Human remains found in Sarasota creek

Human remains have been found in Sarasota, and the city police department's dive team was deployed to the site for further investigation.

At about 3:30 p.m. Monday, Sarasota police were called out to the 1900 block of Gillespie Avenue in Sarasota after the discovery of human remains in a small creek.

"Children were playing in this area around 3:20 p.m. when they discovered what we believe to be human remains," spokeswoman Genevieve Judge said. "They did the right thing, they let an adult know what happened and what they had found. That adult called 911."

Detectives, crime scene technicians and the dive team were called out to the small creek. On Monday evening, while the dive team and crime scene technicians worked to find and collect evidence, the Medical Examiner's Office confirmed that what was found were human remains.

Police have already been inundated with calls asking whether they are the remains of missing 14-year-old Jabez Spann, last seen at a barbeque with his family on Labor Day. Currently there is reward of up to $50,000 for information leading to finding Jabez.

"Unfortunately it's just way too early to tell," Judge said. "We're still very early on in this investigation but the Sarasota Police Department is going to work diligently and as quickly as we possibly can to determine who what believe to be human remains belonged to."

Jabez, described as about 5-foot-9 and 120 pounds, was last seen in the area of 22nd Street in Sarasota, less than a mile from where remains were found on Monday.

This story was originally published April 16, 2018 at 5:06 PM with the headline "Human remains found in Sarasota creek."