Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Mom of wandering toddler still missing
MIRAMAR – It has been weeks, and Leila Cavett’s location is still a mystery.
Now, the FBI wants the public’s help to find Cavett, the 21-year-old missing mom whose toddler appeared barefoot and alone in a Miramar parking lot last month. The cops found her truck, but not her.
“Leila’s separation from her son is completely out of character,” FBI Miami Special Agent in Charge George Piro said Thursday at a news conference. “Her family and others in our community are very concerned about her safety and well-being.”
Investigators are still searching for Cavett after they found her 2-year-old son, Kamdyn Cavett Arnold, wandering.
Miramar Police received information that Cavett had recently traveled to Florida, and that her last known location was possibly near Hollywood Boulevard and U.S. Route 441, a highway that runs from Miami up through Georgia and North Carolina to Tennessee.
Miramar Police found her white Chevy pickup in the area, and Hollywood Police took over the case, launching a missing-person investigation.
The mom’s disappearance was featured on a “Dr. Phil” episode that aired Thursday afternoon, including an interview with her mom, Tina Kirby, and her brother, Curtis Kirby. They said they didn’t know why she went to South Florida.
Leila Cavett had been living in Georgia and spent time with her uncle there, Tina Kirby said. Just a few days before she vanished, Cavett had listed some belongings for sale on Facebook Marketplace, likely to raise some gas money to drive to South Florida, Kirby said.
Her sisters have said she has no ties to the area. Cavett is originally from Jasper, Ala., and lives in Atlanta, according to her Facebook page.
“We’re in the middle of a pandemic,” Gina Lewis, Cavett’s sister, has previously told reporters. “So it’s not like they were taking a vacation out of the blue with the baby. There’s no way.”
Cavett’s family said they last spoke to her weeks ago.
“I FaceTimed her on July 17. We were on the phone for about an hour and she was fine,” one of the sisters said. “She didn’t have any plans to come to Florida, so we’re
very confused right now.”
Cavett was last seen driving a mid-to-late ’90s white Chevy 3500 truck with a maroon or red tailgate and a “baby on board” sign on the passenger window. According to her family, she’s about 5 feet 3 inches tall with a very slim frame and shoulder length hair that she often wears up in a bun. She
has a Jesus fish tattoo on her right wrist and another tattoo that says Kamdyn on her right arm, they said.
The FBI released screen grabs from surveillance footage that showed Cavett walking with Kamdyn in a Vero Beach Cracker Barrel on July 24 and a RaceTrac in Hollywood on July 25, the day before Kamdyn was
found wandering alone, Piro said.
Cavett spent time in Hollywood, Miramar and Fort Lauderdale Beach before she vanished, Piro said. Her truck was found abandoned in Hollywood on July 28.
Information about her activity during that time is crucial to the investigation, Piro said.
“We’re pursuing every lead, trying to identify and contact everyone who she might have spoken to or come in contact with,” Piro said. “That’s the assistance we’re looking for from the public.”
Agents have already questioned multiple people who might have information relevant to the case, and would like to find out more, Piro said.
“Often times, members of the community have information of value but do not come forward with the information because of a belief that it may not be important,” Piro said. “Regardless of how insignificant you think your information might be, or whether you think we are already aware of it, I urge you to come forward even anonymously and allow the FBI to make that determination.”
Anyone who has information on Cavett’s disappearance or whereabouts should call FBI Miami at 1-800-225-5324 (CALLFBI) or go to FBI.gov/tips.