SANTA ROSA COUNTY, Fla. — After a weeklong search, law enforcement says the body of missing Florida mom Cassie Carli has been found, hundreds of miles from where she was last seen.
Now her ex-boyfriend and father of her 4-year-old daughter, Marcus Spanevelo, faces charges connected to her disappearance and death.
On April 3, deputies with the St. Clair, Alabama, Sheriff's Office found a body matching Carli's description in a shallow grave inside a barn in Springville, the county coroner confirmed to 10 Tampa Bay.
The remains were further identified as Carli by a tattoo, Santa Rosa County Sheriff Bob Johnson said.
"It's not the ending that we wanted, obviously, but we're hoping to provide a little closure for the family," Johnson said in a Sunday news conference.
Detectives say they are still piecing together what happened.
Carli, who was 37 years old, was reported missing on March 28 after she went to meet Spanevelo the night before to exchange custody of their daughter Saylor and never came home, authorities said.
Spanevelo was arrested on April 2 in Lebanon, Tennessee, the sheriff said. He is currently in jail on charges of tampering with evidence, giving false information concerning a missing persons investigation and destruction of evidence. More charges are pending, according to the sheriff's office.
Johnson said Spanevelo has been uncooperative since the beginning of the investigation and even said he was "acting like a dirtbag."
Before Spanevelo was arrested, Santa Rosa County Sheriff's detectives say on March 30 they traveled to Birmingham, Alabama, to interview him. Saylor was found at the home with him and was later taken into protective custody.
"He never cooperated at all with us," Johnson said. "That goes a long way. You think about it, it's your baby's mother and she's missing and you're not gonna cooperate with authorities, that's kinda telltale."
Authorities say they believe Spanevelo acted alone in Carli's death.
Once they found Carli's remains, Johnson said Spanevelo had nothing to say but, "lawyer."