Sadly, one thing is true about tragedy: it has the tendency to unite communities and groups for a common purpose. Audrii Cunningham, by all accounts a beautiful young girl with an infectious energy, was taken sometime around the morning of Thursday, February 15, 2024, never making it to her bus stop. While Polk County struggles with its share of crime just like any other, the disappearance of a child is something inherently unspeakable and intolerable anywhere, especially in a small, tight-knit community like Livingston.
The news of Audrii's disappearance has triggered an enormous response from the area, with people from all walks of life volunteering their time and energy to bring this beautiful soul home. I have been very moved to see how many of our fellow citizens have brought food to searchers, offered prayers, and spread the word about Audrii. EquuSearch, a search organization founded by Tim Miller whose daughter was taken from his family much too early, has proven invaluable in the efforts to locate Audrii. The local VFW Post 8568, an organization near and dear to Audrii, hosted a powerful vigil where countless people from our community came together to lift her, those who love her, and the community up in prayer and asking God to please bring her home safely. Numerous restaurants have donated food to the search efforts as well. Y'all, this is community. This is why we live in Livingston.
The response from law enforcement has also been immense, with our local police departments, Polk County, Montgomery County, and Harris County's Sheriff's Departments, Texas Rangers, Texas DPS, TDCJ, and the FBI all descending on our normally quiet neck of the woods in force to find Audrii. For that, we are thankful.
With all this, several concerns still remain. Audrii is still missing. Rumors and speculation have abounded on social media, which are not only non-productive to the job law enforcement is trying to do, but extremely detrimental to the morale of Audrii's family, her friends, all those who love her, and our community as a whole. I humbly implore our community not to participate in this speculation and reserve your judgment for when we have the answers. This is not about what you think about Audrii's family situation, what you may or may not have done as a parent, a grandparent, or a friend. This is about finding Audrii.
Once Audrii is found, however, this community is in dire need of answers. Don Steven McDougal, the lead suspect in connection to Audrii's disappearance, is currently in custody related to an unrelated assault which occurred on August 19, 2023. Anyone who has seen his record has serious concerns about why exactly the county waited until now to bring an indictment to a grand jury. Was it for law enforcement to be able to hold him while they investigate Audrii's disappearance? But why wait? Why was a man like this with countless felony offenses allowed to roam the streets of our small town?
If he is in fact charged with Audrii's disappearance, why did it take the disappearance of an innocent young girl to get this criminal off our streets and put into a cage where he belonged more than 20 years ago, and could her disappearance have been avoided altogether if, in fact, he is culpable? Is the community ok with what, to me, amounts to a complete breakdown and failure of our penal and criminal justice system? This is absolutely unacceptable, and we will be demanding answers as to why this monster has been allowed to terrorize our community. Our town has the utmost respect for law enforcement, from officers and deputies all the way up to district attorney and the court system, but this kind of oversight does not comport with the community's expectations and cannot simply be overlooked.
There will be a time and a place for demanding answers, but for now, I ask you all to pour your time and efforts into being supportive of each other, of those out searching for Audrii and investigating her disappearance, and of those that love her most. We each have a part to play no matter how insignificant it may seem, so let's pull together and set our prayers and intentions towards bringing Audrii home.
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