Mom who vanished while going to pick up child found dead under barn, Florida cops say
Update, April 4:
The body of Cassie Carli, who vanished after she went to pick up her daughter from the child’s father in Florida, has been found, deputies say.
Carli’s body was found on April 2 in a shallow grave in a barn in Alabama, Santa Rosa County Sheriff Bob Johnson said in an April 3 news conference.
“So it’s not the ending that we wanted obviously, but we’re hoping it will provide a little closure for the family,” Johnson said.
Marcus Spanevelo, Carli’s ex-partner and the father of their child, was arrested and charged with tampering with evidence and giving false information in reference to a missing person’s investigation, Johnson said. Spanevelo is in jail in Maury County in Tennessee.
“He’s either going to spend the rest of his life in prison or he’s going to get the needle – hopefully the needle,” Johnson said during the news conference, referencing lethal injection should Spanevelo later be found guilty and be sentenced to the death penalty.
Carli’s child, Saylor, is “unarmed and in a safe environment,” according to authorities.
Deputies said this is still an ongoing investigation.
The original story continues below:
A Florida mom never made it home after she went to pick up her daughter from the child’s father, deputies say.
Cassie Catherine Carli, 37, was last seen Sunday evening, March 27, on Navarre Beach, about 30 miles east of Pensacola, according to the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office.
Carli was reported missing by her father on March 28, deputies said in a March 31 news conference.
Deputies said the woman’s car has been recovered but Carli is still considered a “missing and endangered” person as of March 29.
“What we found concerning was inside that car was Cassie’s purse. And as you know, most women don’t leave their purse behind when they go somewhere,” Sheriff Bob Johnson said during the news conference.
Johnson said there was no cellphone or credit card activity from her as of March 31.
On March 30, detectives said that Carli’s 4-year-old daughter, Saylor, was “safe” and the search for the woman continued.
The Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from McClatchy News on March 31.
Raeann Carli, the woman’s sister, told Dateline that the woman had been living with their father in Navarre and was “working on custody issues with Saylor’s father.”
Raeann said Carli was going to pick up her daughter that night at Juana’s, a local bar. But Carli and her daughter never made it home, Dateline reported.
Sam Porter, a friend of Carli, told WEAR that the woman was scheduled to meet Saylor’s father at 7 p.m. that day. About three hours later, Porter said the woman’s father “received a text message from Carli’s phone saying she was having car and phone trouble.”
The child’s father told Carli’s father that he dropped the woman off at Porter’s house, WEAR reported, which “Porter says was not true.”
The FBI is now assisting the sheriff’s office with the investigation.
Deputies ask anyone with information to contact the sheriff’s office at 850-983-1190. There is a reward of up to $3,000 for information that leads to the closure of the case.
This story was originally published March 31, 2022 at 4:54 PM with the headline "Mom who vanished while going to pick up child found dead under barn, Florida cops say."
