WEBVTT - Hell and Gone Murder Line: Audrii Cunningham 0:00:08.285 --> 0:00:13.045 School of Humans. 0:00:13.365 --> 0:00:16.165 Her eleven year old granddaughter was grandfather at the bus 0:00:16.245 --> 0:00:18.725 about seven am this morning and never made it on 0:00:18.725 --> 0:00:21.285 the bus and has not been seen since Hey twenty six. 0:00:21.405 --> 0:00:24.965 Female is about approximately four for eleven eighty six pounds 0:00:25.005 --> 0:00:28.085 wand long hair, blue eyes, last nun her dark colored 0:00:28.125 --> 0:00:29.205 jacket un. 0:00:31.245 --> 0:00:35.485 On February fifteenth, twenty twenty four, the day after Valentine's Day, 0:00:36.045 --> 0:00:39.085 eleven year old Audrey Cunningham, a fifth grade student at 0:00:39.125 --> 0:00:43.005 Creekside Elementary in Livingston, Texas, never made it to the 0:00:43.005 --> 0:00:47.885 bus stop. Audrey's parents are divorced. She lived with her father, 0:00:48.125 --> 0:00:51.605 Joshua Lee Cunningham, in Livingston, which is about seventy five 0:00:51.645 --> 0:00:55.845 miles north of Houston in Polk County. Some other family members, 0:00:55.885 --> 0:01:00.445 including her grandmother, also lived on the same property. Audrey 0:01:00.525 --> 0:01:03.885 was born on February fifteenth, twenty thirteen, so she had 0:01:03.925 --> 0:01:07.885 just turned eleven years old. She loved animals. In fact, 0:01:07.885 --> 0:01:10.005 one of her favorite things in the world to do 0:01:10.525 --> 0:01:12.885 was in the morning, when she would walk to the 0:01:12.885 --> 0:01:15.645 bus stop, she would stop to pet her neighbor's dog. 0:01:16.565 --> 0:01:19.525 The first people to notice that Audrey was missing were 0:01:19.565 --> 0:01:24.125 at her school. Apparently school officials notified her father, Joshua 0:01:24.165 --> 0:01:26.245 at around noon that she never made it to school 0:01:26.245 --> 0:01:30.125 that day. Now, that's what law enforcement has stated, but 0:01:30.205 --> 0:01:33.765 I have seen other reports saying that in Texas, like 0:01:33.805 --> 0:01:36.605 in many other states, they have an automated system that 0:01:36.685 --> 0:01:39.965 techts parents when a child doesn't show up, So it 0:01:40.045 --> 0:01:42.525 may have taken longer for that to happen for her 0:01:42.525 --> 0:01:46.005 father to receive that message. But either way, when Audrey 0:01:46.045 --> 0:01:49.125 did not come home after school, her family knew that 0:01:49.205 --> 0:01:54.765 something was very wrong. Audrey's custody situation sounds a little complicated. 0:01:55.165 --> 0:01:58.485 Apparently her dad had full custody and there seemed to 0:01:58.525 --> 0:02:03.125 be some animosity there between her dad and her mom. Apparently, 0:02:03.205 --> 0:02:06.725 Audrey's mother, Cassie, allowed her to live with her father, Joshua, 0:02:07.285 --> 0:02:09.805 and from what the mother has said, it seems like 0:02:09.845 --> 0:02:12.525 that arrangement was not court ordered. It was just something 0:02:12.525 --> 0:02:15.445 they figured out on their own. It had been going on. 0:02:15.445 --> 0:02:16.285 For a few years. 0:02:17.045 --> 0:02:20.205 Cassie said that she allowed Audrey to live with her 0:02:20.205 --> 0:02:24.165 father in order for her daughter to have a better life. 0:02:24.245 --> 0:02:27.085 But as we said, there were other people staying on 0:02:27.085 --> 0:02:30.045 that property. One of the people living there was a 0:02:30.085 --> 0:02:32.845 forty two year old friend of the Famili's. He lived 0:02:32.845 --> 0:02:36.645 in a camper out back, and this was someone who, 0:02:36.725 --> 0:02:40.645 though he had a very disturbing criminal record, he was 0:02:40.685 --> 0:02:44.565 allowed to babysit for Audrey. But apparently this did not 0:02:44.765 --> 0:02:48.125 raise any red flags with anyone until the day when 0:02:48.165 --> 0:02:48.965 Audrey vanished. 0:02:52.725 --> 0:02:54.245 Only then did people. 0:02:54.005 --> 0:02:56.685 Start taking a hard look at what was really going 0:02:56.725 --> 0:03:00.445 on behind the closed doors of this house. In rural Texas, 0:03:01.085 --> 0:03:05.005 we talk a lot about stranger danger and children, but 0:03:05.125 --> 0:03:07.805 with this case, we're going to see that sometimes the 0:03:07.805 --> 0:03:11.605 most terrifying people in a child's life can be living 0:03:11.685 --> 0:03:17.805 inside the home. I'm Catherine Townsend. Over the past five 0:03:17.885 --> 0:03:21.245 years of making my true crime podcast, Helen Gone, I've 0:03:21.325 --> 0:03:23.525 learned that there is no such thing as a small 0:03:23.565 --> 0:03:27.205 town where murder never happens. I have received hundreds of 0:03:27.205 --> 0:03:30.485 messages from people all around the country asking for help 0:03:30.525 --> 0:03:33.805 with an unsolved murder that's affected them, their families, and 0:03:33.845 --> 0:03:37.045 their communities. If you have a case you'd like me 0:03:37.085 --> 0:03:39.445 and my team to look into, you can reach out 0:03:39.485 --> 0:03:41.685 to us at our Helen Gone Murder Line at six 0:03:41.805 --> 0:03:45.805 seven eight seven four four six one four five That 0:03:46.005 --> 0:03:48.845 six seven eight seven four four six '. 0:03:48.765 --> 0:03:49.805 One four or five. 0:03:50.885 --> 0:04:26.205 This is Helen Gone Murder line. 0:04:29.285 --> 0:04:33.165 Now, as listeners of this podcast will know, I very 0:04:33.245 --> 0:04:36.725 rarely do cases that are currently being investigated. I tend 0:04:36.725 --> 0:04:39.205 to focus on cold cases that everyone else has kind 0:04:39.205 --> 0:04:42.845 of forgotten. I also don't tend to do cases where 0:04:42.885 --> 0:04:45.325 there has been a person of interest arrested, where the 0:04:45.365 --> 0:04:49.485 case is closed to being closed. But I'm breaking all 0:04:49.525 --> 0:04:51.645 the rules this week because I think that the Audrey 0:04:51.645 --> 0:04:55.565 Cunningham case is a very important case to cover. First 0:04:55.565 --> 0:04:57.965 of all, I wanted to cover it because it unfolded 0:04:58.045 --> 0:05:02.085 in a really public way. Now, obviously, anytime a young 0:05:02.125 --> 0:05:04.725 girl is murdered or goes missing, this is a tragedy. 0:05:05.125 --> 0:05:07.445 But in in my opinion, in this case, the police 0:05:07.445 --> 0:05:09.685 have shared with the public in a way that has 0:05:09.765 --> 0:05:13.765 been very positive. As we will see, police were able 0:05:13.805 --> 0:05:17.285 to arrest a person of interest very quickly, they communicated 0:05:17.325 --> 0:05:20.325 clearly with the community and with other agencies, and they 0:05:20.325 --> 0:05:23.445 did not withhold information. I want to know what we 0:05:23.485 --> 0:05:26.405 can learn from this going forward, so that in cases 0:05:26.445 --> 0:05:29.325 where there are children and young women missing for such 0:05:29.325 --> 0:05:32.685 a long time. I'm hoping that we can take something 0:05:32.685 --> 0:05:35.165 from this and hopefully apply these lessons to some of 0:05:35.165 --> 0:05:36.205 our other cult cases. 0:05:37.325 --> 0:05:40.045 The missing juvenile called in from the county. 0:05:40.085 --> 0:05:42.245 They want us to take that address with pH There 0:05:43.165 --> 0:05:44.925 still no sign of her negative. 0:05:46.965 --> 0:05:50.365 Audrey Cunningham was officially reported missing to law enforcement at 0:05:50.405 --> 0:05:54.725 around five thirty pm on Thursday, February fifteenth, twenty twenty four. 0:05:55.565 --> 0:05:59.125 An Amberlert went out that night for Audrey, describing her 0:05:59.205 --> 0:06:02.565 as four foot eleven seventy five pounds, wearing a black 0:06:02.605 --> 0:06:07.285 hoodie with white lettering, carrying a camel Fflage backpack, black pants, 0:06:07.445 --> 0:06:12.725 and black high top tennis shoes. Police immediately started searching 0:06:12.725 --> 0:06:15.405 in the woods behind her house. At first, they may 0:06:15.405 --> 0:06:17.445 have been thinking maybe she went back there to look 0:06:17.445 --> 0:06:21.005 for animals, since she did love animals, or maybe she 0:06:21.085 --> 0:06:25.365 wandered away and got lost. Audrey's family started posting on 0:06:25.405 --> 0:06:29.925 social media immediately after she went missing. Her father, Joshua Cunningham, 0:06:29.965 --> 0:06:33.365 made a post that read, my daughter, Audrey Cunningham is missing. 0:06:33.765 --> 0:06:35.645 She did not make it to the bus this morning. 0:06:36.085 --> 0:06:39.245 Contact me and the police immediately with any information. 0:06:41.205 --> 0:06:41.525 Now. 0:06:41.925 --> 0:06:42.725 This seemed to. 0:06:42.725 --> 0:06:45.805 Feed into early media reports that said that Audrey had 0:06:45.925 --> 0:06:49.045 vanished some time on her way to school on Thursday. 0:06:49.725 --> 0:06:51.845 But as I'm going to get into a little bit later. 0:06:52.165 --> 0:06:55.845 I have questions about this timeline and when Audrey really disappeared. 0:06:56.725 --> 0:06:59.525 Of course, police who were looking for Audrey were considering 0:06:59.565 --> 0:07:02.725 all the possibilities. In addition to figuring out if a 0:07:02.765 --> 0:07:04.965 stranger had grabbed her on her way to the bus stop, 0:07:05.165 --> 0:07:07.725 they were also taking a close look at her home life. 0:07:08.325 --> 0:07:13.045 Who was around Audrey, who had access to this little girl. Immediately, 0:07:13.125 --> 0:07:16.685 both the community and friends of hers saw pictures of 0:07:16.725 --> 0:07:19.565 this family friend, forty two year old Don Stephen McDougall, 0:07:19.605 --> 0:07:22.205 who goes by his middle name Stephen, and they were 0:07:22.245 --> 0:07:24.085 asking a lot of questions about Stephen. 0:07:24.845 --> 0:07:26.405 Stephen had a long. 0:07:26.165 --> 0:07:29.525 Criminal history, He had a swastika tattoo on his shoulder, 0:07:30.605 --> 0:07:33.005 and a lot of people commented on social media and 0:07:33.045 --> 0:07:35.525 said this did not look or sound like the type 0:07:35.525 --> 0:07:37.005 of guy you would want to leave in charge of 0:07:37.045 --> 0:07:41.725 your children. People wanted to know who was this friend 0:07:41.765 --> 0:07:44.525 of the famili's and how was he allowed access to 0:07:44.565 --> 0:07:51.005 an eleven year old child. The Polk County Sheriff's Department 0:07:51.045 --> 0:07:54.445 did a press conference and the Polk County Sheriff Byron 0:07:54.565 --> 0:07:57.685 Lyons described Stephen McDougall as a friend of the family, 0:07:57.845 --> 0:08:01.405 a friend of Audrey's father's Stephen McDougall, lived in a 0:08:01.445 --> 0:08:05.045 camper on the property, but he reportedly had access to 0:08:05.045 --> 0:08:08.805 the kitchen in the bathroom area pretty much the entire house. 0:08:09.725 --> 0:08:13.925 Reporters and police talked to Audrey's mom, Cassie. She said 0:08:13.925 --> 0:08:17.565 that it was her understanding that Stephen would sometimes babysit Audrey, 0:08:18.325 --> 0:08:22.325 and Audrey's routine apparently was that every day she walked 0:08:22.325 --> 0:08:25.725 to the bus stop, and often Stephen was the person. 0:08:25.445 --> 0:08:26.325 Who walked with her. 0:08:27.045 --> 0:08:29.125 But on occasion, or if she was running late or 0:08:29.125 --> 0:08:31.965 something like that, Stephen would drive Audrey to the bus 0:08:32.005 --> 0:08:35.085 stop in his two thousand and three navy blue Chevy Suburban, 0:08:35.565 --> 0:08:39.005 or he would drive her to school. Cassie made a 0:08:39.045 --> 0:08:40.165 public plea for help. 0:08:40.645 --> 0:08:42.485 I would just like to get the word out that 0:08:43.005 --> 0:08:46.965 we would like to have her come home. It's not 0:08:47.205 --> 0:08:51.125 like her to, you know, just run off or disappear. 0:08:51.285 --> 0:08:53.485 She has a lot of loving families. She has so 0:08:53.565 --> 0:08:55.885 many people that love her and adore her. 0:08:57.325 --> 0:09:00.685 And she also publicly shared texts that she said were 0:09:00.725 --> 0:09:04.525 from Stephen, in which Stephen said he had dropped Audrey 0:09:04.525 --> 0:09:07.965 off to the bus stop that morning. Yet school officials 0:09:07.965 --> 0:09:11.125 stated they confirmed Audrey was not on that bus. 0:09:11.205 --> 0:09:12.325 She did not ride her. 0:09:12.165 --> 0:09:17.445 Bus to school that day, So these stories conflicted, and 0:09:17.525 --> 0:09:20.045 it didn't take police long to learn that in addition 0:09:20.165 --> 0:09:24.645 to Stephen's criminal history, he had arrests for violent crime 0:09:25.005 --> 0:09:30.245 and sexual crimes against children. The Polk County Police were 0:09:30.285 --> 0:09:34.605 already talking to Stephen. They confirmed Stephen was the last 0:09:34.645 --> 0:09:38.685 person to see Audrey before she disappeared. And I'm not 0:09:38.765 --> 0:09:41.525 exactly sure of the timeline here because they started talking 0:09:41.565 --> 0:09:45.925 to Stephen on Thursday, February fifteenth, But at some point 0:09:46.085 --> 0:09:49.965 during their multiple interviews of Stephen, Stephen apparently admitted to 0:09:50.005 --> 0:09:52.445 police that he did leave the house with Audrey that morning, 0:09:53.085 --> 0:09:55.365 but he wouldn't talk about whether or not she ever 0:09:55.405 --> 0:10:00.005 made it to the bus stop. This regional story very 0:10:00.085 --> 0:10:04.885 quickly made national news. Police were focusing on the area 0:10:04.925 --> 0:10:11.445 around Lake Livingston Dam, a few miles from Audrey's home. Then, 0:10:11.725 --> 0:10:15.325 on Friday, one day after Audrey was reported missing, the 0:10:15.365 --> 0:10:19.965 local news station KHOU eleven reported that searchers had found 0:10:20.005 --> 0:10:23.685 a wet backpack believed to be Audrey's. More items of 0:10:23.725 --> 0:10:28.165 clothing belonging to a child were reportedly found near the waterline. 0:10:28.205 --> 0:10:30.805 The Polk County Sheriff's office held a press conference at 0:10:30.845 --> 0:10:35.285 Bowders Marina. Sheriff Lines announced that the FBI and the 0:10:35.325 --> 0:10:39.325 Texas Rangers and multiple other agencies were involved and said 0:10:39.325 --> 0:10:43.525 they had boats and dogs searching the area. And he 0:10:43.605 --> 0:10:46.485 said in this press conference that police hadn't made any 0:10:46.605 --> 0:10:49.205 rest but he stated that there were persons and he 0:10:49.325 --> 0:10:55.005 used the plural there persons of interest. Meanwhile, police continued 0:10:55.045 --> 0:10:58.445 to talk to Stephen. And what was crazy was this 0:10:58.765 --> 0:11:02.565 entire situation with the police approaching Stephen and talking to 0:11:02.645 --> 0:11:06.445 him was playing out on social media. Were posting Facebook 0:11:06.525 --> 0:11:09.725 videos of the police talking to Stephen outside a donut shop, 0:11:10.205 --> 0:11:12.605 then Stephen getting into a squad car and going to 0:11:12.645 --> 0:11:16.565 the police station. And then it was reported that on 0:11:16.725 --> 0:11:22.365 February fifteenth, very soon after that donut shop confrontation, Stephen 0:11:22.525 --> 0:11:24.605 was arrested and he was taken to the Polk County 0:11:24.685 --> 0:11:28.205 Jail on an unrelated assault charge. So now the public 0:11:28.285 --> 0:11:31.325 is wondering why if Stephen had warrants out on him, 0:11:31.485 --> 0:11:34.245 and given the violence of his past crimes, how was 0:11:34.285 --> 0:11:42.285 he allowed to roam free. Then on February twentieth, there 0:11:42.325 --> 0:11:46.165 was another press conference. That's when the Sheriff's office announced 0:11:46.365 --> 0:11:57.365 that Audrey Cunningham's body had been found. At the press 0:11:57.405 --> 0:12:01.765 conference on February twentieth, Sheriff Lyne said that finding Audrey's 0:12:01.765 --> 0:12:04.205 body had been a coordinated effort, and he talked about 0:12:04.205 --> 0:12:06.885 how many groups were involved in, including the Texas Rangers, 0:12:06.925 --> 0:12:11.485 Game Wardens, FBI, Harris County Sheriff's Office, and there were 0:12:11.525 --> 0:12:14.925 a lot more. The Trinity River Authority actually played a 0:12:14.965 --> 0:12:19.645 key role here because that agency agreed to lower the 0:12:19.685 --> 0:12:22.205 water level so that the divers could do their searches 0:12:22.245 --> 0:12:27.085 around there. The Polk County District Attorney, Shelley Sitton said, 0:12:27.165 --> 0:12:31.245 quote resources that were marshaled by sheriff lines should show 0:12:31.285 --> 0:12:34.045 you that in this county they will come out when 0:12:34.085 --> 0:12:35.445 they need to protect our children. 0:12:35.845 --> 0:12:36.965 End quote. 0:12:37.805 --> 0:12:40.965 The sheriff said that Audrey's body had not been visible 0:12:40.965 --> 0:12:44.325 from the surface, so it required special equipment and teams 0:12:44.365 --> 0:12:47.325 to locate her. There was a sonar boat they used 0:12:47.325 --> 0:12:50.445 to scow the river, and again the River Authority had 0:12:50.485 --> 0:12:53.645 slowed down the outflow from the reservoir so that water 0:12:53.725 --> 0:12:58.245 level could be lowered. After they found Audrey's body, it 0:12:58.325 --> 0:13:01.605 was transported to Harris County Corner's office. They did not 0:13:01.685 --> 0:13:05.205 release any information about the condition of her body, but 0:13:05.565 --> 0:13:09.565 later investigators revealed that Audrey's body had been tied to 0:13:09.645 --> 0:13:15.485 a large rock with a rope. And I just want 0:13:15.485 --> 0:13:17.925 to mention here something that I noticed as an investigator. 0:13:18.005 --> 0:13:23.205 During the press conference, the sheriff talked about how powerful 0:13:23.285 --> 0:13:26.325 social media had been. They said they actually thanked people 0:13:26.325 --> 0:13:29.285 who were communicating on social media. The sheriff said that 0:13:29.285 --> 0:13:31.845 it had helped in their investigation, that it had helped 0:13:31.885 --> 0:13:35.285 pinpoint his location, and that in addition to getting cell 0:13:35.365 --> 0:13:38.965 phone data from Stephen's phone, that the social media chatter 0:13:39.485 --> 0:13:43.725 had really helped the case. This does not often happen 0:13:43.765 --> 0:13:46.765 in criminal investigations. If you listen to this podcast, you 0:13:46.805 --> 0:13:50.085 know we've seen way too many where the police give 0:13:50.525 --> 0:13:55.045 no information out and bodies are not recovered quickly. So 0:13:55.245 --> 0:13:57.245 I have to say I think that Paul County did 0:13:57.245 --> 0:13:59.525 a really good job in communicating with the media and 0:13:59.565 --> 0:14:03.565 the public and maintaining the integrity and investigation while also 0:14:04.525 --> 0:14:08.285 giving people information so that they could help. The sheriff 0:14:08.365 --> 0:14:11.165 also said during the press conference there was no evidence 0:14:11.205 --> 0:14:13.325 that Audrey had been held somewhere else before she was 0:14:13.325 --> 0:14:15.445 put in the water, but he said they were still 0:14:15.485 --> 0:14:24.525 analyzing data. It did not take long for amateur detectives 0:14:24.525 --> 0:14:27.805 and journalists to start delving into Stephen's criminal records. 0:14:28.445 --> 0:14:30.125 The news channel Fox twenty six in. 0:14:30.165 --> 0:14:32.485 Houston reported that he had a string of arrests and 0:14:32.605 --> 0:14:37.005 convictions for violent crimes, including dui theft, drug possession, and 0:14:37.045 --> 0:14:40.725 aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. The most shocking, though, 0:14:41.325 --> 0:14:46.885 was enticement of a child. One news channel did an 0:14:46.925 --> 0:14:50.325 interview with a guy who had worked with Stephen and 0:14:50.445 --> 0:14:53.325 said that Stephen seemed like a nice guy. They worked 0:14:53.325 --> 0:14:55.405 together at a body shop and one night they got 0:14:55.405 --> 0:14:58.525 into an argument. Things turned physical and they ended up 0:14:58.605 --> 0:15:01.805 kicking Stephen out of their house. Then Stephen came back 0:15:01.845 --> 0:15:04.685 with a knife and tried to stab this guy. The 0:15:04.765 --> 0:15:08.525 victim called the police and Stephen was arrested. The victim 0:15:08.565 --> 0:15:12.445 told the news channel quote terrifying, it really was. He 0:15:12.525 --> 0:15:15.045 seemed like this nice guy, but he's got this whole 0:15:15.085 --> 0:15:17.005 other side to him that no one seemed to know 0:15:17.085 --> 0:15:18.125 about until now. 0:15:18.565 --> 0:15:19.805 End quote. 0:15:19.885 --> 0:15:22.365 In fact, this guy said he was so horrified by 0:15:22.405 --> 0:15:25.965 everything that he had heard about Stephen that his only 0:15:26.045 --> 0:15:28.725 actual regret was that he didn't kill Stephen that he 0:15:28.765 --> 0:15:31.125 didn't shoot him dead the night that he was attacked. 0:15:32.845 --> 0:15:36.685 On February twenty second, the Harris County Medical Examiner's Office 0:15:36.725 --> 0:15:40.725 released Audrey Cunningham's cause of death. It was blunt head 0:15:40.725 --> 0:15:46.645 trauma and the manner of death was homicide. Again, I 0:15:46.685 --> 0:15:49.205 think it was a very good call to release this information. 0:15:50.045 --> 0:15:54.045 Making it publicly available definitely helped cut down on the 0:15:54.085 --> 0:16:02.325 wild rumors and online speculation. So again, this case is 0:16:02.405 --> 0:16:05.045 happening in real time. Stephen has not been convicted of 0:16:05.045 --> 0:16:08.005 this crime, and we actually don't know if anyone else 0:16:08.045 --> 0:16:11.125 is going to be arrested or charged. But I have 0:16:11.245 --> 0:16:15.645 some questions about this timeline. Let's take a look back, 0:16:15.685 --> 0:16:19.005 because at first, police said their theory was that Stephen 0:16:19.045 --> 0:16:21.685 and Audrey drove in the car on Thursday morning, and 0:16:21.725 --> 0:16:23.565 that he told Audrey he was going to drop her 0:16:23.605 --> 0:16:26.845 off the bus stop as normal. Then they speculated he 0:16:26.845 --> 0:16:30.325 took a detour and took Audrey somewhere else. But again, 0:16:30.445 --> 0:16:33.085 a lot of their information was based on what Stephen 0:16:33.205 --> 0:16:36.365 was telling them. So I'm wondering could something have happened 0:16:36.405 --> 0:16:41.485 to Audrey before Thursday. The first media reports that came 0:16:41.525 --> 0:16:44.005 out said that Audrey had last been seen at around 0:16:44.085 --> 0:16:49.405 seven am on Thursday, February fifteenth, the day she reportedly disappeared, 0:16:49.445 --> 0:16:53.245 but at least according to my research, no one but 0:16:53.365 --> 0:16:55.725 Stephen and possibly others in the home say that she 0:16:55.805 --> 0:16:59.205 was ever seen that morning. There was a neighbor who 0:16:59.245 --> 0:17:01.845 was interviewed by a news channel, and this neighbor said 0:17:01.925 --> 0:17:05.165 she always saw Audrey walk by her house every single 0:17:05.245 --> 0:17:07.205 day on her way to the bus stop, and that 0:17:07.285 --> 0:17:10.605 Audrey would stop to pet her dog well. The neighbor 0:17:10.685 --> 0:17:14.085 told a local news station that she remembered seeing Audrey 0:17:14.125 --> 0:17:17.885 on Valentine's Day, Wednesday, February fourteenth. She had actually said 0:17:17.885 --> 0:17:21.525 Happy Valentine's Day to Audrey, but crucially, she said she 0:17:21.605 --> 0:17:26.125 did not see Audrey on Thursday the fifteenth. And then 0:17:26.245 --> 0:17:31.285 there are the disturbing messages that Stephen was sending. People 0:17:31.365 --> 0:17:34.365 were posting Facebook messages saying that around the time Audrey 0:17:34.365 --> 0:17:37.365 disappeared that Stephen was trying to solicit them for sex. 0:17:38.005 --> 0:17:41.525 Stephen allegedly sent some messages about wanting to hook up 0:17:41.565 --> 0:17:45.565 with someone on the night of Wednesday, February fourteenth. He 0:17:45.725 --> 0:17:48.565 was offering, in exchange for sex, the title to his 0:17:48.685 --> 0:17:52.925 truck meaning the suburban or one thousand dollars. The messages 0:17:52.965 --> 0:17:56.245 are disturbing, not necessarily because he was wanting to hook up, 0:17:56.245 --> 0:17:57.485 but because these women. 0:17:57.205 --> 0:17:57.845 Are saying no. 0:17:58.605 --> 0:18:01.965 One woman responds and says she's engaged. Then she says, look, 0:18:02.005 --> 0:18:04.325 this is disgusting. I'm not a prostitute. I don't know 0:18:04.365 --> 0:18:06.885 why you're offering me money for this. Basically she blew 0:18:06.925 --> 0:18:10.805 him off. And it's also interesting to me that Stephen 0:18:10.885 --> 0:18:14.525 was making comments about trading in the suburban because if 0:18:14.525 --> 0:18:16.645 that's true, if he really wanted to get rid of 0:18:16.645 --> 0:18:20.925 the car, that in itself is interesting. There was potential 0:18:20.965 --> 0:18:28.405 evidence inside that car. Later investigators said they found rope 0:18:28.485 --> 0:18:31.725 inside Stephen's suburban and that that rope was consistent with 0:18:31.765 --> 0:18:34.165 the rope that had been found tied to Audrey's body. 0:18:35.485 --> 0:18:36.485 And then there are. 0:18:36.365 --> 0:18:41.685 The messages that Stephen supposedly sent to Audrey's mother, Cassie. 0:18:41.765 --> 0:18:45.045 Cassie posted text messages she said she exchanged with Stephen, 0:18:45.805 --> 0:18:49.165 and in these text messages, she claims that Stephen was 0:18:49.205 --> 0:18:51.525 trying to entice her to meet with him and with 0:18:51.645 --> 0:18:56.645 Audrey on Thursday, February fifteenth. So, as we mentioned, Cassie 0:18:56.725 --> 0:18:59.045 was having custody issues with her ex husband, and she 0:18:59.165 --> 0:19:02.125 wanted to have more visits with her daughter. So the 0:19:02.165 --> 0:19:05.405 messages that were exchanged between Cassie and Stephen were based 0:19:05.845 --> 0:19:10.885 Stephen offering to intervene and to help Cassie out. Cassie wrote, quote, 0:19:11.085 --> 0:19:13.005 it makes me sick to my stomach that they think 0:19:13.045 --> 0:19:16.605 that's okay. She has an innocent, fragile child's mind and 0:19:16.645 --> 0:19:19.765 them warping it with chaos is not right man end quote. 0:19:20.845 --> 0:19:24.445 So basically, Cassie's saying that she believes that her ex 0:19:24.565 --> 0:19:28.085 husband is kind of turning her daughter against her. Stephen 0:19:28.165 --> 0:19:30.245 seems to be acting like this good guy who's a 0:19:30.245 --> 0:19:32.565 friend of the family who's going to plan a meetup 0:19:32.565 --> 0:19:36.765 with her mother. Stephen replied, quote, I might take you 0:19:36.805 --> 0:19:39.805 out to the doc to fish and accidentally pull up 0:19:39.805 --> 0:19:40.645 with her to fish. 0:19:40.925 --> 0:19:42.645 End quote. 0:19:42.965 --> 0:19:46.845 So here he's offering to set up a meeting with Audrey. 0:19:47.605 --> 0:19:50.805 Cassie replied, quote, I want to meet her too, but 0:19:50.885 --> 0:19:52.885 if this comes back on me in any bad way, 0:19:52.965 --> 0:19:55.245 I can lose her forever and I would kill you 0:19:55.285 --> 0:19:55.925 then myself. 0:19:55.965 --> 0:19:56.245 Man. 0:19:56.285 --> 0:19:59.805 No threat, but a promise end quote. So then he says, 0:19:59.965 --> 0:20:02.565 quote it wouldn't as long as no one says anything 0:20:02.605 --> 0:20:04.725 about it being set up. No one would even know, 0:20:05.205 --> 0:20:08.445 and she won't say anything to them. I'm your daughter's 0:20:08.485 --> 0:20:11.405 favorite person, and she will not tell she wants to 0:20:11.445 --> 0:20:14.005 meet you. I told you I'm on your team. 0:20:14.805 --> 0:20:17.045 End quote. 0:20:17.365 --> 0:20:21.125 Now, Cassie apparently got cold feet and did not agree 0:20:21.125 --> 0:20:25.125 to this proposed meeting. I've seen reports that once she 0:20:25.285 --> 0:20:27.965 suggested to Stephen that her boyfriend come with her, that 0:20:28.045 --> 0:20:30.245 he kind of cut it off. But either way, the 0:20:30.285 --> 0:20:35.045 meeting didn't happen. But rereading these texts is kind of 0:20:35.085 --> 0:20:38.925 horrifying because I'm wondering what was Stephen planning to do 0:20:39.045 --> 0:20:42.485 on Thursday. Could Audrey have already been dead and he 0:20:42.565 --> 0:20:44.605 was trying to lure her mom out so that he 0:20:44.645 --> 0:20:48.085 could potentially say there had been a parental abduction. Was 0:20:48.125 --> 0:20:54.005 he planning on doing something to Audrey's mother as it 0:20:54.085 --> 0:20:56.685 happened so often in these cases, there was not only 0:20:56.765 --> 0:20:59.885 panic and drama in the community, but there was also 0:20:59.965 --> 0:21:03.125 the family drama that was playing out on social media. 0:21:03.405 --> 0:21:07.445 Early in the search for Audrey, online groups were created that, 0:21:07.565 --> 0:21:10.125 of course friends or people connected to the family were 0:21:10.125 --> 0:21:13.405 contributing to, and then of course a lot of people 0:21:13.405 --> 0:21:15.565 were saying the mother and the father should have known 0:21:15.605 --> 0:21:19.885 what was going on. Audrey's mom, Cassie, confronted these rumors, 0:21:20.245 --> 0:21:23.485 and the rumors included a lot of commenters saying that 0:21:24.085 --> 0:21:26.685 Cassie had lost custody of Audrey because she failed or 0:21:26.725 --> 0:21:30.085 because there were drugs involved in some way. She has 0:21:30.165 --> 0:21:33.485 said that that is an absolute lie. She wrote that 0:21:33.525 --> 0:21:36.445 she had nothing to hide, and she accused people of 0:21:36.525 --> 0:21:40.845 spreading bullshit online. Audrey's mother also spoke out and asked 0:21:40.885 --> 0:21:45.445 anyone with information about Audrey's whereabouts to come forward. She 0:21:45.605 --> 0:21:49.405 told the news channel KPRC, we have no leads, so 0:21:49.445 --> 0:21:52.805 we are grasping at any string, any signs anything. In general, 0:21:53.245 --> 0:21:56.285 you were broken, you're mad, You're empty, and right now 0:21:56.325 --> 0:22:00.485 I am empty. Later, there was an online post that 0:22:00.525 --> 0:22:03.565 Cassie made visible. The Daily Mail reported on it, and 0:22:03.605 --> 0:22:07.285 The Daily Beasts followed up. She wrote, quote, I'll make 0:22:07.325 --> 0:22:10.405 this clear one time, and one time only, I failed 0:22:10.405 --> 0:22:13.125 my daughter by being bullied into submission by her father's 0:22:13.165 --> 0:22:15.685 family and being made to believe she was in a safe, 0:22:15.845 --> 0:22:17.645 loving and normal home with her father. 0:22:18.045 --> 0:22:18.565 End quote. 0:22:19.645 --> 0:22:23.405 Joshua Cunningham side of the family has been quieter, but 0:22:23.685 --> 0:22:26.325 a man named Chris Booth addressed a crowd of reporters 0:22:26.365 --> 0:22:28.485 and people from the community and said that he was 0:22:28.525 --> 0:22:29.885 speaking on behalf of the family. 0:22:30.805 --> 0:22:34.805 He said, I'm gonna ask that if you don't know anything, 0:22:35.565 --> 0:22:38.765 don't say anything. All you're doing is hurting the family. 0:22:40.365 --> 0:22:43.845 That makes no sense. You don't know what they're going through. 0:22:43.885 --> 0:22:47.005 You don't know the circumstances. I do know Audrey is loved. 0:22:48.045 --> 0:22:51.245 I know Audrey has cared for and I know Audrey 0:22:51.325 --> 0:22:54.405 loved her grandmother, her father, her brother and family. I'm 0:22:54.405 --> 0:22:57.405 asking everybody to stop the BS and I'm sorry for 0:22:57.445 --> 0:23:00.725 the language, the BS on Facebook and all the garbage 0:23:00.805 --> 0:23:06.245 talk on Facebook. You don't know the circumstances. Leave it alone. 0:23:07.285 --> 0:23:11.605 But the truth is, with Stephen living there, clearly this 0:23:11.805 --> 0:23:21.765 was far from a normal and healthy environment for a child. 0:23:23.445 --> 0:23:26.485 One person who knew exactly what Stephen McDougall was capable 0:23:26.525 --> 0:23:28.685 of was another one of his past victims. 0:23:29.405 --> 0:23:30.885 Her name is Carissa Davis. 0:23:31.485 --> 0:23:35.085 ABC thirteen did an interview with her about what happened 0:23:35.125 --> 0:23:38.605 back in two thousand and seven. Back then, Carissa was 0:23:38.645 --> 0:23:41.645 ten years old. She was at a family gathering and Stephen, 0:23:41.685 --> 0:23:43.885 who was a friend of the families, came into the 0:23:43.885 --> 0:23:46.365 bedroom that night where she was sleeping with one of 0:23:46.365 --> 0:23:49.925 her cousins. She said Stephen pulled her cousin out of 0:23:49.925 --> 0:23:53.125