Family holds out hope 6 months after teen goes missing

SARASOTA (FOX 13) - On a clothes line outside of a Sarasota home hangs a lonely jersey. It belongs to 15-year old Jabez Spann.

His family put it on the line after he disappeared, and they’re leaving it there as a reminder of their fight for answers.

“It’s impossible to live a normal life, you just have to go on day to day,” says Latohya Jakes, Spann’s aunt.

Sunday marks six months since anyone has seen Spann, the teen went missing from Sarasota without a trace last year.

Spann was last seen Labor Day of 2017, he was attending a vigil for a neighbor who had been killed in a grassy lot near his home. Spann’s family believes he witnessed that murder, and that led to his disappearance.

Sarasota police are investigating all possibilities, including the theory that he may be a witness to a murder. Now, they are partnering with the FBI in hopes of finding a break in the case.

“Maybe there’s things they can work on that we can’t, maybe they have the capabilities that we don’t,” said Lt. Rex Troche of the Sarasota Police Department.

But according to Troche, there’s no better resource than valuable information from the community.

“We’re looking for that nugget because that little piece of information can lead us to something else.”

As Spann’s family crosses one more day off their calendar, they are hopeful it’s one day closer to closure.

“Sometimes my mom feels like it’s going to be a cold case,” says Spann’s Aunt. “It’s never going to be a cold case, that isn’t ever going to happen.”

There is a $50,000 reward  for information about Spann’s disappearance. Anyone with information is urged to contact the Sarasota Police Department at (941) 316-1201.