Family offers reward in hopes of finding son who vanished in Ybor City
TAMPA, Fla. - A family is desperate for answers after they said their son vanished in Ybor City last week. John Larson, 24, had plans to meet up with friends in Ybor City last Tuesday night, but never showed, and Tampa police are now asking the public for information.
"We haven't gotten any sleep. We've been up for 24 hours literally," Larson's mom Joann Pitts said.
According to his family, he was supposed to meet up with friends at Reservoir Bar in Ybor City last Tuesday night, but never showed up. Surveillance video shows his blue truck turning left on to N. 15th Street from East Palm Avenue just before 11:30 p.m.
It was later found parked on E 11th Street right by the Hillsborough Community College Performing Arts Center. Police have taken his truck into evidence in search of any clues.
"This could be your brother too and like if you guys could just help me. I really want to find him," Larson's sister Joann Caffrey said.
Caffrey and their family spent Tuesday posting missing flyers on light poles around Ybor City. She said after Larson parked his truck, he texted photos of his parallel parking job to the friends just before midnight saying he was on his way to meet up. It's his last known communication.
The walk from his truck to the bar is only five minutes, and it's a route heavy with surveillance cameras, but according to the family, police have said many of cameras were either broken or not recording.
"Please if you see John or if you talked to John. He's very personable. Very social. So if he met anyone he would have said hello at least," Pitts said.
With little information to go off of, the family is heavily relying on the public's help to bring him home.
"This is way out of character for him. He has never ever done this," Pitts said.
Police are still searching for Larson's cell phone. The family is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to his whereabouts. Anyone with information is asked to call the Tampa Police Department.