NOT WEIRD AT ALL

Self-Described ‘Witch’ Charged With Murder of Missing Florida Mom

In a Facebook video from shortly after the disappearance, Shannon Ryan said he was the last person to see Leila Cavett. Authorities say his story has not held up.

An Alabama man who calls himself a “witch” has been charged with the murder of 21-year-old Leila Cavett, police announced Tuesday. Shannon Ryan, 39, whose Facebook page “Magnetic Kundalini” says he teaches “witchcraft” lessons for $100, has been incarcerated since last August when he was arrested on a related kidnapping charge. Since then, Ryan has also been hit with charges for child endangerment and lying to law enforcement. In a rambling, nearly hour-long video posted last August, entitled “Who is Leila Cavett and what is my connection to her disappearance,” Ryan admits to being the last person to see Cavett, and describes their relationship.

Investigators say Ryan originally told them that he’d seen Cavett get into a car with two men at a Florida gas station, but security footage showed only Ryan’s car. The next day, Cavett’s 2-year-old son was found abandoned in a nearby apartment complex. According to police, Ryan is on security camera video buying carpet cleaner and trash bags, and had searched “does bleach and alcohol make chloroform” on Google. In October, police announced they were searching the Monarch Hill Landfill in Broward County for Cavett’s body.