Philip and Tabby said that they believed in giving people second chances, so they let him move into the camper on their property. But they would later claim that they did not know the true extent of Stephen's crimes. He had never mentioned anything about his offense against a child.

They would later say that if they had known, they would have never let him on their property. And before he moved in, just to make sure, Tabitha said that she even checked the sex offender registry. When she couldn't find him on it, she believed there was no danger to their granddaughter, Audrey. But unbeknownst to them, they had just allowed a predator into their lives.

We saw the good side of him. I mean, he showed us what he wanted us to see. He was formally incarcerated, but we had no idea. We checked his sex offender registry, and he did not show up on it. We had friends that knew him years and years ago that said he was a good guy that just got caught up in bad things. and he admitted to many of the things that he had done, but none of them were anywhere near what happened. He played us all.

He showed us aside that wanted to get clean and that everything he had done was attributed to drugs, and it wasn't. But because he was so convincing and forthcoming with what he said, and that he wanted to get off the drugs, drugs, he wanted a new life. I mistakenly and stupidly believe that. But before all that, because my granddaughter and my daughter and everybody in this house was important to me, I checked that sex offender registry. I checked that sex offender registry because I thought

I was protecting her. And it didn't show up because somebody allowed him to plead down and not have to register. But because we accepted him for who he was and tried to help him get a second start. I mean, that's what our faith believes is you forgive. He had served his time. Nobody was giving him help. Nobody was. He was homeless.

And so we said we have a camper out back. You could stay in that. and he was getting odd jobs. He had a girlfriend who was starting to get his life together. We don't understand. Hey, everybody. Courtney and I have a favor to ask of you.

If you love murder in America, you love our show, please leave us a five-star review wherever you listen to your podcasts, whether that's Apple Podcasts, Spotify. If you love our show and you want to help us grow, definitely consider leaving us a five-star review.

Also, it helps the show so much when people share out links to our program. So if you're listening and you're loving what we're doing here, share us on your Instagram story, shout us out on X, post one of our shows on your Facebook, and let the world, your friends, your family know that you're listening to Murder in America. It seriously helps us so much helps us grow the show. We couldn't do this without all of you listening at home. Seriously, thank y'all. But let's get back to the story. Stephen ended up moving into the camper in 2022, and he had no issues with the family. Everyone seemed to be getting along well.

However, he wasn't staying out of trouble. In fact, in September 2023, he was arrested and charged with resisting arrest. A few months later, on December 19, 2023, he appeared in court and pleaded guilty. Now, it's unclear if Philip and Tabitha knew about this arrest, but by this point, Stephen was a pretty big part of their lives. They saw him every single day. They loved him, trusted him. They went on trips together.

He even referred to Tabitha as mama. An 11-year-old Audrey had grown to love him as well. He was like her uncle. He would even help their family by making sure Audrey boarded the school bus every morning. If she accidentally missed the bus, Stephen would be the one to take her to school. As they always say, it takes a village to raise a child, and Stephen was a part of that village. or so they thought. Now, at this point in the story,

we have to go back to Audrey's mother, Cassie. Like we mentioned, because of the custody issues going on within their family, Cassie didn't get to see Audrey much. But Cassie's mother-in-law lived in the same neighborhood as her. During our interview, I asked Cassie about the last time she saw her daughter.

She said it was May 1st, 2023. Cassie's washer had broken down, so she was at her mom. mother-in-law's house doing some laundry. And while she was grabbing some stuff out of the car, she saw a little girl riding her bike. When I looked at her, I instantly knew that that was my baby. I instantly knew. I mean, I couldn't mistake his head. That's my baby. And at first, I wasn't going to say anything because I didn't know how to approach it. I was just going to let her ride by. And she's actually the one that threw her bike down and came running. And she was like, mom.

and she jumped on me so hard, she almost knocked me over. The neighbor across the street, because all the neighbors, you know, they kind of kept an eye out for Audrey to ride her bike home and stuff. And the neighbor actually opened the door and was like, hey, is everything okay? And she was like, yeah, it's okay. This is my mom. I got to love on her, and I was telling her how beautiful she was

and how much I missed her and that I thought about her every single day. And I told her that, you know, she needed to, love on her daddy and you know don't be mad at dad because we don't get to see each other daddy's just doing what he's supposed to do he's protecting you he you know he's just a little overprotective you got to give him a break you're his only girl you know and i was telling her that and she started crying i wiped her tears and i asked her you know what's wrong and she said nothing these are happy tears and then as much as i wanted to stay there and love on her more and just talk to her I didn't want anyone at her house to, you know, freak out and be like, oh, she's supposed to be home.

Where is she? You know, I didn't want to cause any panic there. I didn't want her to get in trouble or nothing like that. So I told her, I was like, I will talk to your daddy and I will try my hardest to come see you as much as I can. Just like I always have, baby. I promise I will. And she got on her bike and she smiled at me and she rode home. But if I would have known what I know now,

I wouldn't have gave a shit about her getting in trouble. I wouldn't have cared if they would have panicked. I would have held her so much longer. Now, eventually, Audrey's dad and grandparents found out about them seeing each other, and it only seemed to make things worse between the families. Cassie said that it was a bunch of hearsay, but it caused an even bigger riff. After that, Audrey was no longer allowed to ride her bike around the neighborhood because they thought Cassie was trying to take her away from them,

and that was the last time she ever saw her daughter. But eventually, Cassie did get word that a random man was living on their property. And naturally, she wanted to know who this man was. Cassie ended up finding him on Facebook, and it's there where she learned that the man's name was Don Stephen McDougall. Cassie said that she knew just about everyone in Livingston, but she had never heard of him before. She even tried asking around about him,

but no one seemed to know who he was. Then, soon after, when Cassie got on her Facebook, she saw that Stephen McDougal had sent her a friend request, followed by a message. He actually messages me on Facebook, and he's talking to me about,

look, I'm Audrey's babysitter. I stay on the property. You know, I know what's, being said about you over here, but all I care about is Audrey. I want to know you before I, I go any further. And I was like, what do you mean? And he was like, well, I do have the ability to bring your daughter to you. I do have the ability for you to see her. Do you have the ability to send you pictures? He said, and I don't give a shit what Josh thinks. Now, when he's telling me this, I'm like, whoa, okay? Now, automatically I'm like, no, this right here. This is the

setting me up for failure. Cassie was especially confused because at this point, anyone that was still associated with her was completely exiled by their family. And here is this guy living on their property, messaging her about meeting up with her daughter. So it was all a big red flag. Not once did I ever, now I hate to say this,

but not once did I ever think that I needed to look up his criminal record or anything, not because of Josh more than anything, but because I had faith, With everything in my heart, I had faith that if he was living on the property at Philip Munches' house, that this man had, he wasn't a troublemaker. Phil is a very strict man. He is about taking care of his property, his home, his family, you know, he's a very strict man. I was full blown under the assumption that, you know, if they do such a good job at keeping me away

because they think that I'm a threat, then that's the last, the worries that I need to have. Cassie said that even though there were red flags, she did engage in conversation with Stephen. For years, Cassie had been heartbroken over the fact that she wasn't allowed to see her daughter. More than anything, she just wanted to know what was going on in her world and how she was doing. And Stephen McDougal gave Cassie that window into Audrey's life. He knew that Audrey was her weakness, and he took advantage of that. Now, we are not condoning violating any custody agreements because obviously those are set in place to protect children. But I do know that I can empathize with Cassie.

She loved Audrey more than anything in this world and she wanted to be a part of her life. In early February of 2024, Stephen started messaging Cassie about Audrey's upcoming birthday and they came up with an agreement. He is messaging me about, you know, her birthday and this and that. So I go and I buy a cake. He was supposed to come pick up. And we had this agreement that he wasn't. He was just going to say that he bought it so that he could come get it and take it to her so that I knew she could have it. And of course, he never showed.

So really, I didn't know much about this man. And he didn't message me very often. When he did, it was, you know, hey, do you want some pictures of Audrey or how are you doing today? Cassie never got to give Audrey that birthday cake. And early February of 2024 was the calm before the storm. On February 5th, Audrey celebrated her 11th birthday. Her family and friends got together, sang her happy birthday, open presents,

and Audrey taught everyone this silly little dance she had made up. No one had any idea that it would be. the very last birthday she would ever celebrate. But behind all of the celebration and love, Stephen McDougal was plotting something horrific, which brings us to Valentine's Day of 2024. That morning, Stephen started messaging Cassie, and he was giving off the impression that he was interested in her. But Cassie quickly shut that down. She had a fiancé, so she wasn't interested in him. and soon after they sent the following messages. Colin will read Stephen's messages and I will read Cassie's.

I'm super fucking livid right now, honestly, because I don't understand. Why are you livid? I've never disrespected you. Your baby has been asking me about you. This all just came across weird and wrong, and Valentine's Day is not my favorite day. That just didn't sound right and looked bad, and I don't know. And what do you mean she's asking about me? What has she been asking? Sweetie, I am as straightforward as it comes. If I was just talking to you, to try to fuck, I would have done tried. She asked me if I ever talked to you, and if you were as bad as they say you are.

Just came off wrong. upset me. Wow. As bad as they say, what did you say? Oh yeah, they made it look like you're just horrible. I told her that you are doing good. When did she ask this? She asked me yesterday going to school. I'm surprised she thought about me. She's scared to see me because of their reactions, huh? I mean, didn't you say they kept her inside for a month after I seen her that day at Justin's moms?

She does all the time. Yes, exactly. Yes, she is still not allowed outside by herself in the evenings. They told her that you are in the woods. She is confused about the situation, but I told her that you are not hiding in the woods, but we talk. What is wrong with him? Is he that fucking stress that his mental has,

him thinking I'm going to steal her in the night, or that I live in the fucking woods behind his mom's house? That's some serious crazy shit. It's like they're scaring her and brainwashing her with literal insane thoughts only a child would believe, so she doesn't want to know me like they make it out to be. Not like I'm going to react upon this because I surely won't. I want what's best for my kid.

And being everything they fuel her head with wouldn't be anything in my favor. Like I said, I told him I'd talk to you. But it makes me sick to my stomach, they think that's okay. She has an innocent, fragile child mind. And them warping it with chaos is not right, man. Well, don't, but I might take you out to the dock to fish and accidentally pull up with her to fish.

The one by their house? Really anywhere. That's asking for trouble and setting me up for failure. Not at all. I do not in any way need to be set up to lose my child even more. Lucky would lose it if he knew, and is this what she asked you to do, or what y'all maybe talked about for her to see me?

I'm your daughter's favorite person, and she will not tell. She wants to meet you. I told you I am on your team. I will do what I can. I want to meet her too, but if this comes back on me in any bad way, I can lose her forever, and I would kill you then myself, man,

not a threat, but a promise. It would not. As long as no one says anything about it being set up, no one would even know, and she won't say anything, them. Growing up, my mom was always the best at handling sticky, stressful situations. I mean, we have so many crazy family memories, so many things that stick out to me, so many trips that we took and just funny moments. I mean, I remember specifically one just crazy time

when we had jet skis and we took them out. We had rented them for the day and we took them out on this lake and somehow something got on the engine of the jet ski. Mine stalled. My dad stalled. and my mom and sister had to come rescue us because we floated to shore on the other side of the lake. We've got some hilarious pictures from that day. But it's just one of those memories that I don't want to let die. And aura frames can help keep those moments alive. So basically, an aura frame is like a virtual frame that can display photos and videos from anywhere. You can upload to the frame.

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conditioner so much and yeah, it's one of those never looking back situations. But you can let your hair become one less thing taking up space in your head and see thicker, stronger, faster growing hair with less shedding in just three to six months with Nutraful. For a limited time, Nutraful is offering our listeners $10 off your first month subscription and free shipping when you visit NutraFol.com and enter promo code M-I-A. That's Nutraful.com, spelled N-U-T-R-A-F-O-L dot com promo code M-I-A. So here, Stephen is trying to set up a meeting with Cassie and Audrey. He wanted to take them fishing on Lake Livingston, but he told Cassie that she couldn't bring her fiancé. wanted her to come alone, but Cassie refused. And once again, she said that there were alarm bells

ringing. Cassie said she talked to her fiancé and other family members about what she should do, and that's when she came up with the idea to meet them at a park. That way her fiancee could be right there to make sure nothing went awry. The messages continued with Cassie saying, There's a park down the road from my house. Would that be okay? And you would. and Justin would have to sit nearby and bullshit. You can listen if you need to, but for my protection as well, I couldn't be alone. I mean, Justin can walk around the park and we can talk to you. This whole thing scares me, and that's fine. Just please understand that I'm just as scared as she is. She's not the only one made to feel terrified about things like this, and it's sad because she's

my daughter and I'm her mother. We should be happy and excited to get to see each other. or at least not scared to do so. Don't you see anything wrong with that, man? Like, please understand. But yes, I want to see her. Yes, I want to talk to her and answer any questions she has truthfully, no matter how much it may hurt. She deserves to know the truth on my end,

and also just how much I do love her, because at this point, she's got to be questioning if I do or not. Oh, I see the wrong with it, and I'm trying to fix what I see wrong. You are not a bad person, and she deserves the chance to know that. Look, it's one thing to have you say it, but before we meet tomorrow at the park, I need to hear her say it herself, either in a video or on the phone that this is what she wants is to meet and talk with me. She doesn't have to say nothing more or nothing less. Please, you don't know what I've been through trying to have anything to do with her, or the harassment from his friends

and such, because of the lies they have been told. I need reassurance. Okay, I will take her to school tomorrow. After school, correct? Yes. What time would I need to be at the park? And can you guarantee that I will hear her say that she wants me to be there? Yes, I will take her to school and have you on the phone. I will not force anything on her. Seems there's been enough of that already.

Okay. When do you take her? her to school. At seven. Okay, I'll be awake by 6.30 or 6.40. I do love her, and I pray this is no set up for more bad things to come to me when all I want is to know my child. Good night. I hope to hear from her tomorrow.

By the following morning, February 15th, 2024, Audrey woke up for the day and she got ready for school. She put on black pants, a black hoodie, black high top tennis shoes, and grabbed her red Hello Kitty backpack. Now, like we mentioned earlier, Stephen was in charge of making sure Audrey got to the bus stop every morning. So Cassie knew that she would be with him. And it's around this time when she sent Stephen the following message. Morning. Good morning. Hope I hear from her this morning, and please let me know if she changed her mind. That is

perfectly okay too, and I understand. I don't want her feeling pressured. But Stephen never responded it to her message. Now Cassie would later say that of course she wanted to see Audrey that day, but she also wanted to bring her fiance to the park as well so he could video their meetup. She said she was going to send the video to Josh to let him know that the man in their life was not a good guy. She would later say, quote, red flags are flying high to me at this point. But I play along with the idea in hopes to get my daughter in my sight so that I could call her father myself to come get her from this man." End quote.

But that meetup would never happen. Later that morning, hundreds of students piled into Creekside Elementary School to start the school day. But as Audrey's fifth grade teacher began to take attendance, she noticed that Audrey's desk was empty. Now she hadn't said anything about being absent that day, but at the same time, it wasn't out of the ordinary for students to miss school on occasion.

Maybe she was sick or had an appointment of someone. so her teacher marked her absent and went on with the day. Hours later at 1 p.m., the school sent a notification to Audrey's father, Josh, that she was absent. But from what I could find, I don't think Josh saw the message. Now, at this point in the day, Cassie figured that since she hadn't heard from Stephen, she wouldn't be meeting up with him at the park after school. So around 3 p.m., she sent Stephen another message that read,

So I know it's not going to be a thing today, but when she's ready, please let me know. You'll have a good day, man. Stephen replied, Yes, ma'am. Later that day, Josh, Tabby, and Philip all got home from work to find that Audrey wasn't home. Then, they saw that notification that she never even made it to school that day. Now, as we know, Stephen was in charge of making sure Audrey got to the bus stop every morning. So they called and asked him about it.

Stephen told them that shortly before 7 a.m., he had dropped Audrey off at the bus stop, and that was it. So from there, her family began looking for her. Audrey's grandma Tabby even went to Cassie's mother-in-law's house asking if she had seen her. Eventually, Cassie and Tabby got on the phone with each other, and it's here where Cassie learned that her daughter was missing. my fiance's mom had called him and she was in a panic and he was like whoa whoa whoa calm down he was like what are you saying to me and then he was like you need to get on the phone right now he was like audrey's missing and my heart just went straight to my feet i was like what what do you mean

what do you mean i just started asking all these questions like are you sure she not at a friend's house did you make it off the bus and i'm just asking all these questions my first question to her though when she said that she didn't make it off the bus is i said where is stephen i don't know why um but It word vomited out of my mouth, where is Stephen? And she was like, what do you mean? He's headed home. And I said, well, he's been sending me text messages, and he said he was supposed to take her to school this morning.

And I just let her know everything. And she was like, what? And I was like, yeah, let me send you the text messages. Now around this time, Stephen actually sends a message to Cassie. Hey, have you seen Audrey? I dropped her off at the bus and she didn't get on and hasn't gotten home. No, Stephen. where the fuck is my kid?

Now, from here, Audrey's family immediately called the Polk County Sheriff's Department. But according to Cassie, they suspected that she had something to do with it, not Stephen. So they would bring her in for questioning. In the meantime, the Polk County Police Department notified the Texas Department of Public Safety and an Amber Alert was issued around 9.30 p.m. Through the emergency alert system, the notification of Audrey's disappearance was sent out to radio, stations, televisions, highway signs, and cell phones. I remember getting the Amber Alert that day since we live in nearby Houston. It read that Audrey Cunningham was missing and possibly in danger.

Police also need help finding an 11-year-old from the Houston area. Now, you might have heard this Amber Alert go off late last night around 10 o'clock. Audrey Cunningham was last seen in Livingston, Texas, which is north of Houston around seven yesterday morning. She has blonde hair and blue eyes. At the time she went missing, she was wearing a black hoodie with white lettering, black pants, and a camo backpack. If you have any information on her whereabouts,

you are urged to call police immediately. But from there, the search for 11-year-old Audrey Cunningham commenced. Hundreds of neighbors and volunteers joined police to help in the search, including Stephen McDougal. Apparently, he went door to door trying to find out if anyone had seen her. They focused their initial search on the wood line behind Audrey's home as she was known to play in the area. It was an all-hands-on-deck effort with the Texas Department of Public Safety, the Texas Rangers,

Livingston Police Department, Polk County Sheriff's Department, Texas State Guard, FBI, and several local fire departments. Her father Josh also took to social media and posted a photo of Audrey with a caption that read, My daughter Audrey Cunningham is missing. She did not make it to the bus this morning. contact me and the police immediately with any information. And again, the police originally thought that Cassie was responsible. Audrey's family told them that she had been messaging Stephen about meeting up with Audrey that week. They also told them that Cassie had tried to kidnap Audrey in the past, so they should look into her.

But Cassie said that that wasn't true or else she would have been charged with kidnapping, and she never was. But as we know, police have to look into every single person in these sorts of cases. And Cassie was no exception. In fact, she was at the top of their list. She spent about 16 hours at the police station being interrogated for her daughter's disappearance. But Cassie knew that she had nothing to hide. She even took a polygraph exam to prove that she wasn't lying. And over time, investigators began to realize that Cassie was not the person

responsible, so they moved on to their next person of interest. Dawn, Stephen McDougal. He claimed that that morning, shortly before 7 a.m., Audrey hopped into his blue 2003 Chevrolet Suburban, and from there, he dropped her off at the bus stop. But Stephen denied having anything to do with her disappearance, and with no evidence to prove otherwise, they had to let him go. As far as they knew, he was the last person. to see Audrey. Now investigators immediately looked into Stevens' past, and that's when they saw

his charge from 2007 for enticing a child. And the more they found, the more they knew that he was likely their suspect. From here, investigators began tracing Stevens' whereabouts that day through surveillance footage and cell phone data. To their dismay, they saw that he had spent a lot of time at Lake Livingston that day. So they directed their search over there. But by the end of the day, they hadn't found anything. This hour, investigators ending their search for the day for 11-year-old Audrey Cunningham. Officials giving that update just 20 minutes ago. The family of the girl says she went missing about 5.30 last night.

We're talking about up in Polk County. Investigators say they will be back at Lake Livingston, where they've been searching today as soon as the sun comes up tomorrow. Our reporter, Stephen Goan, has been on the scene since this morning with the latest right now. Stephen. Just moments ago, the Texas Department of Public Safety telling us this is a continued area of interest in the search for Audrey Cunningham. They say they're still actively following leads and that is what brought them here to this

section of Lake Livingston near the dam. Now we saw a large law enforcement presence here earlier in the day for hours and hours, officials telling us that Audrey was reported missing last night when she did not get off the school bus, but it turns out she never got on the bus in the morning. Investigators have not characterized this as an abduction. They only say Audrey is missing. Now, officials tell us the search is winding down for today, and they are not searching tonight,

but law enforcement will be back here at daybreak at this continued place of interest. Take a listen. As the day came to an end, Audrey's mom, Cassie, spoke with the media. A heart is an understatement. This is the stuff that you see on TV, and you wonder, you can only imagine what the family

and the parents are going through, And there's not words for it. There's not one filly you feel. It's a roller coaster. You're broken. You're mad. You're lost. You're empty.

And right now, I am empty. And I'm not going to, I'm not going to be the same unless my baby is returned to me. And neither is her family, anyone in her family, any of us, any of her friends, any of the people that she has been connected to and they can be. and she's such a great child. She loves everybody. She loves everything. She's smart.

She's fun. She's caring. Not a single person could say anything bad about her. She's not a bad child. She has so many opportunities ahead of her, and she deserves every right to be able to reach those opportunities. Now, some of the comments under this video are horrific. There are dozens of people saying that Cassie is responsible

and how she's not grieving the way an innocent person would grieve. And it truly makes me believe that if you ever have a child go missing, do not speak to the media because people will tear you to shreds. But nonetheless, that night Cassie posted about Stephen McDougal to her Facebook. In part, the post read, quote, Last night he messaged me trying to convince me to come alone without my faith, fiance to a park around the corner of my home to meet up with him and see my daughter. Steven said he was taking her to school. Then, when she came up missing, he all of a sudden was

taking her to the bus stop. Things don't add up. And why did he push so hard to get me to meet him there alone? I need answers and I need my baby to come home. This man clearly knows what's going on or where my baby is and I know it in the pit of my stomach. Immediately, Cassie's friend started commenting on her post. One stated, quote, Did you read the comment of someone else stating he tried to rape her when she was 10? This is horrifying, end quote. In fact, his previous victim, Carissa,

the girls whose pants he took off in bed that night, commented on the post, saying, quote, Stephen McDougall is not someone I'd want around my little girl. This man tried to rape me when I was 10 years old. He was a brother of my parents' friends. Carissa went on to say that not only did he get away with it, but that he also got caught in 2014 for sending a picture of his penis to a young girl on Facebook. Another person wrote, quote,

This is scary. I pray he didn't hurt this baby girl. End quote. Now, surprisingly, Stephen also commented on Cassie's post, saying, quote, I definitely didn't hurt that baby. Anyone that knows me knows I didn't, and my whereabouts was right there knocking on doors, trying to find video footage. Yes, of course, I got took to the station in question all night, and I was let go because I didn't

do anything but what I do on a regular basis." End quote. By the following morning, the search for Audrey continued, and this time, Texas Equusurch, led by Tim Miller, were involved. Now, Tim Miller knew all too well the pain and anguish that Audrey. family was feeling. I know we've talked about him a number of times, but in 1984, Tim's daughter, 16-year-old Laura Miller, went missing from Santa Fe, Texas, and he had essentially no help in finding her. 17 months later, her body would be discovered in a remote field off Calder Road in League

City, a location that would be called the Texas killing fields. The second episode of our podcast, Murder in America. But in the year 2000, Tim decided to dedicate his life to helping find other missing people with the Texas Equusurch. In a later interview, Tim said that the Polk County Sheriff's Department called him on the morning of February 16th and asked for his help. And from there, he and his group of 80 volunteers made their way to Livingston, Texas. Now, not only were they searching Lake Livingston, but Tim also wanted to focus on the Trinity River, which was directly on the dam. So, using sonar detection, Tim made several passes through the river, but the current was so strong that day, then it made it hard to find anything. However, they did find Audrey's Hello Kitty backpack

near the lake. This discovery was absolutely heartbreaking. It confirmed what they had feared all long that Audrey was likely deceased, but they still didn't have enough to make an arrest. However, that would soon change. By this point, Stephen McDougal's picture was all over the media in connection to Audrey's disappearance. And soon enough, a man would call in to the police department with a pretty crazy story. His name was David Stanley. Now, about six months before this, in August of 2023,

David said that he was at his house when he got a call from a friend named Rachel. She said that her car battery was dead and she needed a jump. And her car just so happened to be right outside of David's house. So, David made his way outside to help her. When he approached her car, he noticed there was a random man with Rachel's,

Rachel, someone who he had never seen before. But nonetheless, he grabbed his jumper cables and popped the hood. But then, the strangest thing happened. As he started to place the jumper cables onto the dead car, he saw the headlights turn on. Apparently, the car wasn't dead at all. And before David could do anything, this random man jumped on his back and stabbed him three three times. Now luckily David would survive, but by the time he called the police, the man had already fled the scene. And I'm not really sure how his friend Rachel played into all

of this, but apparently when the police showed up, David was unable to give them the name of the man who stabbed him. I'm assuming Rachel didn't know his name either. But because the police didn't have a name, the case would go unsolved. But then, six months later, David goes online and he sees the story of Audrey Cunningham. Then, he sees the picture of Stephen McDougal, the suspect in Audrey's disappearance. And that's when he recognizes him. Stephen McDougal was the man who had stabbed David back in August of 2023.

So immediately, he calls the police department to let them know. On the night of February 16th, police showed up to arrest 42-year-old Stephen McDougal on charges of aggravated. assault. It was completely unrelated to the Audrey Cunningham case, but now they had him in custody. By this point, investigators were confident that Stephen McDougal was responsible for Audrey's disappearance, but he still wasn't telling them what happened. He admitted that he left the house with Audrey around 6.30 a.m. to take her to the bus stop, but from there, he remained tight-lipped.

But through Stephen's cell phone data, they were confident that Audrey was either in Lake Livingston or the Trinity River. However, the water conditions had been rough. Tim Miller said that using his sonar equipment, he made about 80 passes through that water trying to find her. Day after day, he had no luck. But on Sunday, February 18th, he finally spotted something in the water. It was hard to see, but Tim felt deep down that it was Audrey. That day, they sent divers to the area, but because of the high waters and currents, they weren't able to get down there. So they made plans to actually close the dam and lower the water so they could reach her. In the meantime, investigators continued searching the surrounding areas for any other evidence.

And near the Trinity River was the Highway 59 bridge. Underneath it, investigators found a tent. And not far away from that, on the banks of the river, they found the clothing that Audrey had been wearing on the morning of her disappearance. Now, after this discovery, a Texas ranger, actually brought Stephen McDougal to the Trinity River boat ramp, and he asked him point blank, did you put Audrey's body in the river?

Stephen paused for a moment, before shrugging his shoulders and saying, quote, yeah, she might be there, end quote. But even with that, there still wasn't enough to charge him. It seemed as if Stephen was toying with investigators. Now, at the time, his mugshot had been circulating online, and I have to say it is actually one of the scariest pictures I have ever seen in my life. He has these crazy-looking eyes and he just looks so evil.

We will be posting the pictures from this case on our Patreon and Instagram, so make sure to check those out. But something else to point out is that in other pictures of him, you'll see that he has multiple swastika tattoos on his body. As it turns out, Stephen had connected. to the Aryan Brotherhood, a true monster through and through. But as his picture was circulating online, along with the story of Audrey's disappearance, people in the community were outraged, and they wanted to see charges against him.

It does us no good to prematurely charge him now. And then three, four months from now, it'd get tossed out of court because we were moving too fast. So I ask you, please understand, as we work carefully through this, because I'm not. Audrey deserves this. She deserves us taking our time. She deserves us making sure that we do it right. But finally, on Tuesday, February 20th, after the water levels were lowered, the divers were able to get into the Trinity River. And as they lowered themselves down, they found her. 11-year-old Audrey Cunningham was found nude at the bottom of the river. Horrifically, she had been weighed down by a large rock that had been tied to her body. It was the outcome that, you

no one ever wanted. Now the exact details of what happened that tragic morning are still a little unclear, but it's believed that after Audrey got into Stephen's car, he didn't take her to the bus stop. Instead, he took her to the banks of the river. Once there, Stephen raped her. Then he grabbed something hard and hit her in the head. Her autopsy said she died from, quote, homicidal violence, including blunt head trauma. But from there, wanting to cover up his crime, Stephen grabbed a rope from his car, and he used it to tie a rock to Audrey's body.

Now, Stephen was known to fish in this area, so it's believed he then went out into the lake and tossed her body like garbage. Investigators would later find a piece of rope in Stephen's car that matched the rope tied to Audrey. And with this discovery, and now that they had finally found her, they could now charge him for her murder.

42-year-old Don Stephen McDougal was arrested on capital murder charges. And at 4 p.m. that day, Sheriff Byron Lyons announced that Audrey Cunningham had been found. I asked her mother Cassie about that day, what it was like getting that news. Here is what she had to say.

I couldn't process it. I couldn't process how you look at baby, in the face to do what you do and then throw her in the river like nothing i don't understand that one bit you don't throw a baby in the river like they're nothing you don't do that you don't do none of what he did if you love murder in america you love mysteries you love true crime you love murder stories and the unknown that i have a new show for you it's called the conspiracy files and it's hosted by me Colin Browne from Murder in America and the Paranormal Files. On the conspiracy files, we explore everything from bizarre deaths to freak paranormal events,

pedophile rings, government corruption, ritual sacrifice. No topic is untouched on this show. Everything that we talk about on the conspiracy files is backed up with fact. I release reference sheets with every single episode that we do so you guys know. Everything we're talking about is confirmed to have happened in be real. It's a completely different type of show than anything else you've ever seen about conspiracy theories. Instead of a bunch of conjecture and theories, we're presenting you people with facts, telling you the story, walking you through the story just as detailed as we do with

murder in America, and then letting the listener decide what they think. Anyways, you should definitely give it a listen. It's called The Conspiracy Files. The links are in the description of this show, and you can find it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. And now let's get back to our story. The day after the discovery of Audrey's body, dozens gathered at the Texas Craft Fair in Livingston to honor her life. Many wore the color purple, Audrey's favorite color, and several people addressed the crowd, sharing their special memories.

Cassie stated, quote, she was just sweet and soft and kind. Parents always say their babies are perfect, but she was definitely the kind of person to mind other people not to take things for granted and how to be a human being. Audrey's aunt Brenda Cedars also said, quote, this world is not going to be the same without her. No matter where she went or who she meant, she just made them light up. She could always make you laugh and no matter what kind of mood you were in, and it just isn't fair that we all got robbed of that.

End quote. On March 2, 2004, Audrey was laid to rest. At her visitation, her casket was surrounded by purple flowers and angel wings. members of the Bandito's motorcycle club came wearing purple bandanas, while others wore purple shirts. Texas Equistarch members wore yellow, and teachers from Creekside Elementary wore green and white, their school colors. After the service, her casket was brought outside while everyone held glow sticks in the air and created a heart formation.

From 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., hundreds of people came here to First Baptist Church to remember a girl whose death has rocked this close-knit community. It's been unimaginable. You know, you lose students to accidents. You have tragedy, but this is beyond anything that normally happens, and so it's been absolutely devastating. The loss of 11-year-old Audrey Cunningham has brought the Livingston community closer and shared grief.

Audrey was buried at the Spring Ridge Cemetery in Camilla, Texas. On her obituary, it read, in lieu of flowers, please make donations to the VFW Post 8568. All proceeds will go to the Texas, Aquacusarch and other charities for the child and victims of violent crimes for the remarkable efforts to bring Audrey home. Here is what Cassie told us about Audrey's funeral. I've buried a daughter before, but I never got the chance to know her. You know, she was still born. And I have to say it's so much harder to bury a baby that you've heard laugh, that you've comforted when they cried,

that you've laughed with, that you've bathed, that you've, you know, booped their little nose that you've, you know, done all this stuff with. And I couldn't, I couldn't breathe through most of it. And then I had Acacia, my baby, baby, right there with me the whole time. And so I was trying to keep it together, you know, for her. And when they lowered her, if it wasn't, for my dad standing behind me and my brothers

on one on each side of me I couldn't have made it I couldn't stand we placed her stuffed animals I thought it was really super cool of Phil Tabby and Josh to bring all of her stuffed animals there were totes of them

for us to put with her and when I was helping Acacia lower some in there I just wanted to lay in there with her I just wanted to crawl up in there with her and just tell him throw the dirt on us I'm not going anywhere but I couldn't

and poor Josh he started the shoveling in the dirt and they had to make him stop because he just kept going and he kept going and he kept going like he was going to do it all himself Josh and his family would release a statement. In part, it read, Audrey Cunningham was a charismatic, beautiful, talented, and

kind young lady. She loved singing, dancing, reading, and painting. She was even learning the skills of a tattoo artist. Most of all, caring for and playing with animals was her passion. Audrey's aspirations were to become a veterinarian or an animal trainer. Every day, Audrey was out caring for our pets and walking our dogs. She would even walk the dogs of neighbors in the subdivision. She touched so many lives. and filled them with joy and happiness that was infectious. She had so much energy and brought a passion to everything she did. Audrey will be missed by a great many people.

The Munch and Cunningham families are devastated and grieving for what happened to our little ray of sunshine. We wish to acknowledge and thank the Polk County Sheriff's Office, the Livingston Police Department, the Texas State Troopers, the Texas Rangers, the Texas State Guard, the Trinity River Authority, the FBI, and nearby County Sheriff departments,

as well as thousands of volunteers, our local VFW post, and the public for helping to search for and ultimately find the body of Audrey. We also wish to thank the nonprofit organization Texas Equusarch for their tireless efforts that ultimately led to the discovery of and recovery of Audrey's body from the waters of the Trinity River. This was a hardworking, multi-jurisdictional effort that spent long hours in order to bring our little Angel Audrey home to us and bring this monster to justice. We also wish to acknowledge and thank the members of the press who helped spread the word when the Amber Alert went out and quickly pulled our community together with the common goal of bringing our little girl back home safe and sound. This coverage was considered invaluable to help focus attention and gather valuable leads that helped the search efforts.

We were advised not to speak with the press during this time as it may have impeded the search for Audrey or shifted the focus from finding her. Again, we would like to thank everyone who was involved in the search for Audrey. and we hope you will do the same for others going forward. God bless y'all and God bless the children. End quote. From here, Audrey's family was now focused on getting justice. But Stephen McDougal's behavior in jail was bizarre. On February 21st, a Polk County sheriff's deputy entered Stephen's cell to find him

completely naked. When he was asked to put his clothes on, he responded that he didn't have any. He was then escorted to the Justice of the Peace, wearing only a blanket wrapped around his waist in a disgusting smirk on his face. We got Steve McDougal, Don McDougal, we're going to get him out to get a ring. As Polk County Sheriff's deputies opened the cell door, they were clearly shocked that Don McDougal, charged with the brutal murder of 11-year-old Audrey Cunningham, had taken off all his clothes. Come on. J.P. wants to talk to you.

Where's your close? Hold on. Well, put your smock off another. Well, come on out here. Well, no, no, no, man. Come on, man. Don't disrespect me like that. All right, well, wrap up in that.

Wrap up in the blanket. Come on. Come on. McDougal, seemingly wearing a smirk on his face, walks over to the justice of the peace to hear the charges against him. You have rights to remain silent, not make any statement at all.

I know that any statement that you may have can it will be used against you at trial and court. You have the right to have an attorney present, advise her, advised you prior to, or do it with the questioning. McDougal is currently facing an aggravated assault charge in addition to the capital murder charge in the killing of Little Audrey. This arraignment, though, is only for the capital murder charge. You have the right to determine any interview at any time, and you have the right to examine your trial and you're accused of a valid. Do you understand the right, Mr. McDougal? Yep.

Okay. Do you want to court and attorney? You're going to hire your own. Which one? I'll get the time. You're going to hire your own? Yep. All I need you do, sign right here for me.

Your charge is capital murder and it's a no bond. Okay, thank you. Now before we talk about Stephen's trial, I do want to mention some online speculation. Eventually, Cassie and Stephen's messages, the ones they exchanged before Audrey's murder, were posted online. And there were a lot of people who believed that Stephen

was actually trying to set Cassie up. Now, think about it. Why was he trying so hard to get Audrey and Cassie to meet up? He didn't know Cassie, so he had nothing to gain there. In fact, he had a lot to lose. Not only was he good friends with Josh, Audrey's father, but Philip and Tabitha were letting him live on their property. If they were to have found out that Stephen was setting up these secret meetings

between Cassie and Audrey, they likely would have kicked him out. So why would he go through all of that trouble when so much was on the line. Well, there have been speculations that Stephen had been planning to hurt Audrey, but obviously he didn't want to go to prison for it, so why not just blame it on Cassie? Audrey's family already didn't like her.

They accused Cassie of trying to kidnap Audrey in the past, so she would be the perfect person to blame it on. Now, if you remember, Stephen asked Cassie if she wanted to go fishing with him and Audrey on Lake Livingston, and he wanted her to come by herself. Some people believe that Stephen was trying to lure Cassie out there so he could kill them both.

Then, when Cassie and Audrey turned up missing, everyone would think that Cassie kidnapped her and fled. No one would be looking at him. And I'm not saying that that's exactly what happened, but I do think it's strange that he was trying to set up these fishing trips with the two of them, right where Audrey's body would later be found. In the months after her daughter's death, Cassie was going through a lot. She couldn't believe that this man, who claimed to love her daughter, would end her life in the most horrific way imaginable.

And from there, her journey with grief was the hardest thing she ever had to face. I was in shock for probably the first 10 months of all of it. It didn't hit me until Thanksgiving, around Thanksgiving, when I was sitting in my bed because I hadn't left. my bed in months. I really just couldn't. And I looked at my fiance and I said, holy crap, Thanksgiving and Christmas is coming up. And then it hit me and I was like, holy crap, like, in a few months, it's been a year already. How do I get so zoned out in work and in my head that I don't realize 365 days are passing? I'm so sad. I'm so sorry. It hit me so hard everything.

Audrey, my dad, all of it. It hit me so hard. And I was so angry. I was probably the worst person to be around for a couple months because I was just so, so angry. And I did have a few friends that stayed around, you know, besides, of course, my fiancé hasn't left my side. And I remember one occasion where I was supposed to be taking. a friend of mine to the store and I was looking at my Audrey Cross that I have in my yard and I just got so angry out of nowhere and I just told him get out of the car and he was like are you okay and I was like

get out of the car and he was like no I'm not getting out of the car and I got so angry I punched the screen of my car radio out and I was just screaming out of get out of the car because I had every attention on wrapping my car around a tree or a pole because I was so angry and I didn't feel like I needed to be here. I tried to kill myself once. I didn't succeed, thank God, because I still have a baby here that needs me. And I have been going through hell with this. I don't see a therapist.

I don't take medication. I'm pretty much raw dog in life right now. I'm doing the best that I can. But it's hard. Some days are better than others. But then on top of the unimaginable grief that Cassie was dealing with, she was also being attacked by the public. People have talked that I was showing no emotion, that I should have been more upset, that I should have this, that I should have that. When I spoke to Nancy Grace or, you know, just a couple people I had.

But really what nobody was understanding is that I was still in complete shock. I didn't even understand that I'm still in complete shock. In a way, a lot of those people were still right. Even when they made negative comments, I still failed my daughter. I did. And then I still failed her. And that's something that I have to live with every day. Just like Josh, Josh has to live with it every day too, you know?

And I wish people would be so hard on him because I know how much I'm hurting. And I didn't get all that time with her that he did. Right. So I can only imagine. Now, in the months after Stephen McDougal's arrest, he still wasn't coming clean about what happened. But on January 17, 2025, nearly a year after Audrey's murder, Stephen would plead guilty in exchange for a life in prison sentence without the possibility of parole or appeal. During the victim impact statements, Audrey's father, Josh, said that she was the smartest, sweetest little girl. She gave my family purpose.

He then turned to Stephen McDougal and said, You stole that from me. I hope you have a very short life sentence. Audrey's aunt, Julie, told Stephen, Because of you, we were forced to search desperately. Because of you, we had to bury our precious little girl. Because of you, we saw our community come together. There's no punishment severe enough for the things you have done.

Tabby, Audrey's grandmother, told Stephen McDougal, you took away the life of our little angel. Your punishment in this life will never fit the crime. Nothing will ever bring her back, and that's your fault. May you rot in hell. And then finally, Philip, Audrey's grandfather, described McDougal as a monster, pretending to be your friend. He said that Stephen violated her trust. May you burn in the eternity and the flames of hell.

Then from there, Stephen McDougal was taken to the Wallace Pack Unit in Navasota, Texas, where he will remain for the rest of his life. The man who murdered an 11-year-old girl in Livingston last year will spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole. We're talking about 43-year-old Don Stephen McDougal pleading guilty to the murder of Audrey Cunningham earlier today. Fox 26 is Jade Florey is live for us just outside of Livingston. Jade. Yeah, according to the Polk County District Attorney's Office, Don Stephen McDougal is not eligible for that death penalty because he has intellectual and developmental disabilities,

something that they say under Texas law prevents prosecutors from seeking that We believe that Audrey is in heaven and he's going to burn in hell for what he did. Almost a year after 11 year old Audrey Cunningham's body was found in the Trinity River, her murderer pleading guilty in court. 43-year-old Don Stephen McDougal accepting a plea deal for a life sentence with no chance of parole for the kidnapping and killing of the little girl. This resolution ensures that Don Stephen McDougal is being punished to the fullest extent that I as a state prosecutor has. a state prosecutor have available to me. Although everyone was relieved that Audrey's killer would spend the rest of his life in prison, there was still a lot of talk about the what-ifs.

Audrey's dad and grandparents got a lot of criticism for allowing this monster into their lives. Cassie told us that as much as she could blame Josh for what happened, she doesn't. And she sticks by the fact that Josh was a good dad. I think that he had so much on his plate with work and the kids and they'd that he got the, you know, good side of him. And when you have, you know, Bill and Tabby telling you, oh, yeah, well, we looked into him and he's not on the registry. He's not this.

And, you know, of course, he's going to go with what they say. And obviously, hindsight is 2020. Looking back, they can all agree that they never should have let this man into their lives. But Cassie said that Stephen was a master manipulator and he took advantage of everyone. Both Josh and Audrey's grandparents were adamant that they did not know the extent of Stephen's crimes. They would later release a statement about this, which in part read, quote, Audrey Danielle Cunningham was lured under false pretenses, which led to a senseless act of violence occurring, and ultimately to her death. Tragically, Audrey's death occurred at the hands of a monster we thought was a friend.

only 10 days after Audrey's 11th birthday. They went on to say, quote, we are being attacked and criticized on social media platforms for showing compassion and mercy to this formerly incarcerated person. But our interactions with this person were a result of our faith, which teaches us to give our fellow man a second chance. Unfortunately, the system failed us due to a loophole in the sex offender registration system.

Don Stephen McDougal had a history of disrespect for young female children. But it did not show up when we checked the registry before allowing him to stay in an old camper in our backyard while he tried to start a new life. Had we been aware of what we know now, this man would have never stepped foot on our property, much less been a part of our little girl's life.

We would like to ask our legislators and law enforcement both locally and in Washington, D.C., to look at the loophole that prevented us from knowing what Don McDougal was, a convicted sex offender. The sex offender registry is a valuable tool that parents and grandparents everywhere use to keep their children safe from these violent predators. The failing of a system is a crime that we cannot allow to go overlooked. End quote.

Eventually, Audrey's family members proposed a bill so that no other family would have to go through what they went through. It's called Audrey's Law. The law would require people in Texas. who are convicted of child grooming and enticing a child to be added to the sex offender registry even if a person accepts a plea deal. District 9 state representative Trent Ashby stated,

it irks me to no end that we had a lack thereof statute or law that allowed this gentleman to walk our streets and the public not know of his history. It jumped out of the page to me that this gentleman was not required to register as a sex offender. Now, fortunately, Audrey's law, House Bill 2000, was actually just passed in May of 2025. It goes into law in Texas on September 1st, 2025,

and we can only hope that it will protect future children against monsters like Stephen McDougal. But after everything is said and done, you're still left with so many broken hearts. Advocacy work has helped, but nothing will ever bring Audrey home. Cassie said that her journey with grief, has definitely not been linear.

One minute you are so angry that you could rip a ship out of the ocean and then the next minute you're so defeated that you're just begging your feet to hit the floor so you can stand up and get through the day and you just can't. I asked her if she was able to confront her daughter's killer at trial, but Cassie was kind of left in the dark for all of that, so she never got the chance. But looking back, she says that it was probably for the best. They say everything happens for recent and it might have been a good thing that I didn't go

because I wouldn't have stayed very long. Yeah. They would have escorted me out. As soon as I've seen his face, I probably would have tried to kill him right there. I'm not going to lie. But one day, Cassie hopes to give Stephen McDougal the following message. He's going to be forgotten. This isn't about him.

He's going to be forgotten. But my baby's name and her face will always. he remembered he took something from us that we will never be able to replace that we will never fully be able to heal from and i've i've thought about uh writing a letter to him every year to tell him how it's affecting me and my family you know my my meaning she had a tradition of putting up the christmas tree with you know audrey and my baby cousin zane and my aunt and uncle and stuff This past Christmas, there wasn't no Christmas tree. There was just my Mimi sobbing uncontrollably in her living room.

You know, it affects a lot. It doesn't, it doesn't just affect me. It affects so many people. I just hope that at the end of the day, it makes people hold their babies closer, make better decisions with their babies, enjoy every little moment, whether it be a pain in the butt moment or a happy moment, just enjoy every moment of it because I thought that, you know, one day Audrey would be 18 and it wouldn't be, if it came to that, it wouldn't be up to Josh anymore. It would be up to her.

Totally. And I'll never have that now. I'll never get that chance for her to decide if I'm good enough for her or not. Thank you for giving me the opportunity just to talk about all of it in a depth that most people haven't even cared to hear. Like Cassie said, the name Audrey Cunningham will live on forever, and we are so thankful that we got the chance to learn more about this beautiful little girl who touched so many people's lives. Today, the concrete pillars that support Highway 59 over the Trinity River bear little messages that read things like rip, sweet girl, rest in peace, sweet girl. We love you forever, little angel, fly high angel, and. And I'm so sorry you suffered this death. There are also purple hearts and photographs of her

so that everyone who visits can remember just how special she truly was. In honor of Audrey Cunningham, we will be making a donation to the Texas Equusarch, an organization that not only helped find Audrey, but helps find missing people all over the United States. Hey, everybody, thank you so much for listening to this week's episode of Murder in America. Obviously, this story was massive in Texas, and Courtney and I both vividly remember when this was all happening. We were hoping and praying that it would have a better outcome, but unfortunately, it didn't.

It was a very dark time here in the state, and we can't thank Cassie enough for coming on to the show today for agreeing to interview with us and for allowing us to help her tell her story. If you love the show and you want to help support murder in America, please consider joining us on Patreon. On Patreon, you can get early ad-free access to the show, so if you don't like the ads and you want to hear the episodes early, consider joining us on there. And you can also get full-length bonus episodes of the show that will never be on the main feed. I know recently we did an episode on Patreon about a serial killer that accidentally killed himself while he was attacking his final victim. And they found he and the victim deceased on the floor. It is a wild story that is incredibly long, too. it's a very lengthy bonus episode.

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Have a great weekend. And I'll catch y'all on the next one.