TRANSCRIPTION OF 4TH PRESS CONFERENCE
19TH FEBRUARY
LIEUTENANT - Good afternoon, my name is Lieutenant Craig Cummings, Texas Department of Public Safety. Today, we're here to provide you with some updates on the search for 11 yr. old Audrii Cunningham, who went missing on Thursday of last week. I'm also joined by Polk County Sheriff, Byron Lyons and Polk County District Attorney, Shelly Sittin.
I want to say that investigators are following active leads, based on tips and evidence that we have gathered. The videos submitted to investigators by the community have been very helpful. We're looking for and asking the public's help for additional video on FM 3126 that shows the highway. This video would have been on Thursday, February 15th. between 6:30 am and 8 am. So again, that's video from FM 3126 on Thursday, February 15th., between 6:30 am. and 8 am. that shows the highway.
I also want to announce the Polk County Crimestoppers reward has been increased to $10,000 for information leading to the arrest and prosecution of the person responsible for Audrii's disappearance.
We are asking the public, based on the evidence that we have been getting right now, to stay away from Scenic Loop FM 3277, unless you have a need to be there. That is a potential point of interest in this investigation; we've had a lot of people driving down there, please stay away, let the investigators do what they are doing and our volunteers that they are doing so that we can bring Audrii home.
I also want to say that we're thankful for the Polk County District Attorney's office for their continued legal advice, as they provide that to investigators in this continued search for Audrii. The investigators have given McDougal, who was arrested Friday on an unrelated charges, several opportunities to cooperate and we remain hopeful that he will begin helping in this case. Now we also want to address some rumours that have been circulating. McDougal is not required to register as a sex offender. We would refer you to the various counties that prosecuted McDougal for inquiries regarding his criminal history. And we also want to say that McDougal resides in a camper behind the residence where Audrii lives with her father, grandparents and other family. The family does have a relationship with McDougal, and with that I want to turn it over to Polk County Sheriff Byron Lyons for some remarks for him before we open it up for questions.
SHERIFF - Good afternoon, since Audrii was reported missing, we have been working with investigators and volunteers doing everything we can to bring Audrii home. Unfortunately, I've had bronchitis and it has impacted my ability to speak, so that is why I want to say first - thank you to the Department of Public Safety and to the FBI for assisting me with the social media and my media briefings. I also want to take a moment to thank all the investigators and the volunteers and members of the community who are working to bring Audrii home. The outpouring of support from the tips and from the videos and the donations of food and water has just been inspiring. As a community, as a county, as a state and a nation the search for Audrii has brought out some of the most exceptional people that I have come to know.
I have been in contact with the family and they want everybody to know that they thank you and they appreciate all the prayers and how you've kept Audrii and them in your heart. And they just ask that you continue to pray for them and Audrii's... being able to bring her home and I'd like to say thank you to everyone who has helped in this case.
REPORTER - Now that you're aware of where McDougal's vehicle was on the morning Audrii disappeared (
inaudible)
SHERIFF - He was probably taking her to drop her off at the bus stop and we do feel, at this point, that he was the last person who's seen Audrii.
REPORTER - (
asks if it's something he would usually do)
SHERIFF - There has been information found that there were some occasions that he did drop her off at the bus stop or even take her to school if she missed the bus.
REPORTER - There's rumours flying about that McDougal has confessed - can you address that rumour?
SHERIFF - McDougal has not confessed. He has been talking with some of the investigators but, at this point in time, he has not confessed.
REPORTER - That scene of interest that you were asking the public to stay away from, can you expand on that? what was found there? what led you there? why are you asking the public to stay away?
SHERIFF - And that's kind of one of the reasons that we're asking for the videos. We're trying to piece together a timeline of where he's been and the travel that he took - the roadways that he took. So, this area's just one in particular that we can say that we know that he was in and so we're making sure that we do extensive search of those areas, but the problem is is that when we have a lot... and I know that people are concerned and people want to help, but a lot of time when we bring too many people into an area it hinders our efforts in being able to try to to find and locate evidence.
REPORTER - (
inaudible) Audrii's backpack that was found the other day?
SHERIFF - We feel strongly, today, that that backpack that was found is a high probability that it's going to be Audrii's.
REPORTER - This has been called a criminal investigation and that foul play could be suspected - could you expand on that? what crime is being investigated specifically and could you expand on the foul play suspected?
SHERIFF - Yes, we do feel as though we are investigating a criminal investigation and, at this point in time, as we conduct our investigation we are not leaving out or adding in any charges, we are investigating the evidence, if we find any, and then we'll let that be determined. Once we get all the evidence put together what charges, if any, will be filed.
REPORTER - (
asks about the enticing a minor felony charge)
SHERIFF - To be honest with you, I don't know. I can't answer that right now because it's in another county. The only thing I've been able to find out - that it was not something that they were able to require him to register for as a sex offender.
REPORTER - Have you taken Mcdougal to the dam or the Trinity river since he's been arrested?
SHERIFF - There has been, on one occasion, where we have taken McDougal, where he agreed to work with us and has taken us to certain locations.
REPORTER - I was hoping to ask about the e-mail that was sent to parents on Friday, letting them know about the disappearance and letting them know and asking them to provide video, the video that you were talking about. That e-mail says that... it asked parents to look for videos starting at 3 am. on Thursday, is there a possibility that Audrii Cunningham could have disappeared sooner, before, the 7 am. which was the time that she was reported missing?
SHERIFF - No. One of the things in our investigation.. when we conduct an investigation, we want to make sure that we try to capture a good timeline, so even if we're looking at a projected time, say if it's 7, we're still going to go back up to 3/4 o'clock in the morning because we want to know exactly what the individual or suspect or suspects may have been doing up until that point.
Someone asked about water around the house?
REPORTER - Yes. Has that area been searched?
SHERIFF - That was the first area on the night that she was reported missing, volunteers came together with law enforcement. That was the first area that was searched.
REPORTER - So, she didn't go missing before 7 am.?
SHERIFF - 6.45, this is when we feel that she went missing.
REPORTER - Do you think that Audrii is still alive?
SHERIFF - I'm hoping and praying that she's still alive. I am not giving up hope that we'll be able to bring Audrii home. So yes, I am hoping that she is still alive and we're going to work just as hard to make sure that we do everything that we can to try to bring her home.
REPORTER - Is McDougal being cooperative? is he speaking with investigators, is he not talking?
SHERIFF - When you say - is he being cooperative?, I think that Mr. McDougal, what he's doing, on occasions he will... I use that word cooperate lightly, but he is somewhat working and talking with the investigators but, he is very cautious on the information that he's giving.
REPORTER - Is Mcdougal your only person of interest in this case?
SHERIFF - I will say this, at this point, Mr. McDougal is our main person of interest, but we are not ruling out anyone else who may or may not be involved. We are not just honing in on just this one individual; we're making sure that we're covering all stones.
REPORTER - Do you anticipate charges being filed in connection to this case (
inaudible)?
SHERIFF - I anticipate that if the evidence presents itself that proves that Mr. McDougal has committed an offence, charges will be filed in Polk County.
REPORTER - You said McDougal has taken you to some places or you've asked him to point you to several places - can you explain that again?
SHERIFF - So, in speaking with the Rangers, we're just asking him, 'hey, take us to where any places that you think, or where you may have been' and so he has done that on one occasion.
REPORTER - We've had a lot of community members say they want to volunteer to help search. Is there a place for them in the search or do you really need them to step back and let you guys do your job?
SHERIFF - Kind of like I addressed in my opening statement, is that I am so grateful for those who have came out and volunteered, raised their hand to want to participate and yes, the volunteers have been great and have been very valuable to us but one of the things that we have to do is we have to limit.. we have to make sure that we don't overdo it, because remember, we are yet still, while we try to bring Audrii home we are yet still making sure that if there's evidence... so if there's anything that we need to capture or anything that we need to be able to retain, we want to make sure that we don't have so many people that we damage or destroy evidence at the time. So, the way we are today, we had had the volunteers meeting over at Tigerville Park and then, as we needed them, we were sending officers over to those folks to take them to an area to search.
REPORTER - To follow up on his question regarding the location where McDougal took you and other authorities - could you share that location and (
inaudible)
SHERIFF - At this time, we don't want to share a location that he's taken us to, other than to say that there are multiple places of interest that we have gone to and have made searches and I'm sure before this day is out we'll be searching other locations.
REPORTER - Did you find something there though?
REPORTER - What is he saying when he takes you there - 'oh this is somewhere we drove' or... ?
SHERIFF - Really, when it comes down to it I wasn't there with those officers so I can't answer to exactly what was said, other than that these places he instructed them to go.
REPORTER - Was something recovered from those locations? Is that where the backpack was found or other items were found?
SHERIFF - The only thing, at this point in time right now, that I can speak to for sure is going to be that backpack.
REPORTER - So do you think that he's given you false leads?
SHERIFF - And that's the thing, is that we have to just continue to work all the leads that he's presenting to us, whether or not they're false or not. It depends upon how it works out and how the investigators are able to put those pieces together.
REPORTER - Are you guys able to count with cell phone records, maybe, like where he could be?
SHERIFF - We are working with every every tool made available to us, whether it be cell phone, whether it be video, which has been an awesome tool for us. We are using every tool made available to us to try to piece together a window or a picture of where he may have gone.
REPORTER - Just to clarify, is he acknowledging that she never actually made it to the bus stop?
SHERIFF - At this time right now he has not acknowledged whether or not he dropped her off or she made it to the bus stop or not.
REPORTER - Has he admitted to leaving the house with her?
SHERIFF - Yes.
REPORTER - Can you clarify that location where you're telling people to stay away from? It's called the Scenic loop, where it is?
SHERIFF - It's in the Scenic loop area near Tigerville Park, if I say on national television, don't go to this specific location, kind of defeats my purpose, but I am saying that there are officers that's in the area who are instructing people or directing people away from those areas. Please work with those officers if they ask you to turn around or they ask you to go into another location while they search those areas.
REPORTER - Sheriff, you mention that he admits to leaving with Audrii Cunningham and now we know she's missing, what else do you need to charge him for a crime, because a child is nowhere to be found?
SHERIFF - Our thing is.. the District Attorney is here.. one of the things that we must do is that we must not jump to conclusions. We want to make sure that we take all the evidence that we have collected. Yes, he may have been the last person with her and yes she is missing, at this time, but we want to make sure that whatever evidence that we collect and that we place on an affidavit today is going to be something that's going to hold up in the court later. It does us no good to prematurely charge him now and then three, four months from now it gets tossed out of court because we were moving too fast. So I ask you, please understand as we work carefully through this, because Audrey deserves this. She deserves us taking our time, she deserves us making sure that we do it right, she deserves to have her voice to be heard and I want to make sure that we do that and we do it the right way.
REPORTER - One of the cell phone techniques is called Geo Tracking - are you all using Geo Tracking?
SHERIFF - I will say this, we're using every tool made available to us to be able to work cell phones and video to be able to try to track his movements that morning.
REPORTER - Did any other person of interest come to fruition and have they been eliminated?
SHERIFF - There have been other persons that we have certainly looked at and at this point in time, we're not ruling anyone out. At this point, it is an active investigation and everybody's going to be looked at, everybody's gonna be maintained until we can definitely say for sure - either you are or you are not a party to this investigation.
REPORTER - When you talk about the aggravated assault charge that he's currently in jail for - can you expand on that?
SHERIFF - What I can go to on that - it was an aggravated assault that took place, August I believe, and during that investigation there was some circumstances that took place that would not allow us to be able to arrest him at that time and he would not operate. Basically, he would not talk with investigators, but I think.. Saturday/Friday night, whichever night he was arrested, he did make a statement to that offence, which at that point in time he was arrested for.
REPORTER - What was the offense? What is he accused of doing exactly?
SHERIFF - It was aggravated assualt, he assaulted another individual.
REPORTER - Male or female?
SHERIFF - Male.
REPORTER - We've also heard that he has, obviously, a violent criminal history, there's also information out there that he has an affiliation with the Aryan Brotherhood - are you able to confirm that?
SHERIFF - We have heard those same things and we've been told that there is an affiliation with the Aryan Brotherhood. Those are some things that we will come back after we've been able to get Audrii located and we will tie those things down to prove whether or not he's affiliated or not.
REPORTER - Are you guys doing an extensive search for any evidence in the house, the RV, the home itself?
SHERIFF - Those things have been done.
REPORTER - Have you talked with Audrii's dad or family members?
SHERIFF - Yes.
REPORTER - Are they cooperating?
SHERIFF - Very much so.
REPORTER - Can you expand a little bit more on the relationship between Audrii's family, I know you mentioned he lives in an RV on their property, but were they friends prior, anything like that?
SHERIFF - Basically, the way it was explained to us is that he was a friend of the family, a friend of the father and he was allowed to live there in a trailer behind the house and he was a friend of the family's and basically that's why he was allowed to live there.
I appreciate what everyone has done. I appreciate your helping us get Audrii's story out there. Thank you so much for your diligence in this, and I ask you as you continue to work with us and allow us to tell Audrii's story. Allow us to work this investigation properly and understand when it doesn't go or doesn't appear to go the way that you feel it should, trust us that we're getting it done and we're trying our best to do it the right way. Thank you, appreciate it.
