Tragic Audrii Cunningham’s mom posts heart-wrenching message that ‘she failed her daughter’ as her cops find her body in a river and arrest dad’s swastika-tattooed friend Don Steven McDougal who lived at his house

The mother of Audrii Cunningham, the 11-year-old found dead in a Texas river on Tuesday night, almost a week after she was reported missing, admitted in a tragic Facebook post that she had ‘abandoned her daughter’ .

Cassie Matthews posted the message before her daughter’s body was found in the Trinity River, about 10 miles from where the child lived with her father, grandparents and other relatives.

Police are preparing murder charges against “family friend,” Nazi tattooed career criminal Don Steven McDougal. He lived in a trailer on her father’s property.

In her post, Matthews lashed out at online rumors that she had lost custody of her daughter due to a failed drug test. The grieving mother said this was a rumor spread by her child’s father.

‘I will make this clear for once: I failed my daughter by being bullied into submission by her father’s family and made to believe that she was in a safe, loving and normal home with her father ‘ she wrote. in a follow-up post.

McDougal had taken Audrii to the bus stop or would take her to school if she missed the bus, officials said.

Audrii’s family reported her missing Thursday after she did not return to her Livingston home after school

The girl’s mother, Cassie Matthews, pleaded for the public’s help during the six-day search for her daughter, crying as she said the loss left her feeling “empty.”

Pictured: A chilling mugshot of McDougal, who police say was the last person to see the youngster alive

In other, sometimes lengthy Facebook posts, Matthews said she never “chose drugs” over her child, or used drugs in front of her.

Matthews said she has ‘nothing to hide’ as she accuses people of spreading ‘bulls***’ online.

‘The most important and only important thing for me is finding my daughter! I could care less what everyone thinks. What you think and your judgment does not give my daughter back.’

Referring to McDougal, Matthews says, “If your speculation were true, I would be in the same boat as the man who took my baby from the family that loves her.”

In a later post, Matthews reiterated that she never lost custody of her daughter.

‘That’s my daughter and I’ve never lost any rights over her, so as her parent I’m going to interfere with whatever I want regarding my child! “I’m tired of all this bullshit and I’m tired of being quiet, being scared and being bullied into submission again by people I don’t fucking know,” she wrote.

Polk County District Attorney Shelly Sitton confirmed that murder charges are being prepared against 42-year-old McDougal. Sitton did not say whether it will be a death penalty case.

Lyons said there is “substantial evidence” in the case, and that cellphone records and videos have helped identify places to search. He added that the Trinity River Authority lowered the water level on the river, which led to the discovery of her body.

McDougal allegedly took Audrii to school the morning she disappeared

McDougal has a criminal history dating back to 2001, including convictions on two counts of enticement of a child

Audrii sparked a statewide search after she disappeared early Thursday morning in Livington, about an hour north of Houston, when she didn’t show up for school.

When authorities investigated Audrii’s disappearance last week, they named McDougal as a person of interest and he was arrested Friday on an unrelated assault charge.

Court records from Brazoria County, south of Houston, show McDougal pleaded no contest to two felony counts of enticing a child stemming from a 2007 incident and was sentenced to two years in prison.

The sheriff said the girl’s body was taken to the Harris County Medical Examiner’s office in Houston to determine the cause of death.

Audrii’s family reported her missing Thursday after she did not return to her Livingston home after school. After she was reported missing, investigators discovered she never boarded the bus to go to school that morning.

A backpack that authorities believe belonged to the child was found Friday near the dam on Lake Livingston, one of the state’s largest lakes.

When authorities investigated Audrii’s disappearance last week, they had named McDougal as a person of interest and he was arrested Friday on an unrelated assault charge.

While the search was still ongoing, the girl’s mother pleaded for the public’s help, saying it was not like her daughter to just run away or disappear.

“We don’t have any clues, so we’re reaching for any string, any sign, anything,” she said KPRC at the time.

“There’s not one feeling you feel,” she explained. “You’re broken, you’re angry, you’re empty and right now I’m empty.

“I will not be the same unless my baby is returned to me, and that includes her family, all of us, her friends and the people she is connected to in the community.”

The desperate search sparked fervent speculation online and attracted multiple law enforcement agencies as an Amber Alert was issued across the state.

Police began searching the wooded area near the young girl’s home because she is a lover of wildlife and nature, her family said.

Shortly after the search, it was determined that the disappearance was not an accident, as Lt. Craig Cummings said at a news conference: “Based on the evidence we have, we understand foul play is involved.”