The body of missing 11-year-old Audrii Cunningham was found in the Trinity River in Texas, officials announced Tuesday. Don Steven McDougal, 42, in custody on an unrelated manner, will be charged with capital murder in connection with her death, Polk County District Attorney Shelly Sitton said at a news conference. A case will be filed "based on all the evidence," she said. Sheriff Byron Lyons said information from the suspect, cellphone data and social media imagery sent in by citizens led them to the body off Highway 59 in the county. A local water authority lowered the water level of the river to assist divers in their search, the sheriff said. Her body was with a medical examiner, who would determine an exact cause and manner of death, he said. Cunningham had not been seen since she left her Polk County home on Thursday at about 7 a.m. to catch a school bus, officials said. But she never got on that bus or made it to school that day, according to Polk County Sheriff's deputies. An Amber Alert was issued for the 4-foot-1 child with blonde hair and blue eyes. She was wearing black pants, a black hoodie with white lettering and black tennis shoes on Thursday. McDougal was called "one of the persons of interest" involved in the case when he was arrested Friday on suspicion of aggravated assault, in an unrelated incident, officials said,. McDougal lives in a trailer behind Audrii's home and is considered a family friend who'd occasionally take the girl to the bus stop or to school, officials said. A small children's backpack was found at the Lake Livingston Dam, not far from the Cunningham family home, authorities said. Trinity River feeds into the lake. A $10,000 reward had been posted for any information leading to the arrest and prosecution of the person responsible for Audrii's disappearance.

Five days after 11-year-old Audrii Cunningham went missing, her body was found in a Texas river near her home and a family friend who authorities say was supposed to be taking her to the school bus stop the day she disappeared is charged with killing her. Early in the investigation, authorities had named the family friend, 42-year-old Don Steven McDougal, as a person of interest. He was charged with capital murder on Tuesday after authorities announced that Audrii's body had been found in the Trinity River in a rural area north of Houston. Audrii's family reported her missing at about 5:30 p.m. on Feb. 15 after she didn't come home after school. Investigators then discovered that she had never gotten on the bus to go to school that morning. Authorities have said that she lived with her father, grandparents and other relatives in Livingston near the shore of Lake Livingston. McDougal lived on the same property in a camper. The day that Audrii went missing, she left her home in his vehicle, according to the capital murder complaint filed against McDougal. The justice of the peace who released the complaint did not know if McDougal had hired an attorney yet but said he had indicated he did not want a court-appointed lawyer. Audrii's body was found in the Trinity River at a location about 10 miles (16 kilometers) from her home. A large rock was tied to her body with a rope, according to the complaint. The Harris County medical examiner's office in Houston will determine her cause of death. Polk County Sheriff Byron Lyons has said there is "substantial evidence," including cellphone data that was used to help identify places to look. Also, the complaint says that the rope used to tie the large rock to Audrii's body was consistent with rope seen in McDougal's vehicle. A backpack believed to be Audrii's was found Friday near the Lake Livingston dam. That lake is one of the state's largest reservoirs and was created with a dam on the Trinity River. As authorities searched for Audrii, McDougal was arrested Friday on an unrelated charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. That complaint, dated Friday, alleges he stabbed a man last summer. Court records from Brazoria County, south of Houston, show McDougal pleaded no contest in 2008 to two felony counts of enticing a child and was sentenced to two years in prison.