Posted on 11/11/2007 11:10:08 PM PST by 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.
I also wanted to add that ALL sex offenders but a few, (teenage loves, for 1) be sent to my Federal prison and NEVER get out. They can rot for all I care.
I feel a need for a hot cleansing shower everytime I read about this case, but little Rowan has touched my heart so deeply that I can’t keep myself from reading about that poor baby’s life, and wanting to follow the case to see justice done for her.
The more I learn makes me sick, angry, and makes me cry for what that precious little girl suffered. Even now, I find myself wanting to wrap my arms around her and take her away from all of it. I can only imagine how you folks must feel who live there...if only someone who cared had known!
I don’t know how she would have ever overcome this horror if she had lived. She had to have been destroyed mentally, as well as physically, and emotionally, but nobody can hurt her anymore. God wrapped His arms around her and took her away from all of it. Her spirit is safe with Him now.
I think it’s pretty easy to understand. These goons were raised to believe there is no right, there is no wrong, there is only what feels good to them at any given time. And if it feels good, do it.
A ping update is simply when someone posts a reply with your username in the ‘To:’ box. Essentially, he’s calling your attention to the particular thread.
In my case, the poster was letting me know of further information on a thread I’d been following.
Hope this helps.
BTW, welcome to FR :)
Yeah, they could kill themselves within the 15 minute span, without you being aware of it... but where would the fun be in that? I wanna watch.
You are already on the ping list, which was how you got notified when I posted the update. In the top and bottom center of most pages you will see where it says Ping. Click that and it will take you to your ping page showing your posts, and see posts that are made to you. You do not sound stupid.. everyone here was new once.
dayum!!! Chris Collings myspace page is back! It was deleted, WTF?
Ya got me... I never knew it had come down. I have no idea who would have had the ability to remove it either, since the guy who knew the password is sitting in jail.
Bcsco, thank you so much!
Thank you too McCoMo, I understand now
My pleasure. It takes awhile to get used to some of the navigational tools but it comes. The hardest for me was understanding some of the acronyms used. Now, when I see one I don’t know, I go to my other tab (window...I use Firefox) and search Google. Makes me look intelligent :)
I cannot tell you how angry I am over what happened to this child. When they threw her in that hole it knocked her teeth out.
.
bttt
bttt
Mo. deputy accused of child sex abuse
Mo. deputy accused of child sex abuse
PINEVILLE, Mo. (AP) -- A southwest Missouri sheriff's deputy who helped find the body of a missing child last fall is indicted for allegedly abusing a 14-year-old girl.
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