Florida mom goes missing, self-proclaimed witch now charged with her murder: police

A 21-year-old mother disappeared last summer and police say a self-proclaimed witch has been charged with her murder.

According to authorities, Shannon Ryan, 39, says Leila Cavett, 21, traveled to South Florida to sell him her pickup truck.

However, authorities say Cavett traveled to Florida to become Ryan’s apprentice, as he is a self-proclaimed witch.

The morning after Cavett vanished, her 2-year-old son Kamdyn was found wandering alone, authorities said.

Ryan was arrested after authorities said surveillance video showed his car in front of her apartment building shortly before the boy was found on July 26, 2020.

Local 10 reported that cell phone data showed Ryan was near the apartment complex at the time.

Police said that Ryan was the last person to see Cavett alive on July 25.

Cavett was last seen on surveillance video entering Ryan’s vehicle at a gas station that night, according to his arrest report.

The next day Ryan went to a Walmart and bought carpet deodorant, trash bags and duct tape, authorities said.

Then, on July 27, he went back to the gas station and bought a bottle of cleaner containing bleach, police said.

Police said Ryan moved Cavett’s truck near the dumpster and went back and forth between the truck and the dumpster, as he threw away women’s clothing and children’s toys.

He was also seen dragging a large object that was wrapped in black garbage bags from the truck to the dumpster, police said.

Ryan also appeared to take bloody towels and place them in a nearby trash can, authorities said.

Authorities said they also searched Ryan’s cell phone data and it revealed he Googled, “Does bleach and alcohol make chloroform?”

Ryan was arrested when the child was found and charged with child neglect, kidnapping and tampering with evidence, but the kidnapping charge was dropped weeks ago, police said.

Authorities said they have completed multiple searches on a landfill, but Cavett’s body has never been found. 

According to the arrest report, Ryan posted several videos of himself on Facebook before his initial arrest, as he described his relationship and interactions with Cavett and called her a “manipulative thief who wasted his time and hustled him.”

Ryan now faces a second-degree murder charge, police said.