The FBI is asking for the public’s help in locating a mother in Georgia who disappeared while visiting Florida with her 2-year-old son, who was later found walking barefoot and alone in an apartment complex.
Leila Cavett, 21, was last seen on July 26, a day after she arrived in South Florida with her son, Kamdyn, according to George Piro, special agent in charge of the FBI’s field office in Miami.
“We believe that some people who are familiar with the circumstances surrounding the disappearance of Leila will remain in our community while some leave the area,” Piro said at a news conference Thursday.
“We are investigating every possibility as to why Leila is missing. Moreover, besides us aggressively working with our other legislative partners a large number of leads to unite Kamdyn and Leila.”
Piro said Cavett, from Dawsonville, Georgia, arrived in South Florida on July 25 and spent time in Hollywood, Miramar and Fort Lauderdale Beach before disappearing.
Photos released by the FBI show that Cavett and her son visited a gas station in Hollywood several times on July 25. Another image from the same day showed her at the gas station exiting and entering a Lexus sedan. Piro said at Thursday’s news conference that investigators are asking for the public’s help in identifying the red.
“We try to identify everyone and get in touch with who they may have spoken to or come in contact with,” he said.
The mother disappeared just hours before her son was found on July 26 walking alone without shoes in an apartment complex in Miramar, according to authorities. The little boy only had a T-shirt and a diaper.
Ebony Williams, a resident of the area, told reporters at a news conference that she had just arrived home when she saw the toddler outside and realized he was by himself.
‘I asked him where his mother was, and he just pointed everywhere,’ she said, according to Dateline. ‘I extend my hand to him, he grabs my hand. And I just walked around the complex hoping to find someone who was looking for him, or called his name. ‘
When Williams could not find the child’s parents, she called 911.
Miramar Police responded and said in a Facebook post that officials “spent hours in the area, knocking on doors, talking to neighbors and even those driving through the area” to find the child’s parents, but they were nowhere to be found.
A police department spokeswoman told Dateline that family members came forward after photos of the child circulated on social media.
Piro said Cavett divorced her son “is completely out of character.”
“Her family and others in our community are very concerned about her safety and well-being,” he said at Thursday’s news conference.
Cavett’s car, a white Chevy pickup truck, was parked in Hollywood on July 28, about five miles from where her son was found.
Gina Lewis, Cavett’s sister, told NBC 6 that she does not know why Cavett was in Florida.
“It’s not out of her character to go places, but it’s certainly out of her character to be in Florida,” she said. ‘We are in Alabama, she lives in Georgia. If it were not for those two states, we would not understand why they would be here. “
Family members and a lawyer they hired did not immediately return a request for comment Friday.
Piro said the FBI was not ready to release “any information we have” but called the disappearance “very, very mysterious.”
The Miramar and Hollywood Police Departments are also supporting the investigation. Cavett’s son is safe and in the custody of child services, authorities said.
