SARASOTA, Fla. - The Sarasota Police Department issued an appeal for information Friday on the ninth anniversary of the disappearance of 14-year-old Jabez Spann.
Missing teen investigation
What we know:
Jabez Spann disappeared from Sarasota on Sept. 4, 2017, sparking years of searches by law enforcement and family members. In February 2019, investigators discovered his remains 23 miles away in Manatee County.
Detectives continue to receive and process incoming leads in the open case, maintaining that individuals in the local community hold vital information regarding his death.
Anyone with information can contact the Sarasota Police Department at 941-263-6067 or submit an anonymous tip to Crime Stoppers of Sarasota at 941-366-TIPS (8477).
Unsolved details
What we don't know:
Authorities have not publicly identified any suspects or named persons of interest in connection with the teenager's death.
Mother of missing teen speaks
What they're saying:
Tawana Spann, the mother of Jabez, stated she wants to know what happened to her son.
"The most thing that I would rather have at this moment in my life before I perish is just let me know what happened. I want it from the people. I don’t want hearsay, I want to know exactly what happened," Tawana Spann said.
Genevieve Judge of the Sarasota Police Department noted that tips continue to arrive, stating, "Tips do still come in even 9 years later. Are they as much as they used to be? Sometimes yes. Sometimes no. That’s why we are hoping that this reminder to the community 9 years later that we are still looking for the people or person responsible for the death of Jabez Spann".
AI technology for missing persons
The backstory:
To process her grief and assist other grieving families, Tawana Spann created the Jabez Spann Foundation to support relatives of missing persons and homicide victims.
"None of us are equipped to find out how to adjust with life after you go through something so traumatizing. To see somebody in a casket that you gave birth to, those are words that nobody wants to hear at all," she said.
The foundation launched a series called "If We Could Speak," which utilizes artificial intelligence to turn photos of victims into animated avatars. These digital avatars allow missing or deceased individuals to recount their own stories in video format, as another form to catch the public's attention.
"I remember when I would see Jabez’s flyer. I knew that people would kind of just bypass it because it was just a picture. What we did was we started creating avatars of the person of them telling their own story," said Tawana.
To learn more about the Jabez Spann Foundation, visit here.
The Source: The information in this story was gathered by FOX 13's Kimberly Kuizon from the Sarasota Police Department, who posted a public appeal and case updates, and Jabez Spann's mother, Tawana Spann.