$10K reward offered in search for missing Georgia mom Leila Cavett

MIAMI — The Federal Bureau of Investigation is offering as much as $10,000 in reward money in the search for a missing Atlanta woman whose toddler son was discovered alone in a Florida apartment complex last month.

In a Thursday tweet, the FBI's Miami office announced the reward "for information leading to the location of Leila Cavett, who disappeared on or about July 25, 2020."

The announcement came days after a criminal complaint filed Monday in Florida revealed that Shannon Demar Ryan, 38, of Muscle Shoals, Alabama, had been charged with kidnapping with the intent of collecting ransom in the case, The Associated Press previously reported.

Ryan was arrested Saturday on charges of lying to federal agents, according to the Miami Herald. He is being held in a Broward County, Florida, jail, the newspaper reported.

Ryan said he has known Cavett, 21, since January of last year, the criminal complaint said. Authorities have been searching for her since her toddler son, Kamdyn, was found alone in a Miramar, Florida, apartment complex June 26, according to the AP.

Cavett, who had been living in Atlanta and had ties to Jasper, Alabama, was last seen on video July 25 at a gas station in Hollywood, Florida, one day before residents found the 2-year-old boy wearing a dirty diaper and no socks or shoes, the Herald reported.

Ryan told authorities that Cavett and Kamdyn met him at the gas station before the three went to the beach together, the complaint said. He claimed they returned to the gas station about 2:30 a.m. July 26, and Cavett and the boy got into a car with a group of Black men, according to the complaint. Investigators, however, said surveillance footage doesn't show Ryan's car or the mother and son getting into another vehicle, the AP reported.

Authorities added that Ryan's car was captured on video leaving the gas station at 8:15 a.m. July 26 and returning about 20 minutes later, according to the AP. Surveillance footage also captured Ryan's car at the apartment complex where Kamdyn was found that same morning, authorities said.

According to the complaint, Ryan bought odor eliminator, duct tape and trash bags at the gas station and a nearby Walmart, the AP reported.

Investigators found Cavett's vehicle, a white truck, abandoned in Hollywood on July 28, according to the AP.

In a nearly hourlong video posted to Facebook on Aug. 9, a man who appears to be Ryan said he saw Cavett and "gave the police everything that I know," the AP reported.

Ryan also describes himself as a "witch" and "god" in social media posts, according to the Herald.

In a news release last week, the FBI said Cavett stands 5 feet, 4 inches tall and weighs 120 pounds. She has a tattoo of the name Kamdyn on her right arm and a Jesus fish tattoo on her right wrist, the release said.

Anyone with information about the case should call 1-800-CALL-FBI or click here to submit a tip online.

Read more here.

– The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Cox Media Group