TERRIFYING new information has emerged in the case of missing Florida woman Cassie Carli, as her ex-boyfriend has been arrested in connection with her disappearance.
Local law enforcement considers the 37-year-old “missing” and “in danger” days after she left home to pick up her daughter and vanished.
Cassie Carli, a Florida mother who went missing on March 27, had reportedly just started a new job at a local Air Force base.
Marcus Spanevelo was apprehended in connection with Carli’s disappearance.
“We have no idea what happened to her,” Santa Rosa County Sheriff Bob Johnson said during a press conference on Thursday.
“We don’t believe she’d just up and leave.”
Local law enforcement, family, and friends have provided new information about the missing mother.
The Sun investigates Carli’s disappearance as the police continue to search for her.
A NEW JOB
Carli had recently moved from the Florida panhandle city of Destin back home to Navarre, where she was living with her father.
According to her sister Raeann, Carli was working at a paddleboard shop and had just taken on a new role at nearby Eglin Air Force Base.
“She was in the middle of starting a new job on base being a lead server,” Raeann said in an interview with Dateline.
“Saturday evening was the last time she texted me, but she said it just went well.”
FINAL TRIP
On Sunday night, Carli told her father she was heading out quickly to the parking lot of a nearby bar, where she’d arranged to pick up her 4-year-old daughter, Saylor.
Saylor had spent the weekend with her father Marcus Spanevelo, who lives about two hours away in Panama City Beach.
Carli and Saylor’s father typically meet on Sundays to exchange custody.
But hours after they were supposed to meet, Carli was missing.
The Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office says Spanevelo was the last person to see her alive.
He was arrested on April 2 in Lebanon, Tennessee, and has been charged with tampering with evidence.
Spanevelo also faces charges of destruction of evidence and giving false information.
In a Facebook post from the Sheriff’s Office, cops noted that the arrest was “based on a Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office Major Crimes warrant which was signed by a Judge.”
“We are cautious as to the information being released due to the sensitivity of this case. Search efforts for Cassi Carli remain underway,” the post continues.
FINAL TEXT
Carli reportedly texted her father about three hours after she had gone to pick up Saylor and said she was having trouble with her car and phone, local ABC affiliate WEAR reported.
When he woke up at 10.45pm, her father realized Carli had not returned home.
He reported the disappearance to law enforcement the next day, on March 28.
JOINT CUSTODY
According to Raeann, Carli and Spanevelo had shared custody.
Meeting to pick Saylor up after a weekend with her dad was part of their normal routine.
But some custody challenges had arisen since Carli moved back in with her dad in Navarre Beach.
The move put her an extra 40 minutes away from Saylor’s father, who lives in Panama City Beach.
LAST-MINUTE CHANGE OF PLANS
Typically, Carli and Spanevelo would meet on Sunday evenings at a Walmart in Destin to swap custody.
This time, however, the pair reportedly changed the location at the last minute to a bar parking lot in Navarre Beach instead.
They were scheduled to meet at 7.00pm.
“My dad said it was just a very brief, you know, ‘Be right back, Dad. I’m just going right to Juana’s,’” Raeann told Dateline.
But Carli never returned.
Her father woke up several hours later and realized his daughter was not home.
“He immediately started calling my sister and no one would answer,” Raeann said.
CAR LOCATED
The car Carli was driving was found near the bar parking lot where she was scheduled to pick up Saylor. Her purse was found in the vehicle.
However, her phone was not recovered.
In a press conference on March 31, Sheriff Bob Johnson expressed concern over the fact that Carli had not logged cell phone or credit card activity since March 27.
Law enforcement said the vehicle was located in a dark area of the parking lot, which is otherwise normally a busy area.
DAUGHTER WAS NEVER IN DANGER
The local sheriff’s office said they have located Saylor and that she was safe.
Authorities said the 4-year-old was never in danger, but have declined to provide further detail.
“We want Saylor back in our custody,” Raeann Carli told WEAR.
However, a judge has denied the family’s request for temporary custody.
