Jabez Spann /// Part 2 /// 367 | Forensic Files

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you know the family did always hold on to hope that they would have a miracle and that maybe Jabez would be found
alive but as we mentioned uh this all came to a tragic end here earlier today uh there is this has plagued the
community for a year and a half The Disappearance of Jabez the 14 year old went missing on September 4th 2017
Sarasota police telling us tonight in a late night news conference that as soon as they made a positive ID on jabez's
body they called his family with this sad news investigators telling us that they identified his skeletal remains
using dental records and that he was actually found a Saturday in a rural part of Manatee County just west of
Interstate 75 we're told a man was out there just putting up a fence around 4 30 in the afternoon when he saw the
remains he called 9-1-1 police at this point do not know how long those remains were there but we are told that forensic
investigators are working right now to find out exactly what happened if there's any evidence on his body that
they can use to catch whoever killed him it's not somewhere that we believe he would have wandered off to and then uh
just sat down and passed away we believe that well we will and those facts will come out later on but we do not believe
at this point that he left Sarasota under his own volition and went to Manatee County where his body was found
job as his mom told us tonight that the family is just too distraught to talk about the developments they learned of
what happened here just a few hours before they alerted the media of this break in this case the mom did convey
that she wanted to thank members of the community who for the past year and a half have held search parties passed out
flyers and tried to do everything in their power to find Jabez I know that they've been wanting this conclusion but
not in this way we'll keep you posted as as the story continues to develop we're
live here in Sarasota tonight Michael paluska ABC Action News [Music] thank you [Music]
The Herald Tribune reported on November 24 2017 the Jabez witnessed the murder of Travis Combs and was seen by the
suspects just a week before he went missing on Labor Day the article confirmed that this information was
contained in a police report indicating that the rumors about Jabez seeing a crime were true apparently Sarasota
police detectives were informed about the connection between the Combs case and jabez's disappearance by a Sarasota
Pastor named Calvin Lumpkin who told police that he had information about the connections between the two cases
but it seems possible that even this pastor became afraid to talk in a weird situation when the police tried to talk
to him about what he knew they were served with a letter from his lawyer saying that he would invoke his Pastor
privilege and refuse to answer any questions the strange thing is that the lawyer who wrote The Letter shutting
down the questioning is also the mayor of Sarasota who happens to have a side business a law practice
Lumpkin later told the Herald Tribune quote it's not true no one came to me specifically about Jabez span end quote
on November 27th Sarasota Police Department released a statement acknowledging the possible links between
Travis Combs murder and The Disappearance of Jabez span the statement said quote the Sarasota Police
Department continues to investigate all avenues regarding these two cases both cases and their possible
connections to one another remain under investigation they are both Active cases
Sarasota Police Department is not discounting any possible connections between the two cases and continue to
seek additional information and leads in both cases end quote meanwhile jabez's 15th birthday came and went with no
movement on the case Sarasota PD doubled the reward to fifty thousand dollars hoping that someone would talk in
exchange for cash but after three months Jabez had still not been located the family continued to hang jabez's number
three football jersey on the clothesline outside Lucille's home where it had been
since he disappeared Genevieve judge a public information officer for the Sarasota Police Department told Dateline
quote we've done all sorts of searches and we've partnered with the FBI and the Florida Department of law enforcement to
do that unfortunately at this point we have not come up with anything of significance so technically they could
charge the pastor with the same thing that they charge Reginald but because of his religious privileges
they can't do so correct plus they don't have any sworn statements from others claiming that he told them that he had
Direct knowledge about the case right in months that followed as 2017 turned into
2018 the number of tips submitted to Sarasota Police Department obviously they dwindled drastically Sarasota PD
interviewed a number of people but had not named any suspects or Persons of Interest in this case
then in May of 2018 some potentially new information came in Tawana Spann told us that a female
witness reported seeing Jabez with two other boys around 1am on September 4th this technically would be September 5th
she said that this eyewitness said that they saw Jabez with these two other boys
on Martin Luther King Jr way Tawana knows one of these boys this boy had also been one of the boys who also
witnessed the Combs shooting along with chabez according to what Reginald Parker
told the family and the private investigator Tawana wanted to know whether this boy
who had been with Jabez right before he vanished knew anything about what had happened to her son
whether the boys met up with somebody whether Jabez got into a car with someone whether someone took him she
confronted this boy the one we have been calling Jay and when she did she told us that Jay
flew off the handle and screamed at her saying he did not have anything to do with what happened to Jabez
he didn't know nothing or something along those lines Tawana does not feel that Jay's overreaction is typical of
someone who really knows nothing it seems likely that Jay is scared could he be afraid of what happened to Jabez will
happen to him according to Tawana J and two other minors were prevented from talking to police by their parents
with whom no doubt were scared for their kids safety two of these kids witnessed
the crime according to the affidavit and Jabez almost certainly talked to these friends about what he saw
one of these kids ended up in juvie and told investigators that Jabez was not in
Sarasota but would be found in Bradenton although no one knew why that would be the case and he said that he warned
Jabez to not smoke with everybody which could be an indication that Jabez was lured Away by his abductors with the
promise of pot or cigars one of these men who the pijr believes is responsible for what happened to
Jabez admitted that he gave the boy a cigar this is a man with the initials JJ who at the time of the Combs murder
remember there were three perpetrators according to Parker had dreadlocks apparently Jabez told several people
after Combs was shot that he saw a man with dreadlocks at the scene and he knew who JJ was as he was from Newtown in
fact JJ was dating Travis's cousin one of the men who ran away toward palmodelia Avenue after Travis was shot
Wheelock was also known to Jabez but that's not all you see Jabez knew one of the men named by Parker and the unnamed
female witness very very well this was the man named Curtis and Curtis was best friends with jabez's older brother the
one in prison in fact Curtis practically grew up with Jabez and his brother even
calling Lucille grandma chabez told people after Combs was murdered that he knew who killed Travis
at the end of 2018 jabez's case was featured in people Magazine's list of missing people this was in November of
2018 and then in February of 2019 there was a break in the case on February 16th a man working on a cow
Pastor fence on the 4100 Block of Canal Road in in Bradenton this is in rural Manatee County Came Upon a skeletonized
human remains a joint press conference by the Sarasota Police Department and the Manatee County Sheriff's Office
announced that the remains were indeed those of Jabez span he was identified using dental records the location was
quite far from his home in Newtown 16 miles and was outside of the search area and
they did not believe that he left Sarasota under his own power according to statements at the press conference it
was unknown how long the remains which were fully skeletal were there whether the body was dumped there and or
if they were transported to the rural area after Jabez was held and killed elsewhere
deputy chief Robinson emphasized that they were still seeking tips and leads and the reward remained available well
the amount of eyewitnesses that could have put these guys away that aren't coming forward is absolutely
ridiculous and I understand that they're afraid for their safety but again my argument would be if law enforcement
doesn't get involved these guys are going to be out running the streets and controlling the streets and you're going
to be um that threat is always going to be there and then on top of that you then
have not only witnesses that saw um witnessed him see a murder but you now have people also saying oh you'll
find him and you're going to find him in this other city and then they find him so there's a lot more people that know
what happened and who's responsible that are just not coming forward well and we
say that he was found outside of the search area which he was found 16 miles away and that's a good distance but some
would say well hey it's just 16 miles away he was missing they could not locate him for 17 months almost 18
months that's a long time for this family to be I mean just really clueless as to what
took place and to be just miserable the whole time but I want to make sure that everybody understands that the search
efforts for Jabez were were large were massive there was a lot of searching for him going on they were constantly
searching over the 17-month period in fact his mother says that they searched Sarasota they searched Bradenton
Palmetto and they even searched just north of Venice and searched Northport so if you look at all those spots on a
map this is a pretty large area that they were working on covering they also ran into some problems during the search
efforts some of these searches were with the Sarasota Police Department and others
involved but some of these searches were with volunteers from the community and the problem that they ran into with
these volunteers from the community look they're they're so grateful that all these people came out to help the
problem with that was there were people that they suspected either knew what happened to Jabez or possibly were
involved in whatever happened to him and or Travis that were showing up to volunteer at these searches because they
want to keep an eye on what's going on and report back to whomever or just for their own information so at some point
they had to make these searches very private and that means really reducing the number of people searching in these
areas and I do want to give a shout out to the Peace River search and rescue group they provided a lot of help
in the efforts to find Jabez and they provided a lot of help to the family pro bono so a big a big high five goes out
to them now once Jabez is found once his body was located the cause of death has
never been released officials would not even confirm that Jabez was wearing the same clothes
that he was last seen it this is reported to be a turquoise t-shirt and some other items but I couldn't couldn't
locate exactly the description of the other clothes that he was wearing yeah we asked detective Megan Buck whether
she could tell us the cause of death and of course she would give no comment on that
for what it's worth the man who called 9-1-1 about finding a body told the dispatcher he did not see any signs of a
weapon at the site just a skull and some bones but what's also interesting and this is heretofore unreleased
information was that rope was found with the skeleton and police do believe that
Jabez was bound in the press conference deputy chief Robinson also said that people in the
community are scared to come forward saying quote the folks that did it we believe are from our community we know
that people in our community know things they haven't shared yet he refused to speculate as to the connection to any
other crime in response to a question about the Combs case he said we will be going back and basically starting from
the beginning scouring our case files to ensure every lead every tip was followed
up on we are going to run this thing to the end well it's a lot easier for us to
sit you know in our high chairs and and say well we would have went to police and we would have stopped this
but I think um when the threat is right around the corner and the threat is like
I said it's a lot easier just to say than to to do I agree with that I think though the issue here is the the
perception the the wrong perception that is out there in this case and the the problem here is that this this
criminal element that is responsible for one or both of these murders or maybe even more plus
100 no doubt about it other crimes as well this criminal element we're not talking
about the you know the Irish mob or the the mafia or even something as big as like the the official Bloods or the
official Crypts or anything like that this we're not that's not what we're talking about here this criminal element
that's responsible for these crimes and these murders you can be protected from the Sarasota Police Department could
absolutely protect you from these guys that's all they are is a bunch of a couple of thugs
they can protect you from these guys the thing that you run into a little bit of
trouble with if you are the witness or if you have information is okay if what I tell police or detectives if what I
tell them is it going to be good enough to get these guys to lock them up and to
bring charges against them because just because I say I saw something may not mean that it provides them with any
thing of evidentiary value other than me saying so yeah we have one eyewitness but in this case like you've talked
about there's multiple eyewitnesses but if all of them came together now you're building a way stronger case but then it
becomes this very odd situation where it's like well nobody really wants to come forward and they'll leak stuff to
the family to try to make the family feel better but if all those individuals went and made sworn statements that
they'd be building a way bigger case against these individuals 100 and this community is is starved for this thing
to be over with this community I that's that's where that's where I'm trying to rally the troops in a way of saying you
know what let's it takes a community to raise a child let's in this situation it
might take a community to get Justice for a child and it also might take a community to come together and get
Justice for Travis Combs as well jabez's body was found just feet from the road it's
really hard for me to understand how he remained there for so much time undetected now the people that I spoke
to who are close to the case and know some of the inside information about it and this is just their opinion I I don't
know that this is scientific fact nobody told me that but every one of them seemed to believe that he was there for
a very long time even though I'm having trouble wrapping my head around it they say
trust me Nick he was there for a very long time he was missing for 17 months now that doesn't mean he was there from
the moment he disappeared it could have been days afterwards and that's what I suspect and I think that there's
information out there to suggest that he was elsewhere for a short period of time but
unfortunately he there's no nice way to put it he he lied there in that area in that location for a very long time and
that's one thing that his mother is very upset about and rightfully so uh but as we said the police are not
saying whether they believe that Jabez was there the whole time or whether the body was dumped there after he was kept
elsewhere they're just not they're not commenting on that they've not even released the cause of death but we do
have information that a virtually complete skeleton was found with with just two tiny bones and a front tooth
missing we also know that police impounded and searched the vehicle being driven at the time by
who I'm calling the suspect JJ so perhaps they have suspicions that his vehicle was somehow involved now Jr the
pi the private investigator told us that it is his belief that jabez's phone which has never been found was thrown
out of the window of a vehicle as it traveled this accounting for why it pinged in an area that was not near
where the body was found at all the phone continued to ring for about 36 hours after Jabez went missing this
before the phone went dead so usually late in these episodes Captain we start getting into some of our thoughts or
some of the more popular theories out there in a case and when we talk about popular theories in this case for Jabez
span what could have happened to him so what there's only one real Theory here and to me there's only one that
makes sense based off of eyewitness reports and what the locals know from those who are talking
it's the no snitching rule if you talk you'll be punished or you'll be killed which well sometimes in a missing person
case there's just theories and there might not be a lot of evidence in this case there's evidence that points you
know it funnels you into the theory yeah and it's just I think it's just a small
matter of tying all this stuff together and lying it all out in a way that makes
sense and it tells the complete story and then we can start putting people where they belong which is behind bars
so when when we explore this Theory and and I hope I'm not speaking at a turn uh for you here Captain I when I say I
only believe there to be one Theory I think I think you probably agree with that is
that correct well there's two there's too many eyewitnesses to assume that there's
other theories so if we're going by this what I'm calling the no snitching rule Theory
you know if you talk you could be you could be killed or you could be harmed in some way
look I get it we we've you know I'm not going to claim to be from anywhere that I'm not or to claim
to know anything more about certain Lifestyles or or certain neighborhoods or anything
like that that I just don't but you do have that but you do have that Thug Life I mean there's just there's just some
stuff that can only come with real life experiences that I just don't have and but what I can say you know from seeing
it on TV watching the movies or hearing hearing other people's real life stories
I know that this no snitching thing is a real thing in in some walks of life but
in this particular situation in this particular area look I've spoke to some of the locals they've told me this this
is unheard of in this area that there can never think of another time in the history these are people older than me
that have told me I can never recall another crime that was reported that it that somebody was killed because they
knew something or because they were talking and the thing that makes this so damn stupid here in this particular
instance is a couple of things one Jabez may have witnessed something it seems almost a certainty that he did
witness something the problem is he was walking around of his own free will for a week before
he went missing he wasn't going to police he wasn't even communicating what he saw to his family
he was just talking to his friends like a normal 14 year old kid would talk this
kid was not a snitch in in the sense of the word or in the sense of the term right he but again it could have been a
situation like they said one of the friends is saying I'm I told him not to smoke with everybody it could be as as
far as these you know quote unquote thugs they they killed Travis maybe it's a robbery gone bad or whatever but like
we stated before it ends in a murder and then maybe it took him a week to realize
we we have a eyewitness and we're smoking with that eyewitness something was said something was done and then and
then he stands up for himself and says hey well you guys did this and if I have to go to the police I will we don't know
that information right he could have said the wrong thing to the wrong person I I get that I just
I don't know it seems to me like there is a chance that these morons who killed Travis
panicked and they took it to another level and and and somehow tricked Jabez and then
killed him as well which may have been totally unnecessary is what I'm one that I'm getting at and then two the other
thing that makes this no snitching rule that these guys pretend to be living by so freaking stupid to me is that we have
evidence we have reports that all three of these guys and I want to be clear about that I'm pretty certain we we have
witnesses saying three people involved in Travis Combs is murder I believe all three of those guys plus maybe one or
two more people may have been involved in the whole Jabez span mess which that means a some form of
abduction probably some form of holding him and then of course killing this young boy
but we have reports that all three of these guys they themselves were talking yeah they weren't talking to police but
they were telling others what they did who killed who who you know who was involved in what so these these guys
that pretend to be living by this no snitching rule they're all talking they're all telling people what's going
on now to further out this Theory a bit an ant of Travis Combs this is Teresa Richardson told the media that Jabez was
killed because he witnessed her nephew's murder Travis's murder right outside her
door she said Jabez knew Travis well and he started to talk about what he saw and
her opinions that's what cost him his life Tawana span agrees she believes that her son was silenced because of
what he knew and because he wasn't following the unwritten no snitching rules he wasn't actually naming names as
far as anyone knows but he was telling people that he knew who had done it at least one woman that Jr knows of told
Jabez to keep quiet for his own good well these three guys these three individuals are three pieces of [ __ ] and
and also though I think it's it's the community making a statement the kingdom the community is making the
statement that this 14 year old boy that had some promise had some Talent at you
know was making the right decisions going to school getting good grades being kind to other people this kid
we're not backing him up we're backing up the three pieces of [ __ ] that robbed a guy and murdered a guy in
front of everybody and that were probably stealing from their own community and they're bullying people within their
own Community that's we're making a stand for them by not doing anything by not standing up you are making a stand
you're saying this is acceptable and and if uh this kid died because he saw something he's done it well that's just
fine that's this the statement that this community is making Tawana actually feels that it's likely
that Jabez did not feel he was in any danger from The Killers of Travis Combs because some of the suspects were pretty
close to Jabez and his family these were people he knew and could identify but also people that he probably did not
think would harm him she also believes that it's possible that someone told his abductors where he would be that night
or even arranged for him to be taken [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] we're back cheers from the cold chilly
really cold garage and Parts Unknown cheers to you captain and you know what before I forget I've been forgetting to
do this and meaning to do so we need to announce have we officially announced that we are going to be at
this year's crime Con in Orlando Florida that was supposed to be top secret oh we are uh they have forbade us from
telling you that we will be there the crowds they didn't want the crowds to get out of hand yes we'll be in Orlando
Florida you're going to be in Florida half the year then right all right so if you want more information here's what
you do you just simply Google crime con 2020 that will take you right to their website and you can find all the
information there there are going to be other wonderful people there as well but
we will certainly be there and the dates for that May 1st through 3rd in wonderful Orlando Florida and please use
our code if you're looking to buy tickets you can save some cashola by using our code t c g 2020
tcg2020 cheers to you Captain you'll have to go to Crime con all weekend they actually have day passes as well so if
you're in the local area it might be something you want to check out for a day and plus we'll probably
do a outside of the crime con Meetup at some bar like we normally do and one thing that I will say real quickly here
is I've been asked many times by people they say look I've never gone Nick is crime con worth it and I always say yeah
I'm Blown Away by the amount of events and the amount of things that they have to see and do there it's like going to
an amusement park where you just can't do everything that they have to offer so we hope that you will join us in Orlando
for this year's crime con now jabez's mother Tawana span I think she's a very very brave woman in
fact she told us that when you are trying to locate your missing child you do not feel any fear perhaps this is how
when Jabez first went missing and rumors were swirling about who was involved she
was able to confront Curtis remember he's one of our suspects and ask him quote do you know what happened to my
son who loved you she says that when she asked him this Curtis's first response was who told you
that she also talked to the third suspect who was seen running away with Curtis this
is Curtis's friend who we've already mentioned Wheelock who denied having anything to do with what happened he did
say to her I thought they would have found Jabez by now this was a long time before jabez's body
was found Tawana took this to mean that Wheelock knew that they had dumped Jabez
somewhere where he was likely to be found and probably likely to be found fairly quickly
Street rumors tell us that we lock very recently confessed to someone while he was partying while he was high or drunk
that he was paid to take care of Jabez and Wheelock and Curtis were both picked up by police after Jabez first went
missing well before his body was found but neither were arrested now I want to be clear here we do not
know because this is Police business Official Police business we do not know whether they were picked up to be
interrogated about Jabez being missing or if they were picked up for other reasons we just don't know yeah or
Travis's murder correct that could be a possibility as well a JJ the other suspect was also picked
up and questioned about Jabez that's what the reports are he told J.R the private investigator that he didn't have
anything to do with what happened to Jabez but the other guys Wheelock and Curtis I want to clear something up here
JJ refers to Curtis uh by his nickname which is tank so his exact statement was but the other guy's Wheelock and tank
might have see this as I get into this whole thing of if you're living by this no snitching
rule why Don't You observe this rule yourself and quit telling everybody else what you've done or what you've seen or
what you've witnessed dumb asses they're dumb asses that's why they're committing crimes because they're not
smart enough or capable enough to do anything else now apparently I've been told that JJ also told someone that he
that he personally was afraid that what happened to Jabez could happen to him personally
now Tawana and Jr the private investigator of course have other theories now that doesn't mean that they
have other theories in regards to Jabez this is not about who killed Jabez it's pretty clear it is one of these guys
Curtis Wheelock or JJ but about what or how deep this whole plot could go they do not believe that the robbery of
Travis Combs was spontaneous and they cite this because they say Travis had not planned to be in Sarasota
that day for reasons we cannot get into and so whoever targeted him knew that they may have known that his plans had
recently changed I was being told that his plans changed the night before or even as late as the morning of it's
possible that whoever robbed him and killed him that somehow they had knowledge about where he would be and
probably Insider knowledge that he would have money and or marijuana on him at the time yeah or
maybe even something bigger I mean just because the the rumors out there or the speculation out there is that he
just sold weed there's look you got into that because of the money and could you
got into something else because you're going to make a little more money but what we do have is Witnesses hearing
people say give us whatever and Travis saying I don't got it you know so so like you said these guys playing
something out and they were looking for something and Travis was claiming he didn't I don't have it yeah it's it
seems to me like there's there's enough talk enough evidence here that the three men
who surrounded Travis's vehicle who killed him and disposed of the car I think they they planned this event
whether there was anyone else involved behind the scenes who set Travis up or ordered the Jabez be taken out that's I
think purely speculation but clearly someone orchestrated the robbery and then wanted to send a message and chose
to use Jabez to do it one of the truly terrible things about this case and there's many terrible
things about this case but one of the truly terrible things about this case and you've mentioned this already
Captain is how many people seem to have Intel about what happened to Jabez and who did it but won't talk it's one of
the few cases we've covered where there are known suspects but cops just can't pin the crime on them we know that one
of jabez's friends told Lucille that Jabez was in Bradenton which is where he was eventually found
how did he know that another witness told the private investigator that the family was not going to like what was
done to jabez's face this was before his body was found remember he was missing a
tooth that we know of that was one thing that was reported again how did he know
this how did he have this Insider information and some witnesses were shut down from speaking with authorities
altogether by their parents now I want to go on record and say I get that I get that I get the parents saying
you know what I I don't feel comfortable with you talking um I understand that but ever ever like
I said everybody here everybody that's not coming forward with information they're they're making a stand whether
they think they are or not they're basically saying the bad guys win the innocent kid that died who cares
and and that's what I want for my community that's what they're stating so if they say well that's not what I
want but that's what your actions prove you know so it doesn't matter if you I always tell people
don't don't give a [ __ ] about people's words it's their actions their actions prove and everybody's actions here prove
they don't they don't want a safer community they don't want a community that people
feel safe to go to law enforcement and and to say this crime happened they don't want that because if they did
they would take a screen the sad irony here is the result of all of this fear and silence is that the bad guys are
being protected the bad guys are being protected while an innocent young boy paid the ultimate price now a community
activist in Newtown named Wayne Washington who was a contact person for the family and led several of the search
parties for Jabez he asked community members to reconsider the so-called no snitch rule he said we let our kids kill
each other and we don't say anything about it they tell us not to snitch and that is wrong detective Megan buck one
of the two detectives currently on the case said two People magazine quote somebody knows something it's so sad and
no one is helping his friends aren't talking nobody's talking yeah but on top of that you also have a a pastor that
comes forward with some information and then backs off it's it's absolutely ridiculous
you know it's oh well if you if you question me more I'm I'm going to use these little
loopholes there's supposed to be a separation of church and state but we create these
loopholes so the pastor then can just say I don't need to talk to police that God that you're praying to every week
might have some kind of judgment for you at the end of all this for not coming forward not taking a thing yeah I I
agree with that but he's the pastor is not the only one that gets to invoke this privilege now in his defense what
his public statement is is that he had no real knowledge of he's saying nobody came to him directly specifically about
Jabez spans right so he's just hearing Rumblings in the community he yeah he could be hearing rumors and he may have
thought hey maybe they have no idea maybe they're you know their investigation is a search in the dark
right now they you know they have no breadcrumbs at all maybe I could at least pass along some rumors that I
heard well great now I sound like a pastor hater well I don't think you're I'm not a
Creator but I I get I won't speak for all the listeners I'm sure somebody's uh very upset with you right now but one
thing that I think we all should be very upset about is I want to reference another crime that took place in this
community and you know I this is this is a situation where there's there's a young man who
his name was Christopher Ramos and I believe he yes he was 26 years old at the time that he was killed
this is an article from uh September of last year of 2019 it says to charge in Sarasota murder deputies seek more
information well the result of this whole thing and I won't read the entire story but they arrest two young men this
is Sean Thomas and Davon Lee well these two young men are suspected of killing this other man
Christopher Ramos who was just 26 years old this is important this story is important to the Jabez story and to
Travis Combs story for many reasons for me and and first of all is Ramos this Christopher Ramos there are plenty of
Rumblings that he ran around with our three suspects that he was known to hang out with that group probably even
committed crimes with these guys I don't know that there's enough out there to suggest that he was involved somehow in
Travis's death or jabez's death but he somehow all wrapped up and tied into this thing his name is weaved in and out
of the story lines of this big case well he's killed and he's he's a thug I I mean I'm sorry to the to his family I'm
sorry that you lost him and I you don't deserve that he didn't deserve to lose his life either but
the problem that I have here is this article clearly states it was the community it was tipsters that provided
the information to detectives that led to the arrest of these two other guys of of this uh Thomas and Lee characters
so what you're saying that the community then spoke up and said hey this Thug this Thug that was doing no good
right again it's protecting the bad guy yeah a bad guy was protected people were
willing to come forward and here here's the INF the information I have is basically
Christopher Ramos rob somebody and somebody that was either tied to one of these two guys or both of them or one of
these guys directly yeah he robbed them this guy is picked up on other charges and has to serve eight months in jail
okay he gets out eight months later and goes and retaliates against Christopher Ramos
and kills him for for robbing it right that's really the underlining story that's the behind the scenes story of
why that young man is now not with us and again it's like can you can you come forward whoever came forward in that
particular case should be an inspiration for these people to come forward for jabez's
murder and for Travis Combs murder and look I understand that Travis Combs was out peddling weed
um and I understand that Jabez was not you know may not have been a saint I'm not a saint we all were 14 years old at
one time and we all smoked a cigar or did something stupid with our friends we all did that yeah it was an innocent
child at the end of the day he's an innocent child and he was taken from us by some
of these some of these real [ __ ] who can't even follow their own quote-unquote Street code
and it's time to put them away and look here's the other thing these guys the three that we're talking about they
commit crimes on The Daily on The Daily it's part of their it's part of their regular weekly routine they're always
looking to rob somebody they're always looking to take advantage of someone they are always looking to hurt someone
they are a bad terrible horrible people and if you don't know anything about jabez's murder or Travis Combs murder
but you know that one of these three or all of these three have done something else that's terrible go tell the police
go get them locked up for anything anything it doesn't have to be for the murder of Jabez or for Travis Combs get
them behind bars that is where they belong your streets will be safer if you do that your community will be better
for it these are bad people do not convince yourself otherwise yeah and don't convince yourself that you're safe
either as long as these pieces of [ __ ] around the street nobody's safe because
like you said they they don't follow their own code and so guess what if you're protecting a piece of [ __ ]
guess what you smell something that's because you use a piece of [ __ ] and then when a piece of [ __ ] possibly is
murdered and then you stand up and then you you protect him by then going after his Killers then what doesn't that make
the community too shitty well you know no I'm not good I mean you can do that but I'm not going
to fault anybody for coming forward and saying hey I know who killed Christopher
Ramos that's the right thing to do you know what I'm saying is it doesn't make any sense doesn't make any sense well it
doesn't make any sense before the people the people that have information about the murder of Christopher Ramos may have
no information about Jabez or right we can't believe that we don't have anything or any reason to
believe that those are the same people and and here's what I firmly believe if in fact I wish they were the same people
because those people would have came forward obviously against Jabez or would have came forward I mean for Japan or
for Travis and I mean really there's just a lot of there's a lot of activity here there's a lot of rumors
there's a lot of things that are going on in the streets a lot of talk amongst these these circles
and here's the thing that I I want to take this even a step further to not even to go beyond the good people in the
community because this is a community filled with lots and lots and lots of good wonderful people lots of good
families but here's the thing I want to go beyond that and I want to talk to the
three suspects that we have called out on this show if you're one of those three guys
everybody knows you know your buddies are talking you know you've told people what you've done or what you've saw what
you've witnessed what you've been a part of if you want to do something good for
yourself it's time for you to go to police and for you to go to detectives because
guess what it's only a matter of time before one of your so-called Buddies one of your so-called friends
who think about the other two in your group for a second think about all the terrible things that they've done or
been involved in think about what kind of what kind of person they really really
are they're not going to have your back at the end of the day they're not going to have your back when they're pushed
into a corner it's only a matter of time before one of these turds turns on the other two and if you want to be the
smartest guy in that terrible group you better be the one that turns first do something good for yourself now
the other sad sad sad thing here that just breaks my damn heart is is that the tragedy of this case is that Jabez
span was truly just in the wrong place at the wrong time he was last seen less than 200 yards
from the vacant lot where he came out of a friend's house and witnessed the shooting of Travis Combs right in his
own backyard both his case and that of Travis Combs case both of these cases remain unsolved
these are unsolved cases jabez's case is an open active homicide investigation according to the private investigator
Anton jabez's family J.R and Tawana had a meeting with detectives this took place in early November of last year
this two exchange information and Tawana says that law enforcement is diligently
working on her son's case that they are all on the same page and she just tries to stay out of the way of the
investigators unless she has information to relay we spoke to detective Buck she
did tell us that the investigation is open and active and that the fifty thousand dollar reward for information
leading to an arrest is still available but the fact remains the same men who were suspected in the early stages of
the investigation remained the suspects to this day yeah although they've never been officially named as such
authorities just need that little bit of additional evidence before they can make
arrest in the murder of Jabez Span in a surprising turn of events prosecutors dropped the accessory after
the fact charges against Reginald Parker now he does remain in jail on charges of
failing to report in as a sex offender where he will be until 2022 but he isn't getting any legal pressure to talk about
Jabez spann's case that we know of yeah again like I said I think that's a lot of pressure or if you feel a threat of
death to come forward again what information do some of these individuals have is it just secondhand information
but if these people could come together collectively I think it would be a lot more powerful
and they'd probably feel a lot more safe as well but again easier said than done
I am I am so hopeful and I'm very optimistic and I think there's plenty of reason to
be optimistic that this case will be solved and I feel and I have had people tell me that it's as plain and as simple
as this if you can solve Travis Combs murder you'll solve Jabez spans murder if you
if you can solve Jabez span's murder you will solve Travis Combs murder that's the only way for your community to heal
let's get these cases off of the books Let's get further closure for these families these families are still trying
to live their lives and still trying to cope they're still grieving they're still trying to
in a sense you never truly can move on but they're trying to move on and I I thank God that Jabez span was finally
found and I and and my heart breaks so much for his mother and grandmother and extended family that they had to wait so
long and go through that misery for 17 almost 18 months again I I want to make sure that I give a big
big shout out to the Peace River search and rescue team uh for their fantastic efforts for for efforts over the course
of many many many months donating time efforts uh a lot of people came together to try to find this young boy now to
learn more about what they do and they are doing so many so many good things and or to make a donation you can visit
them at prsar.org now Jabez chabez's mother has created a non-profit foundation called the Jabez span
foundation in his memory it acts as a resource for families of missing children the website isn't up and
running yet but you can follow the foundation on Facebook if anyone has any information on either of these
unsolved cases on the unsolved murder of Travis Combs or if you have any information about the unsolved murder of
Jabez span please please call detective Kim Laster at 941-364-7327 or call the Sarasota Crime
Stoppers at 941-366-8477 [Music] all right thanks for listening thanks for telling a friend thanks for joining
us in the garage be good to one another and before we go we have a little recommended listening for everybody out
there this comes from some of our very good friends we have Justin from the Generation Y podcast and the minds of
Madness podcast have teamed up to do something very awesome that we want you to check out called deadly Misadventures
and we will have that on our recommended page at truecrime garage.com everybody be good be kind and don't litter
foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music]

Jabez Spann /// Part 2 /// 367

Part 2 of 2

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This week we discuss the terribly sad case of Jabez Spann. We are spotlighting this case as the Sarasota Police Department desperately needs the help of the public. Please help find justice for Jabez.Beer of the Week - Guayabera by Cigar City Brewing Company Garage Grade - 4 and 3 Quarter Bottle Caps out of 5

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Brief Summary

The episode discusses the disappearance and murder of Jabez Span, highlighting community fears and the ongoing investigation's challenges.

Key points

The Disappearance of Jabez Span. Jabez, a 14-year-old, went missing in Sarasota, leading to a tragic discovery.
Community Efforts. The community held search parties and distributed flyers to find Jabez.
Eyewitness Accounts. Eyewitnesses reported seeing Jabez with two boys before he vanished.
The No Snitching Rule. The dangers of the unwritten 'no snitching' rule are explored, highlighting its impact on community safety.
Tawana's Courage. Tawana Span confronts suspects in her son's disappearance, showing immense bravery.
Witness Confessions. Rumors of confessions among suspects raise questions about the murder of Jabez.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

The family did always hold on to hope that they would have a miracle.

Family's enduring hope for Jabez.

2:44WatchNov 18, 2022

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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