jabez spann

Status:

Open

Jurisdiction:

Sarasota Police Department (FL)

Offense Location:

Sarasota, Florida

Summary:

Jabez Spann was 14 when he went missing from Sarasota on Sept. 4, 2017. On August 28, 2017, he allegedly witnessed a murder, which led to his disappearance and the end of his life. His remains were found in rural Manatee County in February 2019. While the police received numerous tips over the years, none have led to an arrest.

Vital Statistics

Circumstances of Offense:

Fourteen-year-old Jabez Spann disappeared from a family barbeque on 22nd Street in Sarasota in September 2017. The documents show Spann listed as a witness to the murder of 31-year-old Travis Combs on August 28. Combs was found with one gunshot wound to the upper torso in a grassy lot near 22nd Street and North Orange Avenue. Another witness, later charged as an accessory after the fact, allegedly said he saw Spann walk out of a house nearby as the shooting happened. The vigil was held on September 4, 2017. When Jabez didn't come home, the family assumed he was out with friends. But when his grandmother learned that he did not show up to school the next day, panic kicked in. A witness reported seeing Jabez with two other boys at around 1 AM on September 5, and it was believed that the teenager disappeared sometime after that.

Additional Details:

It's reported that he told some people that he knew who did it and a week later, he went missing. In late October, a man approached the family during searches and wanted to help. Reginald Parker said he had information that could help them: he said he knew why Jabez disappeared. Reginald said that, on August 28, he had witnessed the fatal shooting of Travis Combs in Sarasota. He said he wasn't the only witness, though – he said Jabez was there, too. In a subsequent police interview, according to a release by the department, Reginald 'denied that he witnessed Travis Combs's murder.' Sarasota Police have since charged Reginald with accessory after the fact of Travis's murder. Police declined to say where in Manatee County the remains were found, and are investigating if Spann died from natural causes or was killed. The teenager's mother, Tawana Spann, told NBC News in a phone interview Wednesday that she was overwhelmed by the latest development in the case. 'This has been a straight roller coaster,' she said. 'I close the chapter of him being missing, and open the chapter of him being murdered.' Jabez Spann Foundation has been serving our communities since 2019 years. Our organization was established to address the growing need for assistance for those families in need of resources, spread awareness, and demand action. Tawana Spann created Missing Our Voices because she knows the heartbreak of losing a child. Her son, Jabez Spann, went missing at 14 years old. She's a mother who never got to bring her baby home.

Case Last Updated:

May 14, 2026