On the evening of September 4, 2014, officers in St. Louis found 17-year-old Jared Christian Elam shot to death in an open field on the 4200 block of Obear Avenue near Carter Avenue. He suffered a fatal gunshot wound to the head and was pronounced dead at the scene; the shooting happened about two days before his 18th birthday.

Witnesses reported a shiny black pickup truck stopped near where Elam was standing shortly before gunfire. The shooter or shooters fled before police arrived. Jared had recently graduated from the Construction Career Center Charter School and was interested in carpentry, fishing and basketball; his mother, Sabrina Elam, has stayed in contact with homicide detectives after his death.

The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department lists the case as an open homicide and the St. Louis Regional Crime Stoppers continues to seek tips about the black pickup truck or the identities of those responsible. If anyone has information about Jared, the truck, or that night, please come forward.