Background: Leila Cavett, 21, resided in Dawsonville, Georgia, and had no known ties to Florida. She disappeared after an out-of-character trip to South Florida with her 2-year-old son, Kamdyn. Her case involves suspicious behavior by Shannon Demar Ryan.

Friday, July 17, 2020

• Leila FaceTimed with her sister. No mention of travel to Florida.

Thursday, July 23, 2020 12:34 PM:

• Leila receives $60 via wire transfer from Kamdyn’s father, Danny Lee West. She picks it up at Walmart in Dawsonville, GA.

Friday, July 24, 2020

• Leila leaves Dawsonville, GA in a white GMC 3500 pickup truck with Kamdyn.
• 7:00 PM: Seen on camera at Cracker Barrel in Vero Beach, FL. Later that evening: Leila is seen twice at the RaceTrac gas station at 5800 Hollywood Blvd, Hollywood, FL.

Saturday, July 25, 2020

• 2:20 PM: Surveillance at RaceTrac shows Leila’s white GMC pickup truck pulling in behind Shannon Ryan’s silver Lexus. Ryan speaks to the driver (believed to be Cavett) and gestures toward Walmart. Both vehicles depart.
• 3:06 PM: Cavett exits the Lexus wearing a gray tank top and black and green shoes.
• 3:06–3:09 PM: Cavett is seen shoplifting soda and candy from the RaceTrac convenience store.
• 4:51 PM: Cavett and her son are captured entering and exiting Family Dollar.
• 8:35–8:42 PM: Surveillance at Cheesecake Factory shows Cavett inside speaking with a waitress, briefly leaving with her, then exiting the restaurant alone. Ryan later confirms they went there.
• 10:15–10:19 PM: At RaceTrac, Ryan points to the Lexus at the pump, purchases two bottles of water, and pays while Cavett fills a soda cup. Surveillance confirms Ryan, Cavett, and her son leaving together. This is the last confirmed sighting of Cavett.

Sunday, July 26, 2020

• 7:00 AM: Kamdyn found alone in Miramar, FL by a passerby.
• 8:01 AM: Ryan enters RaceTrac, withdraws cash from the ATM, and purchases coffee and tobacco wraps.
• 8:22 AM: Ryan’s Lexus seen on U-Gas surveillance turning onto 68th Ave.
• 8:24 AM: Lexus arrives and parks at Edge Apartments. Ryan observed near the gate. Minutes later, Cavett’s child is found wandering alone.
• 8:38 AM: Lexus arrives at RaceTrac. Movement seen inside; no one exits.
• 9:05 AM: Lexus seen again, now near the RaceTrac dumpster.
• 9:32 AM: Lexus parked at Walmart. Ryan exits alone.
• 9:42 AM: Ryan buys 39-gallon trash bags and two boxes of carpet deodorizer at Walmart. 9:57 AM: Ryan returns to Walmart and buys duct tape.
• 8:22 PM: Miramar Police update public: no one has come forward for the boy; he remains in DCF care.
• Cell tower data confirms Ryan’s phone was active near Edge Apartments during the child’s abandonment.

Monday, July 27, 2020

• 5:06 AM: Police confirm they’ve received tips;
• Kamdyn with a foster parent.
• Early AM: Ryan’s Lexus seen at RaceTrac. He is captured on surveillance disposing of multiple items from Leila’s truck into dumpster: Ryan dragging a large black-bagged object to the RaceTrac dumpster. He also discards what appear to be bloody towels
  
• 7:17 PM: Leila’s truck is found in the RaceTrac plaza. Miramar PD announces search turned over to Hollywood PD.

Tuesday, July 28, 2020

• Morning: Detectives meet with Leila’s family from Alabama.
• 10:30 AM: LPR confirms Leila’s truck at Walmart.
• 12:25 PM: Ryan seen arriving in Lexus and rummaging through the truck bed: Detectives were conducting surveillance and spotted A black male, later identified as Shannon Ryan, exited the Lexus and approached the white truck with a black garbage bag and a keys in his hand. Ryan began going through the things in the bed of the truck.
• 12:28 PM: Police detain Ryan; he claims he bought the truck for $3,000 and last saw Cavett leave with strangers 2:30 AM on July 26. The detectives asked if he was willing to meet with them again. Ryan told detectives he was not available but would be on July 29 at 9:00 a.m. in the same Walmart parking lot.

Wednesday, July 29, 2020

• 9:00 AM: When Detectives arrived Ryan was not at Walmart parking lot and did not respond to any calls.
• A check of the license plate readers revealed that Ryan was heading north to Texas.

August 3, 2020

• FBI officially joins investigation.
• Hollywood PD classifies Leila Cavett as Missing and Endangered.

Sunday, August 9, 2020

• Ryan posts Facebook video claiming Leila’s truck window was broken and he covered it with a trash bag. Surveillance shows window intact during Leila’s arrival. Friend says Ryan tried selling Leila’s truck for $1,000. Shovels with red spots and a broken truck window found; glass inside door and on ground. RaceTrac employees identify Ryan and say women’s clothes and children’s toys were seen in dumpster. One recognizes floral pants matching Leila’s last outfit.

Saturday, August 15, 2020

• FBI searches Ryan’s Lexus. Finds half-empty bleach cleaner, trash bags, and white powder under passenger seat.
• 12:01 AM: Ryan Google searches: “What day does commercial garbage pickup for Hollywood, Florida.”
• 1:45 AM: Searches: “Does bleach and alcohol make chloroform.”

Monday, August 24, 2020

• 2:03 PM: FBI seeks info on a gold Honda sedan seen near RaceTrac fuel pumps on July 27 between 11:24 – 11:28 PM with rear bumper damage.

Thursday, October 1, 2020

• FBI conducts search for Leila Cavett at Monarch Hill Landfill in Broward County.

April 20, 2021

• a warrant to arrest the defendant was issued by the Miramar Police Department.
• When Interviewed Ryan had stated that he had in fact spent the night with Leila and her son from July 25,2020, through July 26,2020.
• Witness Tiffany Sandles confirms knowing Ryan and Cavett from Alabama and identifies both from surveillance stills.
• Court documents confirm Ryan’s phone was in the vicinity of the child’s abandonment and contradict his version of events.
• Surveillance across multiple days confirms Ryan’s movements and repeated presence, but no sightings of Cavett.

Evidence and Shannon Demar Ryan Activity Timeline:

July 25, 2020

• 3:00 PM: Leila and Shannon arrive at RaceTrac/Walmart. Ryan directs her parking. They leave in Ryan’s Lexus; truck remains parked.
• 11:20 PM – 11:42 PM: Leila’s phone connects to Wi-Fi at RaceTrac for an iCloud backup.

July 26, 2020

• No phone activity from Leila.
• Surveillance and cell towers place Ryan at apartment complex where Kamdyn is abandoned.
• Ryan later returns to RaceTrac/Walmart and purchases suspicious items.

July 27, 2020

• Ryan seen on surveillance disposing of items in dumpster.
• Later that day: Leila’s truck seen leaving Walmart and arriving at RaceTrac. Only Ryan exits the vehicle.

July 28, 2020

• Police observe Ryan near truck with keys; he’s interviewed.
• Evidence Summary Leila’s Truck:
• Broken driver’s side window, shovels with red spots (one positive for blood), blood on front passenger and rear seat, rubbing alcohol bottle, white powder.

Ryan’s Lexus:

• Bleach cleaner, white powder, trash bags, blood on driver’s seat.

RaceTrac Dumpster:

• Women’s floral pants, children’s toys traced to Leila.
• Legal & Investigation Notes: No proof Leila left with anyone.
• Ryan’s claims of truck purchase not corroborated by messages. Ryan described as a “wandering witch,” with a criminal record and no ties to Florida.
• Judge ruled Ryan a flight risk; denied bail.
• Shannon Ryan faces federal kidnapping charge (minimum 20 years if convicted).

Current Status: Leila Cavett was last seen on July 25, 2020. Her son was found alone the following morning. Shannon Ryan was later charged with multiple crimes, including Second-Degree Murder, Kidnapping, and Tampering with Evidence. Leila Cavett remains missing to this day.

Anyone with information is urged to contact the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI or visit FBI.gov/tips.

Leila Cavett, of Atlanta, was last seen on the night of July 25, just hours before her 2-year-old son, Kamdyn, was found wandering alone in a shirt and diaper at a Miramar apartment complex. The mother and son had arrived in South Florida the day before she went missing.

Man claiming to have seen missing mother Leila Cavett. Ryan told Detectives he met Cavett at a RaceTrac gas station in Hollywood on July 25 and that they went to the beach with her son that afternoon in Ryan’s gold Lexus. surveillance video shows Ryan’s car directly in front of the apartment complex where Kamdyn was found by a Good Samaritan. Police said the car was in the area minutes before the boy was picked up and the vehicle is very distinguishable because it is missing its front bumper.

According to court documents, Shannon Ryan told investigators that he had known Cavett since approximately January 2019 and that she had traveled to Florida to sell him her truck.

• In a 50-minute video posted to his Facebook page, Ryan claimed he first met Cavett in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, when she unexpectedly arrived at his residence late at night with her then 1-year-old son, claiming her vehicle had broken down. Ryan said he allowed them to stay at his home for two months, during which time he said he introduced her to witchcraft before she eventually moved out.

However, a federal criminal complaint filed in Fort Lauderdale contradicted Ryan’s narrative.

• FBI investigators stated that video surveillance did not support Ryan’s claim that he saw Cavett and her son get into another vehicle at a RaceTrac gas station in Hollywood. Around the time of Cavett’s disappearance, Ryan was seen purchasing large trash bags, odor eliminator, and duct tape.

Authorities interviewed multiple RaceTrac employees.

• One employee recognized Ryan and confirmed having seen him use the store’s dumpster. Another specifically recalled seeing children’s toys and women’s clothing inside the dumpster around July 26. That employee identified a pair of floral pants from a photo—identical to those Cavett was last seen wearing.

An arrest report released later revealed that surveillance footage from July 27, 2020 showed Ryan dragging a large object wrapped in black garbage bags from the back of Cavett’s truck to the dumpster. He was also seen discarding what appeared to be bloody towels.

Investigators also uncovered disturbing internet searches conducted by Ryan, including “does bleach and alcohol make chloroform,” and confirmed he visited the City of Hollywood’s Waste Management website to look up commercial trash pickup times.

Before his arrest, Ryan had posted several additional videos to social media discussing his relationship with Cavett, referring to her as a “manipulative thief” who had “hustled him” and wasted his time.

As the investigation progressed, authorities removed the RaceTrac gas station dumpsters as potential evidence and conducted a search of a landfill in Pompano Beach.

May 26, 2021

• 1:30 PM – Arraignment Hearing
  

July 27, 2021

• Defense Continues Granted till December 17, 2021

June 10, 2022

• Defense Continuance granted again 
• 12/17/2021 – Continuance Granted
• 12/16/2022 Reset by Court to 03/03/2023 – Defense Continuance
• 09/23/2022 Reset by Court to 12/16/2022 – Defense Continuance
• 03/03/2023 Reset by Court to 05/12/2023 – Defense Continuance
• 11/21/2024 – Rescheduled Calendar Call
  
• 02/07/2025 – Rescheduled Hearing /Defense Motion to Withdraw as Atty of Record
  
• 06/30/2025 – Calendar Call Rescheduled

June 30, 2025 

• 10:00 AM – Hearing/Defense Motion to Set Bond

Records: