Audrii Cunningham’s family has accused her murder suspect of using a legal loophole to trick his way into their life — ripping the swastika-tattooed houseguest as “a monster we thought was a friend.”
Suspect Don McDougal, 42, had a lengthy rap sheet, including a no-contest plea to two counts of enticing a child — but was allowed to stay off the sex offender registry.
He was living in a trailer on the girl’s family’s property and trusted with taking the 11-year-old girl to school the morning he’s accused of snatching and killing her.
“Unfortunately, the system failed us due to a loophole in the sex offender registration system,” Audrii’s dad, Joshua Cunningham, told FOX26 in a statement released along with the dead girl’s grandma, Tabitha Munsch, on behalf of her extended family.
“Tragically, Audrii’s death occurred at the hands of a monster we thought was a friend, only 10 days after Audrii’s 11th birthday.”
The family said it showed “compassion and mercy to this formerly incarcerated person” to reflect their faith, “which teaches us to give our fellow man a second chance.”
However, they insisted that it was only after their “charismatic, beautiful, talented and kind young”: daughter was murdered that they l; learned the true dark past of the man they took in.
“Don Steven 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 back yard while he tried to start a new life,” they explained, without elaborating on exactly what loophole mislead them.
“Had we been aware of what we know now, this man would never have set foot on our property, much less been a part of our little girl’s life.”
They called on lawmakers — both locally and in Washington — to “look at the loophole that prevented us from knowing what Don McDougal was, a convicted sex offender.”
“This failing of the system is a crime that we cannot allow to go overlooked,” they said.
A woman who was assaulted by McDougal as a child previously said that the justice system “failed” her and Audrii by only incarcerating McDougal for two years.
Audrii will be honored at a public memorial service on Friday. Attendees are being asked to wear her favorite color, purple, in her honor.
Audrii disappeared on Feb. 15, when she was seen walking to the school bus stop with McDougal.
She was reported missing later that day, when she failed to catch the bus and never appeared at school.
A bag matching her red Hello Kitty backpack was then found at a local reservoir, CNN reported.
Audrii’s body was found in the Trinity River downstream from the reservoir a few days later, the outlet explained.
She had been tied to a rock with a rope that matched the one found in McDougal’s car, police noted.
At the time of the discovery, McDougal was already in jail on an unrelated assault charge. He was subsequently charged with capital murder and is being held without bail.
The tattooed suspect – who allegedly has ties to the Aryan Nation – appeared completely naked covered with only a blanket during his arraignment, disturbing video footage showed.
Cell phone records and video surveillance have placed McDougal near the Trinity River around the time of Audrii’s disappearance, police said.