Killers of 9 yr old Rowan Ford confess. (post-arrest news and update thread)

Joplin Globe ^ | November 11, 2007 | Debbie Robinson

[McCoMo]

Sheriff: Men confess to crime

By Debbie Robinson

news@joplinglobe.com

STELLA, Mo. — 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.

[Caipirabob]

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.

The article said they were in Newton County, not hell. What's taking them so long?

Prayers for this little angel, may she know peace at last.

[awelliott]

I agree all around. Sometimes we wish we could make sense of it so we could come up with a solution. Unfortuantely, some people are so far gone, it does defy explanation and any ability to prevent what takes place. As for looking at pictures, I doubt you even have to, to think of the kids in your family that this could just as easily happen to. We never know what might happen.

There's no making sense of it because there's no rationalizing the irrational. And making sense of it requires applying principles of morality, and pure evil will never fit into those principles.

However, there is a solution. If I had my way, each of these animals would have his head mounted on a pike in the town square.....

[PAR35]

At this point it seems likely to me that they have pretty much made all the arrests they are going to.

The stepfather's mother probably deserves to be charged as well.

[swatbuznik]

Any time a story like this comes up, I tell my somewhatliberal acquaintances about it. I make sure they know details, and even they can not but agree that such animals should be destroyed.

And they should be. Destroyed utterly and completely. Hell is too good for them.

[backhoe]

Perps...

Wall...

Squad of riflemen...

...some assembly required...

[Falcon4.0]

Actually I had in mind,

preps,

shackles,

Father,

chainsaw,

[backhoe]

Father and chainsaw works for me, too.

[writmeister]

Raped by her own step-father?

This is much more common than people want to acknowledge.

Cases like these are why my wife and I have agreed that neither would re-marry should something happen to either of us.

[from occupied ga]

Vlad Tepes had the idea

[LucyJo]

"Nobody does, and nobody should for if they did, they would have to be insane..."

No...just evil.

[GOP_Thug_Mom]

I've always taken a kind of consolation in the fact that "Vengeance is the Lord's". If it's not taken care of here, it will be taken care of in the hereafter.

[GOP_Thug_Mom]

Thank you for pinging me to this new thread, McCoMo.

My uncle's funeral will be up there near you in Joplin on Saturday, but I won't be able to make it.

[JRochelle]

In a small town just north of where I live, an eleven year old was murdered last Thursday eve. She was found by her mother, in the local cemetery.

No arrests yet.

This in a town that hasn’t had a murder in 30 years.

[AppyPappy]

Doughty

The depravity of the human mind knows no boundaries.

[knuthom]

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.

Sounds like he wanted to be caught.

[Luke Skyfreeper]

Thanks so much for taking over the updating on this, McCoMo.

Yesterday we were talking about loose ends.

The one that keeps coming to my mind is wondering whether there is anything that some of us might be able to do for Rowan’s family. I’m wondering whether there’s any appropriate address where we might be able to send a simple card of sympathy, for example...

[Duchess47]

Thanks for the update and the ping.

[sweetliberty]

This is a special kind of evil. It is just beyond my comprehension how any human being could do such a thing to a child. What is going through their minds when they are committing these crimes?

[Raebie]

Please add me to your ping list. Thanks...

[Scotswife]

I just went to the myspace page.
Just love how he’s posing for his photo while sitting on a playground slide.
Very creepy page to look at.