Murder of Jabez Spann investigated on Still A Mystery

Still A Mystery investigates the strange disappearance of teenager Jabez Spann, who vanished from his hometown of Sarasota, Florida, in 2017.

Spann was just 14 years old when he disappeared on September 4, 2017. He had reportedly attended a candlelight vigil that evening and was later seen with two other boys at about 1 AM before he vanished a few hours later.

Spann’s family held onto the hope that he was still alive and was maybe in hiding somewhere. However, those hopes were dashed in February 2019, when some skeletal remains were found by a worker along a fence line in a rural part of Manatee County.

Forensic detectives examined dental records and established that it was the remains of Spann. His cause of death was not released and may be unknown.

Jabez Spann witnessed another murder

Spann’s family and the police suspect his death may be connected to another murder. At the end of August, Spann had witnessed three men chase 31-year-old Travis Combs out of his house and into a field where he was shot. Spann was heard to shout, “Oh my God. Y’all shot him.”

Spann disappeared less than a week later, leading some to suspect that Combs’s killers had also murdered the teenager to stop him from identifying them.

Spann’s aunt, Latohya Jakes, told reporters in February 2020 that “it’s time somebody pay for what they have done. I want to see them put away for life and not with life sentence; I want the needle in their arm.”

The Sarasota police and the FBI have received numerous tips on the case, but so far, it remains unsolved. There is a reward of $50,000 for any information that might lead to an arrest. Members of the public with any info are asked to contact SRQ Crime Stoppers on 941-366-TIPS.

More from Still A Mystery

Follow the links to read about more murders profiled on Still A Mystery.

Christopher Abeyta was just seven months old when he was abducted from his parent’s bedroom at their home in Colorado Springs in 1986. He has been missing now for 35 years, and there are still no clues as to what happened to him.

Susan Osborne and her 14-year-old son Evan Chartrand vanished from their home near Wetumpka, Alabama, in 2017. Susan’s husband said they ran off with another man, but their relatives suspect they were murdered.

Still A Mystery airs at 9/8c on Investigation Discovery.