Marcus Spanevelo ex boyfriend of Cassie Carli missing Navarre Beach, Florida woman arrested as man now faces upgrade in charges after woman’s body is found in shallow grave over the weekend.
Florida police have found the body of a missing Navarre Beach mother in a shallow grave in Alabama. The macabre discovery came a day after police arrested the woman’s ex-boyfriend in Tennessee nearly a week after she went to see him to pick up their four-year-old daughter during a custody exchange in Florida.
Marcus Spanevelo, 34, was arrested in Lebanon, Tennessee, on Friday and was charged with tampering with evidence, giving false information concerning a missing person investigation and destruction of evidence.
‘Spanevelo was arrested based on a Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office Major Crimes warrant which was signed by a judge,’ the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office stated in a press release. ‘We are cautious as to the information being released due to the sensitivity of this case.’
Authorities in a follow up release Sunday night, said they found the body of missing woman, Cassie Carli, 37, buried inside a barn in Springville, Alabama, about 300 miles north of where she was last seen in Navarre Beach.
Carli was identified by a tattoo on her body.
Ex boyfriend could face murder charges pending autopsy results
‘It’s not the ending that we wanted, obviously, but we’re hoping to provide a little closure to the family,’ Johnson told reporters.
Authorities stated that Carli’s ex boyfriend, Marcus Spanevelo, had ties to the property, without elaborating on the connection, while also noting that the ex was ‘uncooperative’ during questioning.
Charges against Spanevelo may now be upgraded pending the result of an autopsy as the ex boyfriend is suspect in the woman’s yet to be determined cause of death.
Spanevelo is expected to be extradited to Santa Rosa County Jail from Tennessee.
In a follow up, police said that Carli’s father told of receiving a text message from Spanevelo stating that Carli had asked him to drop her off ‘in the middle of nowhere in Destin’ to stay with a friend before she vanished.
The text followed a previous text response from Carli’s number saying she had car trouble and that she was spending the night at Spanevelo’s home.
The macabre discovery came days after Florida detectives traveled from Santa Rosa County to Birmingham, Alabama, on Wednesday where they located Marcus Spanevelo and the couple’s 4 year old daughter, Saylor.
Missing and endangered
The father and four year old girl’s recovery came three days after the girl’s mother, Cassie Carli, vanished in Navarre, Florida, some 260 miles away during what was supposed to be a routine custody exchange between the former couple.
At the time authorities said the former couple’s child was ‘safe’ and that ‘search efforts for Cassi Carli remain underway.’
During initial investigations, the missing mom’s car was located on Tuesday in Navarre with her purse inside, raising concerns for her well-being, Santa Rosa County Sheriff Bob Johnson said during a press conference on Thursday. At the time, authorities noted that there had been no activity on the missing woman’s phone or credit card since last Sunday.
Detectives stated not knowing if Carli had been the victim of a crime, while the woman was considered to be missing and endangered.
Carli had arranged to meet up with Spanevelo to exchange custody of their daughter at around 7 p.m. in the parking lot of Juanita’s Grill at Navarre Beach according to WEAR-TV.
Carli’s family, described her former relationship with Saylor’s father as ‘turbulent.’ Prior to her disappearance, Carli had obtained a court order compelling her ex-boyfriend to pay her $6,000 in child support.
Last minute changes
Carli’s family also said that Spanevelo would not take calls or answer text messages regarding the missing mom’s whereabouts.
Carli’s younger sister Raeann said her sister felt ‘extremely unsafe’ around Spanevelo and had warned her family about him.
‘Just in general, with her relationship with him, it has always been, she has had some fear of him,’ her sister said. ‘He’s always controlling, and tried to be manipulative, and she had some fear of him in the past. And what he’s capable of, or planning maliciously towards her.’
Raeann, who lives in North Carolina, told Dateline that Cassie and her ex typically met at a Walmart located in Destin, halfway between Navarre and Panama City, where Spanevelo lives.
But for an unknown reason, they decided at the last minute to change their meeting place Sunday week ago.
Nearly four hours after Carli went out to pick up Saylor, her father, with whom she lives in Navarre, received text messages from his daughter’s phone, telling him that she was having problems with her phone and her car.
Andrew Carli has since stated that he does not believe Cassie sent those texts.
Carli never made it home that night, and she was still missing the following day when her father came home from work and discovered that his daughter hadn’t returned.
That evening, nearly 24 hours after her last sighting, Carli’s father contacted the authorities and reported her missing.
Abusive and turbulent relationship
Santa Rosa Sheriff’s deputies located Carli’s vehicle on Tuesday morning at Navarre Beach, but she was nowhere to be found. Her purse was discovered inside.
Carli’s friend Sam Graves, who organized a search party in Navarre on Tuesday, told WEAR-TV that Saylor’s father, whom she identified as Spanevelo, falsely claimed that he had brought Cassie to Graves’ house after she ‘freaked out’ on Sunday.
Andrew Carli, Cassie’s dad, called those claims ‘bulls***,’ arguing that Spanevelo never even met Graves.
Graves said that Spenevelo is a Brazilian national and that he previously threatened to take Saylor out of the country. She also alleged that the man was an ‘abuser,’ although Spenevelo has not been previously charged with any crime related to Carli.
Leading up to Sunday’s discovery of Carli’s body, Sergeant Richard Aloy, with the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office, said officials did not suspect foul play an were actively looking for Carli.
Carli had just started a new job at the nearby Eglin Air Force base the day before. Her sister said Carli told her that her first shift went well.
Raeann Carli previously stated that her sister was in a great physical and mental shape, and was known for her fun and outgoing personality.
Carli was described as being 5-foot-5 and 150lbs, with blue eyes and blonde shoulder-length hair. The mom was also described as having a mole on her right cheek.
Saylor has since been re-united with Carli’s family.
