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Feds arrest Florida man linked to missing Georgia mother

Feds arrest Florida man linked to missing Georgia mother
Feds arrest Florida man linked to missing Georgia mother
Posted at 12:30 PM, Aug 17, 2020
and last updated 2020-08-17 12:38:59-04

Federal authorities have taken a man into custody who claims to be the last person to see a missing Georgia woman, whose 2-year-old son was found wandering alone last month in a shirt and diaper at a South Florida parking lot.

Federal authorities arrested Shanon Demar Ryan on two counts of lying to a federal officer, according to an online jail booking log for the Broward County Sheriff's Office.

It was not immediately clear if the arrest had any connection to the disappearance of Leila Cavett, the 21-year-old mother whose child was found July 26 in Miramar.

Leila Cavett with her son Kamdyn
Leila Cavett with her son Kamdyn

The special agent in charge of the FBI's Miami office had sought help from the public in locating the missing woman, and he echoed concerns about the "safety and well-being" of the young mother.

Cavett was last seen just hours before her 2-year-old son, Kamdyn, was found wandering alone outside an apartment complex.

Authorities believe Cavett and her son had arrived in South Florida the day before she went missing and after spending time in several Broward County communities. Her vehicle was found unattended July 28 in Hollywood.

Leila Cavett

On the left is a photo of Leila Cavett at a Cracker Barrel restaurant in Vero Beach, Florida, taken on the evening of July 24. On the right is a photo of Cavett with her son, Kamdyn, at a RaceTrac gas station in Hollywood, Florida, at 10:20 p.m. on July 25.

In a rambling 51-minute video posted on Facebook, a man who appears to be Ryan says he was the last person to see Cavett.

"We have a missing woman, and I gave the police everything that I know," he says in the video.

A representative for the FBI's Miami field office could not be immediately reached for comment.

Staff at WPTV contributed to this report.