Boy found in Miramar will finally see his family, and the FBI involved in search for his mom
After seeing so many unfamiliar faces — police offers, social workers, foster parents — the 2-year-old found alone in Miramar last week will be excited to finally see his family Wednesday, Gina Lewis, an aunt, said Tuesday.
While police, and most recently the FBI, continued the search for Kamdyn’s mother, 21-year-old Leila Cavett, his aunts, uncle and grandmother hired a lawyer to begin a custody battle that could last months.
On Tuesday, they celebrated their first victory: getting to see Kamdyn for the first time after his mother’s disappearance. Kamdyn was taken into the care of the Broward Sheriff’s Office Child Protective Investigations Section last weekend, and by last Monday had been assigned to foster parents.
“They are only allowing Zoom calls,” Lewis said, “but I think he’ll be excited to see everybody.”
The family’s Chicago-based lawyer, Javaron D. Buckley Sr., said the judge granted the family visitation without a hearing Tuesday. But Buckley predicts that getting the boy back home to his family won’t be as quick.
“It will be a while before anybody can get custody of Kamdyn because there are multiple states involved: Florida, Georgia and Alabama,” Buckley explained.
Leila Cavett was last seen on July 26 in Hollywood near the area of Hollywood Boulevard and State Road 7, about two miles from where her son was found that same day in the 1800 block of Southwest 68th Avenue in Miramar.
Two days later, Miramar police also found Leila’s car, a mid-to-late ‘90s white Chevy Silverado 3500, in Hollywood. Hollywood police have since taken over the missing person search with the assistance of the FBI, according to Buckley.
At least until February, Cavett lived in Dawsonville, Georgia, a small town about 60 miles northeast of Atlanta, while her family — sisters Lewis, and Tyuania and Curina Cavett, brother Curtis Cavett and mother Tina Kirby — is from Jasper, Alabama.
Family members nearly all returned to Alabama last Wednesday after failing to persuade authorities to let them see Kamdyn, Lewis told the Miami Herald.
But under Buckley’s recommendation, some family members remained in the state and, on their second attempt — taking the legal route, this time — they were successful.
On Aug. 14, Buckley will return to court to begin the legal process for custody, which he said will certainly run into more legal complications involving the man listed as Kamdyn’s “legal father” on Kamdyn’s birth certificate, Levi Arnold.
Daniel Lee West, 35, came forward last week as the biological father and tried claiming custody of Kamdyn himself. The Florida Department of Children and Families told him he might have to take a DNA test to prove that he is the father, he told the Miami Herald last Wednesday.
He has since joined the family in Florida, according to Buckley. However, it was unclear whether he had taken the DNA test Tuesday.
West met Cavett in Dawsonville more than two years ago, while she was in a relationship with Arnold, he said. Family members confirmed that he is the biological father, and Arnold stepped up as a father figure when the little boy was born.
Arnold has since moved to Townley, Alabama, according to his Facebook profile. West said he stayed in touch with Kamdyn and his mother as they moved from Georgia to Alabama and back over the past two years, sending payments and visiting Kamdyn every two or three weeks.
“We are seeking answers and will get them,” Buckley, the lawyer who is representing the family, said Friday on Instagram.
Buckley said the family was eager to see Kamdyn and get one step closer to custody Tuesday, but continued to be distraught about not finding his mother.
“I’m feeling anxious all the time. I’m ready to see my sister,” Lewis, the aunt, said Tuesday.
Buckley and Lewis said police have not made progress in the search for Leila Cavett. Hollywood police did not immediately respond to the Miami Herald’s request for comment.
