SANTA ROSA COUNTY, Fla. – The body of a missing Florida mom was found in a shallow grave in Alabama nearly one week after she was last seen, according to the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office.
Sheriff Bob Johnson said Cassie Carli’s body was found Saturday evening while executing a search warrant.
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During a news conference Thursday, the sheriff’s office said Carli was last seen in a parking lot behind a business to meet with Marcus Spanevelo to exchange custody of their 3-year-old daughter. Deputies said Carli’s father called authorities Monday to report her missing, leading authorities to find her car in the parking lot the following day.
The sheriff’s office said Saturday that Spanevelo was arrested in Tennessee on charges of tampering with evidence, giving false information concerning a missing persons investigation, and destruction of evidence.
“It was in reference to the victim’s phone,” Johnson said during a news conference of the charges. “He took her phone and basically got rid of it.”
Johnson said detectives with the sheriff’s office went to Tennessee and joined the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation along with the Tennessee Highway Patrol to arrest Spanevelo.
“I can’t speak for his thought process. I can tell you this, he was totally uncooperative. He never cooperated at all with us,” he said. “That goes a long way. I mean you think about it, that’s your baby’s mother and she’s missing and you’re not going to cooperate with authorities. That’s kind of telltale.”
Johnson could not give any details of what led authorities to search the location where Carli’s body was found, but he said there is a connection with Spanevelo.