Missing Since: 2014-01-15 Location: Groveland, Florida
Tarrand was last seen in Groveland, Florida at 7:00 p.m. on January 15, 2014, the day after his twenty-fourth birthday. His cousin dropped him off at the RaceTrac gas station at the intersection of State Roads 50 and 33, near his home. Tarrand told his cousin he had something to do and would return in fifteen minutes. He got into a black four-door 1997 Honda Accord with the Florida license plate number 236KPV. There was at least one other person, an Black male, in the car. About thirty or forty minutes later, Tarrand called his cousin and asked him to pick him up at the RaceTrac station in three minutes. When his cousin arrived, however, Tarrand wasn’t there. Calls to his cellular phone went to voicemail after his disappearance, and eventually either the phone was turned off or the battery died. Over the next several days, some of his belongings were found dumped off Highway 50 in Ocoee, Florida. The car he got into, which had been reported stolen, was found and burned at a landfill in Apopka, Florida on January 20; it had bullet holes in it. Tarrand’s disappearance caused problems between his gang, the Groveland Boys aka the Stuckey Boys, and another gang, the Zellwood Boys, which ultimately led to the shooting death of Justin Russell in February 2014. Travis Leomontez Miller was convicted of second-degree murder in Russell’s death. Miller was Tarrand’s nephew, and Russell was Miller’s second cousin. Tarrand lived with his grandmother at the time of his disappearance, and kept in daily contact with his family. His mother stated he was having problems with another man at the time of his disappearance, and she thinks this man was involved in his case. He is considered missing under suspicious circumstances and his case remains unsolved. Investigating Agency Lake County Sheriff’s Office 352-343-2101 Groveland Police Department 352-429-4166 Source Information Florida Department of Law Enforcement Florida Arrests Black and Missing but Not Forgotten Fox 35 Orlando NamUs Xavier Tarrand’s Facebook Page The Daily Commercial Lake County Sheriff’s Office The Orlando Sentinel Updated 3 times since October 12, 2004. Last updated March 25, 2020; distinguishing characteristics and details of disappearance updated.