Details emerge in Rowan Ford Case
ItsJustMe
Both defendants in the brutal rape and murder of 9-year-old Rowan Ford have
confessed to the crime, the Newton County sheriff said Sunday.
David Spears, 25, of Stella, and Chris Collings, 32, of Wheaton, are charged
with one count each of first-degree murder, forcible rape and statutory rape
in the girl's death. Spears is Rowan's stepfather.
Newton County Sheriff Ken Copeland said investigators allege that Rowan was
abducted early Nov. 3 from her home in Stella in Newton County, murdered in
Barry County, and her body dumped in a sinkhole in McDonald County.
After a nearly weeklong search for the girl, Copeland said, Collings
confessed Friday to Wheaton police Chief Clint Clark. Spears was arrested a
short time later.
"Both confessed to raping and strangling her," Copeland said.
Clark did not return a phone call Sunday. The Barry County sheriff's office
in Cassville said Sheriff Mick Epperly would have no updates on the case
until Tuesday.
Investigators are continuing to work on determining what happened the night
Rowan was abducted from her home, Copeland said.
David Spears has provided conflicting information to investigators since
Spears and Rowan's mother, Colleen Spears, reported the girl missing about
6:50 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 3, Copeland said.
During the search for Rowan, Copeland said, David Spears rode around with
another man.
"He (Spears) was pointing out to this man where would be good places to put
a body," Copeland said.
One of those places was the sinkhole in McDonald County where the girl's
body ultimately was found, the sheriff said.
"It's about 15 to 20 feet down, and it was getting dark," Copeland said of
the time David Spears reportedly pointed out the site during the search.
Rowan's body was found the next morning, which was Friday, by McDonald
County deputies Jake Boles and Mike Hall in the sinkhole near Powell.
According to reports, Colleen Spears last saw her daughter at about 8:30
p.m. Nov. 2 before she left for work at the Wal-Mart store in Jane.
David Spears, Collings and another man were playing pool at the Spears home
in the town of Stella in southern Newton County while Rowan was asleep in
her bedroom, Copeland said.
The three men decided to leave at 10:45 p.m. to take Collings home, Copeland
said.
"They stopped so a man named Nathan and David could get more beer," he said.
Copeland said Nathan reportedly dropped David Spears off at the Spears
residence.
That's where the story gets murky, Copeland said.
Authorities said David Spears has acknowledged that he went out a second
time around 1:30 a.m. Nov. 3 after calling his mother, Myrna Spears, and
asking to borrow her car. Myrna Spears has said she watched television and
did not check on the girl. David Spears was gone for 5 1/2 hours.
Copeland said Sunday that David Spears has told investigators that he
discovered Rowan missing before he called his mother.
"He said he knew Chris (Collings) would have her (Rowan)," Copeland said.
He said Spears has said that after borrowing his mother's car, he drove to
Collings' travel trailer, where he alleged that he found Collings raping the
girl.
Both men are suspected of raping and strangling the girl with a netting
cord, Copeland said.
David Spears initially told investigators that he did not discover Rowan was
missing until the next morning, after Colleen Spears arrived home from work.
"We had three different cadaver dogs hit on (Myrna Spears') car," Copeland
said. "We know the body was in there at some point."
The two defendants are expected to be arraigned Tuesday in Barry County
Circuit Court. Both men were being held Sunday without bond in the Barry
County Jail.
Myrna Spears said Sunday that she has not talked to her son since his arrest
on Friday.
David Spears and Collings, who grew up in the Wheaton area, have been
friends for about 10 years, Myrna Spears said.
She said Collings recently returned from Arkansas, where his estranged wife
and two children, both younger than 10, live.
Myrna Spears said she thought she knew Collings, and never suspected that he
or her son would be capable of murder and rape.
Copeland said Sunday that Spears and Collings recently had been working for
a property owner on construction of a barn in McDonald County.
Neither man is listed as a registered sex offender, Copeland said.
Copeland said Collings, who lived in the travel trailer about a mile east of
Wheaton, had been making a living by working odd jobs and selling scrap
metal.
Services
Funeral services for Rowan Ford will be at 2 p.m. Wednesday at Gospel
Lighthouse Church in Neosho. Visitation will be from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Tuesday at Clark Funeral Home in Neosho, where the family will receive
friends from 5 to 7 p.m. A memorial fund has been established. Donations may
be made at any Hometown Bank.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Funeral costs for the burial of Rowan Ford, 9, who was murdered and later
found in a sinkhole on Friday, will be waived, according to the funeral home
in charge of the arrangements.
A memorial fund established in Ford's memory at Hometown Bank will collect
donations for the children's division of Lafayette House, which provides
shelter and counseling for battered women.
Poe
> http://tinyurl.com/2r5nck
> Authorities said David Spears has acknowledged that he went out a second
> time around 1:30 a.m. Nov. 3 after calling his mother, Myrna Spears, and
> asking to borrow her car. Myrna Spears has said she watched television and
> did not check on the girl. David Spears was gone for 5 1/2 hours.
>
> Copeland said Sunday that David Spears has told investigators that he
> discovered Rowan missing before he called his mother.
>
> "He said he knew Chris (Collings) would have her (Rowan)," Copeland said.
WTF is this? Why would some grown man have his step daughter? This twist
is fishy. This story is becoming confusing again.
tiny dancer
"Poe" <hau...@terrible-thought.com> wrote in message
news:5prsqpF...@mid.individual.net...
Probably because this wasn't the *first* time they'd used her for their own
perverted entertainment, unfortunately.
td
Poe
So if this is not just another lie, was this little girl being used as
ad-hoc satisfaction by these creeps whenever the urge struck? This is
just so sick and getting sicker.
ItsJustMe
"tiny dancer" <tinyda...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:473_i.3846$II4....@bignews3.bellsouth.net...
take Chris Collings home. They may or may not have stopped to get
Chris&David more beer. Then David was dropped back off at home, found Rowan
gone,called his mom to get her car and went to retrieve her. Instead,he
forced himself on her and killed her. So if we are too believe
step-dad,Collings beat him back to his house,took the girl back to his
place? And Grandma knew this and hasn't said anything yet?
He's a fricken idiot.
Poe
I see.
So Collns went home, got his car, zoomed over to obtain possession of
Rowan, zoomed back, and on these rural roads nobody noticed each other
crossing paths, even though Collins must have passed the car with David
and whomever and with a couple minutes to to spare to pull that off
before the car with David pulled up. Must have been one hellofa night,
complete with time travel. Or the story is bullshit, unless there was
another stop between dropping off Collins and Dropping off David.
ItsJustMe
his moms car because he didn't have alot of fuel in his. I think he didn't
want HIS car noticed out there....