Photo: Facebook
He has been arrested in connection with her disappearance.
By Alice Kelly — Written on Apr 04, 2022
The family of Cassie Carli claims texts sent after her disappearance was an attempt to cover up what really happened to her.
The body of the missing Florida woman was located in a "shallow grave" in Alabama on Saturday, April 2 — a week after Carli was reported missing after not returning from a meet-up with her ex-boyfriend, Marcus Spanevelo, at Navarre Beach in Pensacola.
Carli, 37, was found buried in a barn in Springville, Alabama. Spanevelo is reported to have ties with the property.
Spanevelo, the father of Carli's 4-year-old daughter Saylor, is being held in Tennesse on charges of charges of tampering with evidence, giving false information concerning a missing persons investigation and destruction of evidence, the sheriff's office said.
Family members have shared texts sent after Cassie Carli's disappearance.
Carli's family have been concerned for her safety since receiving several suspicious texts from her and Spanevelo after she was last seen heading to meet him for a custody exchange at the Boat Ramp at Juana's Grill.
Carli's car was located at the same location after Carli was reported missing.
Carli's father received text messages from her phone claiming she was having car trouble and would be spending the night with Spanevelo.
Facebook
However, her sister does not believe Carli would have sent these texts.
“The text messages my father received from [Cassie’s] phone were nothing of typical speak my sister would have said,” Raeann Carli said.
“Especially the claims of car and phone troubles at the same time. She would have walked to the nearest gas station if she had to before getting Marcus for any type of help in a situation like that.”
Marcus Spanevelo also texted Cassie Carli's family with suspicious details about her disappearance.
On March 28, after his daughter had still not come home, Carli's father contacted her ex.
Spanevelo claimed that he had asked him to drop her off "in the middle of nowhere in Destin" to visit a friend in Northwest Florida named Stacey.
“Stacey moved to Alabama a while ago. Cassie would never have you drop her off anywhere. Is her car at your house?” Carli’s father replied.
Carli's sister also received a similar response from Spanevelo when she asked for information about her sister and niece.
Facebook
Carli's purse was found inside her vehicle.
“I’ve been married 32 years and I’ll tell you my wife goes nowhere without a purse so to think she just left it there and walked off, that’s what concerns us," said Santa Rosa County Sheriff Bob Johnson.
Cassie Carli's daughter Saylor was located with her ex, Marcus Spanevelo in Alabama.
Santa Rosa Sheriff's Office confirmed, via Facebook, that Carli's 4-year-old daughter, Saylor, has been located and is safe.
Investigators had reportedly travelled to Birmingham, Alabama, where Spanevelo works, and found him with his daughter.
Saylor has since been taken by Alabama Child Services.
Santa Rosa County Sheriff's Office
Spanevelo was later arrested in Lebanon, Tennesse on Friday before Carli's body was found.
More charges are pending following an autopsy which is scheduled for Monday.
“He was totally uncooperative. He never cooperated with us,” Johnson said in a press conference following Spanevelo's arrest.
“And that goes a long way. It’s your baby’s mother and she’s missing — and you’re not going to cooperate with authorities? That’s pretty tell-tale.”
Anyone with information is asked to call Major Crimes Unit at 850-983-1190.
Alice Kelly is a senior news and entertainment editor for YourTango. Based out of Brooklyn, New York, her work covers all things social justice, pop culture, and human interest. Keep up with her Twitter for more.