Cassie Carli murder: Florida mom's cause of death remains mystery 6 months after body found buried
ST CLAIR COUNTY, ALABAMA: More than six months after officials found Cassie Carli's body, the final autopsy report now lists both her cause of death and manner of death as “undetermined,” the St Clair County Coroner’s Office told on Monday, October 10. Carli's body was found buried inside a shallow grave close to a barn in the city of Springville on April 2.
According to the report obtained by WFLA, the cause of death was believed to be the only barrier stopping Santa Rosa prosecutors in Florida from charging Marcus Spanevelo, Carli’s ex-boyfriend and father to their four-year-old daughter Saylor, with murder. However, forensic teams in Alabama could not determine how Carli died. The autopsy also left unanswered questions Carli's family has been seeking for months. Carli's younger sister, Raeann, previously told WFLA, "The wait has been agonizing. The family is struggling to heal. [Carli's] daughter has so many questions and we can’t even provide answers or solace without knowing what’s going on.”
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Cassie Carli: Body of missing Florida mom found in 'shallow grave' after her ex got arrested
What do we know so far?
The 37-year-old was reported missing after she failed to return from a March 27 custody exchange with ex-boyfriend Spanevelo. Her vehicle was found abandoned at the meeting point, behind Juana’s Pagodas restaurant, with her purse still inside. Three detectives from Santa Rosa County drove to Birmingham, where Spanevelo lived, to interview him. Santa Rosa County Sheriff Bob Johnson said, as quoted by AL.com, "They made contact with (him) and also Saylor, the daughter. They called out Alabama child services who checked over the girl and that was that.”
The outlet also stated that Alabama court records showed an arrest warrant for Spanevelo that was issued in March after he failed to show up in court in St Clair County on a speeding ticket. He got that ticket on December 15, 2021, when he was stopped for driving 97 mph in an area zoned for 70 mph. However, in April, he was taken into custody on charges of tampering with evidence, giving false information concerning a missing persons investigation and destruction of evidence. Simultaneously, investigators found the body of Carli buried in an Alabama barn. Following Spanevelo’s arrest, Sheriff Johnson claimed that Spanevelo was responsible for Carli’s death. He said, “I think he’s either going to spend the rest of his life in prison, or he’s going to get the needle. Hopefully, the needle," as per WFLA report that mentions Spanevelo’s trial, starting with jury selection, is now scheduled to begin on October 17.