TAMPA (WFLA) – As family members of Florida woman Cassie Carli await the results of an autopsy being conducted in Alabama, her family says they’ve been provided with “great news.”
Carli’s sister Raeann tells WFLA’s JB Biunno that the family has been reunited with her 4-year-old daughter who has been with Tennessee Child Protective Services following the arrest of her father.
“I want the public to know she is finally safe and home where she belongs,” Raeann tells 8 On Your Side.
Florida investigators said Carli’s ex-boyfriend Marcus Spanevelo was the last person to see Carli before she went missing on March 27 during a custody exchange for their 4-year-old daughter. Carli’s body was found Sunday at an Alabama property that investigators said is connected to Spanevelo.
Carli’s body was recently found buried in a shallow grave at an Alabama barn, nearly one week after she went missing in Navarre, Florida.
Spanevelo has been charged with tampering with evidence, giving false information and destruction of evidence. He appeared in a Tennessee court on April 4 and refused extradition.
Santa Rosa County County Sheriff Bob Johnson said Sunday that while the agency does not know how Carli died, he expects more charges against Spanevelo. Sheriff Johnson said Spanevelo has not been cooperative in the investigation.
“He’s been acting like a dirtbag… he never cooperated with us at all,” Johnson said. “Think about it. It’s your baby’s mother and she’s missing and you’re not going to cooperate with authorities? That’s kind of telltale.”
An autopsy was scheduled to be performed Monday in Huntsville, Alabama to determine Carli’s cause of death. It’s not clear when exactly the results of the autopsy will be released.
“I think either [Spanevelo is] going to spend the rest of his life in prison or he’s going to get the needle,” Sheriff Johnson said. “Hopefully the needle.”