Leila Cavett's Disappearance: Alabama Man Charged With Kidnapping After Claiming He Was the Last to See Her

Shanon Demar Ryan, right, has been charged in connection with the kidnapping of Leila Cavett, left.
Shanon Demar Ryan, right, has been charged in connection with the kidnapping of Leila Cavett, left.(Police handout)

Shanon Demar Ryan's car was seen on surveillance video near where Leila Cavett's 2-year-old son Kamdyn was found wandering, an arrest affidavit stated.

An Alabama man has been charged with kidnapping 21-year-old Leila Cavett, who investigators have been searching for since last month after her 2-year-old son Kamdyn Cavett Arnold was found wandering a Florida parking lot alone and wearing only a t-shirt and diaper.

Shanon Demar Ryan, 38, who has claimed he is a “witch” on social media, was arrested by federal agents Saturday and is being held in Broward jail without bond, online records show. He was charged Monday with kidnapping for the purpose of seeking ransom, in addition to two counts of lying to federal agents upon his arrest over the weekend.

Ryan proclaimed his innocence on his social media page, on which he has also claimed to be one of the last people to see Cavett before she went missing. In a 51-minute long Facebook Live last week, Ryan claimed to have met Cavett and her son when their car broke down in Alabama last year and they went to his house to seek help, CBS Miami reported.

Ryan told authorities upon questioning that Cavett drove to South Florida to sell him her truck, and they had met on July 25, the last day she was seen, at around 2:30 p.m. at a gas station. He also made claims about Cavett and her son leaving with other men early the following morning, which investigators said was inconsistent with the video surveillance.

Video surveillance does, however, show Ryan’s car near where Kamdyn was found wandering around the same time, and cell phone records support the claim, CBS Miami reported, citing an arrest affidavit.

Cavett, a single mom living in Georgia, was last seen on July 25 near a Walmart in Hollywood, Florida, although family members who live in Alabama say they have no idea why she had traveled to Florida.

“We’re in Alabama, she lives in Georgia. If it’s not those two states, we don’t understand why she would be here,” Cavett’s sister Gina Lewis told NBC South Florida. Lewis said Cavett doesn’t know anyone in Florida.  

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