FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Federal authorities have taken into custody a man purporting to be the last person to see a missing Georgia woman, whose 2-year-old son was found wandering alone last month in a shirt and diaper at a South Florida parking lot.
Federal authorities arrested Shanon Demar Ryan on two counts of lying to a federal officer, according to an online jail booking log for the Broward County Sheriff's Office.
It was not immediately clear if the arrest had any connection to the disappearance of Leila Cavett, the 21-year-old mother whose child was found July 26 in Miramar, Florida.
The special agent in charge of the FBI's Miami office had sought help from the public in locating the missing woman, and he echoed concerns about the “safety and well-being” of the young mother.
Cavett was last seen just hours before her 2-year-old son, Kamdyn, was found wandering alone outside an apartment complex.
Authorities believe Cavett and her son had arrived in South Florida the day before she went missing — and after spending time in several Broward County communities. Her vehicle was found unattended July 28 in Hollywood.
In a rambling 51-minute video posted on Facebook, a man who appears to be Ryan says he was the last person to see Cavett.
“We have a missing woman, and I gave the police everything that I know,” he says in the video.
A spokesperson for the FBI’s Miami field office could not be immediately reached for comment.