The Disappearance of Morgan Martin

Morgan Keyanna Martin was four months pregnant when she vanished on July 25th, 2012. Although she was only 17 years old at the time, Morgan was excited about motherhood and was enjoying the preparation for her baby. When Morgan vanished, her family immediately knew she did not leave on her own accord.

Shortly after midnight on July 25th, Morgan stepped onto the front porch of her family’s St. Petersburg, Florida home to talk to Jacobee Flowers—a 24-year-old man she claimed to be the father of her unborn child. Morgan told her mother that she wanted to show Jacobee a sonogram picture, and that she would come back inside after a few minutes. Unfortunately, Morgan never went back inside and has never been seen or heard from again. Her purse and sonogram picture were both left behind. Her cell phone disappeared with her, but it was never used again.

When questioned by authorities, Jacobee denied any involvement in Morgan’s disappearance. In fact, he claimed that he and Morgan were merely acquaintances. He denied fathering her child and even sleeping with her at all. Investigators initially did not have enough evidence to charge Jacobee with anything, and Morgan’s case quickly grew cold. Despite this, those closest to Morgan still firmly believed that Jacobee was responsible for her disappearance.

Jacobee Flowers

In March 2015, St. Petersburg PD put together a cold case unit, which was able to revive Morgan’s case. Throughout the following year, investigators re-interviewed witnesses and re-examined the evidence they had collected. This time around, Jacobee's story began to unravel. Investigators finally had enough evidence to move forward with the case.

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Jacobee's arrest. 

On June 23rd, 2016, Jacobee Flowers was arrested and indicted on first degree murder charges in Morgan’s case.

According to the indictment, Jacobee lied to investigators about Morgan being just an acquaintance. Evidence from Jacobee’s text messages revealed that he acknowledged having sexual relations with Morgan on numerous occasions. He allegedly begged Morgan not to go through the pregnancy, as he was already supporting three children and did not want to support another one.

Facebook messages between the two reveal that Morgan told Jacobee that if he did not pay child support, she would report him for having sex with a minor. This evidence provided investigators with a motive for Jacobee to kill Morgan: not only did he not want to support another child; he also did not want to get charged with statutory rape.

A plea agreement.

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It took years for this case to move forward in court. Finally, in 2022, Jacobee Flowers pleaded guilty to the second-degree murder of Morgan Martin. He pleaded guilty to second-degree murder as part of a plea agreement - dropping the charge from first degree to second-degree. 

As part of the plea deal, Jacobee was to spend 25 years in prison in exchange for the location of Morgan's remains. As such, investigators were sent to an area in Pike County, Alabama in search for Morgan's body. There was one stipulation, though. If Morgan's remains were not found, Jacobee would spend a full 40 years in prison.

The search.

Investigators spent days scouring the area in Pike County for Morgan's remains. Despite all the investigative efforts, nothing was found. It's unclear if Jacobee lied about this location, or if Morgan's remains had been scattered or removed over the years by wildlife.

As such, Jacobee was sentenced to the full 40 years in prison. Morgan still remains missing today.