Missing Child Alert Issued For Sarasota Boy, 14

SARASOTA, FL — The Florida Department of Law Enforcement has issued a statewide missing child alert for a teenage boy from Sarasota. Jabez Spann, 14, has been missing since Labor Day.

The statewide alert for Spann was issued Monday afternoon, several hours after Black Lives Matter Manasota announced plans to hit the streets to help find the teenager.

Spann was last seen during the evening hours of Sept. 4 in the 1500 block of 23rd Street, according to the Sarasota Police Department. The teen, described as standing about 5-foot-9, has not been heard from since. (For more local news from Florida, click here to sign up for real-time news alerts and newsletters from Sarasota Patch. Click here to find your local Florida Patch. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)

Police issued a plea for help locating Spann on Sept. 8 as the threat of Hurricane Irma loomed across the state. That plea turned up no leads, so another one was issued after the storm passed. Spann had still not been found as of Sept. 18.

Sarasota Police Chief Bernadette DiPino held a press conference Monday to ask people in the community to come forward with any information about the boy's whereabouts. She said there are people in the community who have information about the case but “are not coming forward or are refusing to come forward."

“We are not ruling out anything,” she said of the missing teen.

DiPino said an Amber Alert has not been issued for the teen because there are no indications that he was abducted or that he is in danger. She said her department had conducted searches, including a wooded area where the last “pings” of his phone were located. Police did an extensive search of the area by air and with dogs, but found nothing. Her department also conducted a reverse 911 call to residents in the north Sarasota community to obtain information.

DiPino said police had discovered social media posts from a second cellphone belonging to the teen, but he had given the phone to a friend.

“Our police department will not stop searching for Jabez until we find him,” she said. “We want to bring him home safely.”
DiPino said his grandmother told police that it was not unusual for the teen to stay with friends for a day or two, but not for 14 days.

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BLM members plan to meet at the Robert Taylor Community Center, 1845 34th St. in Sarasota, at 5:30 p.m. Monday, Sept. 18 to hand out fliers across Sarasota and Bradenton and to “support the efforts of Tawana Spann to find her son Jabez.”

“In the time since Jabez Spann went missing, the area has been rocked by Hurricane Irma,” an email from the BLM Manasota chapter noted. “This causes great concern both for his personal safety and how high-priority his case might be treated when resources are stretched thin.”

DiPino said that despite the storm, her department had not stopped searching for the teen.

A reward fund has also been established by BLM Manasota. Donations are being accepted on YouCaring.com to assist in raising money for a $1,500 reward for information about Jabez Spann’s whereabouts.

Anyone who has information about Jabez Spann’s whereabouts is asked to contact Sarasota Police Det. Megan Buck at 941-954-7067 or 911.

Spann, who weighs an estimated 120 pounds, was last seen wearing a turquoise shirt.

Photo courtesy of the Sarasota Police Department