A 15-year-old Venice girl has been missing for two weeks after she left her home around 1 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 15, and climbed into a vehicle that investigators still cannot identify. Anabella Day Saben stands 5 feet tall, weighs about 100 pounds, and has long brown hair, brown eyes, and a piercing in her left nostril. She was last seen wearing a black shirt and black shorts, and she left without her phone, cutting off one of the most common ways investigators track missing teens.
As of last Friday, the search for Anabella remained active, according to WTSP. Police have confirmed that Anabella entered an unknown vehicle but say they do not know who was driving it or who she left with. Non-profit missing-person groups, including The AWARE Foundation, began circulating public alerts on Aug. 21 stating that Anabella reportedly left with an unknown male in an unknown vehicle, though police have not confirmed the identity of any companion.
Detectives Retrace Anabella's Steps Across Venice
Officers have contacted Anabella's family and friends and visited local schools and other places she may have gone as part of the investigation, per the same WTSP report. Police are also monitoring social media for information that could help locate her. Detective Thiessen is handling the case for the Venice Police Department and is the point of contact for anyone with leads.
The department has asked anyone who spots Anabella to call 911 immediately rather than approach her. Tipsters with other information can reach Venice police directly at 941-486-2444. Crime Stoppers of Sarasota, meanwhile, is offering a reward of up to $5,000 for information leading to her whereabouts and can be reached anonymously at 941-366-8477 — a program that, per My Florida Legal, operates under state statutory authorization as a grant-funded liaison between anonymous tipsters and local police.
Why Police Call Her a Runaway, Not an Abduction Victim
Police have reported Anabella as a runaway, a classification that carries its own legal framework in Florida. Under Florida Statute § 984.13, officers who locate a runaway juvenile are required to deliver the minor to a parent, legal guardian, or a state-approved juvenile shelter, according to Online Sunshine. Separately, Section 937.021 of the Florida Statutes bars law enforcement from imposing any waiting period before accepting a missing child report, meaning Venice police were required to begin investigating immediately once Anabella was reported missing.
The runaway label also shapes which public alert system applies. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement can issue a Missing Child Alert when a juvenile is believed to be in life-threatening danger even without proof of abduction, but an AMBER Alert requires clear evidence that a kidnapping occurred, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Because investigators have not confirmed an abduction in Anabella's case, the more restrictive AMBER Alert criteria have not been met so far. FDLE also runs the Missing Endangered Persons Information Clearinghouse, a 24-hour hotline at 1-888-356-4774 that supports local departments statewide with case analysis and alerts.
Runaway Cases Carry Steep Statistical Risks
National data underscores why cases like Anabella's draw urgent attention even absent confirmed abduction. Endangered runaways account for roughly 90% to 93% of all reported missing juvenile cases nationwide, and an estimated 1 in 7 endangered runaways is likely to become a victim of child sex trafficking, according to the Missing Children Global Network. Florida itself logged 2,646 missing-children reports to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children in 2023, placing it among the top states nationally alongside California and Texas.
The Venice Police Department, which fields 55 sworn officers across seven city zones, is handling the case through its Criminal Investigations Division, the unit responsible for missing person and juvenile runaway investigations in the city. For now, the central unanswered questions remain who was driving the vehicle Anabella entered, who accompanied her, and where she has been for the past two weeks. Anyone with information is urged to contact Detective Thiessen through Venice police or to submit an anonymous tip to Crime Stoppers of Sarasota.
