Posted on 11/07/2007 11:31:44 AM PST by Luke Skyfreeper
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Rowan Ford, 9, has been missing from her home in Stella since Friday evening. If you have any information about her, please call the Newton County Sheriff's Office at 451-8300 or 451-4242. COURTESY PHOTO |
Foul play is suspected in the disappearance of a 9-year-old Stella girl who has been missing from her home since late Friday night.
Rowan Ford, 9, was reported missing at 6:50 p.m. Saturday by her mother and step-father Newton County Sheriff Ken Copeland said Sunday afternoon. The girl was last seen at her home at 777 Grove St. in Stella at 10:45 p.m. Friday night.
Copeland said the mother, Colleen Spears, last saw the girl at about 8:30 p.m. Friday when she kissed her goodnight before leaving for work at Wal-Mart in Jane.
Copeland said the stepfather, David Spears, and two friends remained at the home until about 10:45 p.m. when they left the home after David Spears checked on the girl, who was still asleep.
"They leave the house unlocked and left a 9-year-old girl by herself," Copeland said. "They cruise around a while, then took one guy home in Wheaton. The other guy brought the step-dad back home around midnight. He failed to check on the girl at that time."
Around 1:30 a.m., Copeland said, David Spears called his mother to ask if he could borrow her car to go somewhere.
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"She comes over, gives him the car and goes into the living room, failing to check on the girl," the sheriff said. "About 7 he returns and again fails to check on the girl."
Colleen Spears came home from work at about 9 a.m. and notices something amiss. Usually, on Saturday mornings, the girl greets her mother. But this past Saturday, there was no hug or kiss, no shout of elation that Mom was home.
"She checked the girl's bedroom, and she was not there," said Copeland. "She woke her husband up - he's a very sound sleeper - and he told her she may have gone to a girlfriend's house in the night, he didn't know.
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"They hope she's at a girlfriend's house, and waited all day Saturday for her to call. She doesn't," Copeland said.
The couple then began searching for the girl, notifying the sheriff's department of her disappearance shortly before 7 p.m. Saturday night.
"The mother is extremely cooperative with us. She's real distraught over his missing daughter," said Copeland. "The step-dad, he's not cooperating very well. From our investigation, we have every reason to believe foul play is involved. We don't have a suspect at this minute, but we haven't eliminated anyone from being a suspect, either."
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Deputies and volunteers were out Sunday searching on foot and on four-wheelers. A group of volunteers were out on horseback looking for the missing girl, while Stella residents fanned out to help. A Missouri State Highway Patrol helicopter took to the skies to aid in the search, Copeland said. Tracking dogs were able to follow the girl's scent to outside the home, but the trail then stops, as if she entered a motor vehicle at that point, Copeland said.
"We started in the house and yard, then broadened our search to the city of Stella, then broadened it to other wooded areas," the sheriff said. "The helicopter was able to search a large, large area.
"We have no reason to think she's out wandering around. This little girl was asleep in bed and within an hour and 15 minutes later, she was abducted? The odds are big for that kind of stuff."
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The search was discontinued late Sunday because of darkness, and was to begin anew this morning. Copeland was in meetings this morning and could not be reached for comment. A sheriff's department spokeswoman saisd the search continues today for the missing girl.
Miss Ford is described as being 3-feet 11-inches tall and weighing 62 pounds. She has brown hair and brown eyes. Authorities are uncertain what she was wearing at the time of her disappearance.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Newton County Sheriff's Office at (417) 451-8300.
Sorry about the different sizes of the scans. Still trying to get the hang of using this scanner.
I read that article about Collins’ brother. I have met Greg a few times at a friends house, was unaware that he was related to Chris. Greg seemed like a really nice guy.
I bet it is hard dealing with discovering that a family member could do something like this.
He seems to be genuinely in shock. Alot of folks are gonna have alot of pieces to pick up before this is over.
Yes. Precisely.
Much appreciated on the scans...
Just spoke to the Rowen’s older sister, Arianne (she is 18). She is terribly upset, as one can expect. No state of denial there... she is hoping they get at least life without parole if not the lethal needle.
I told her that there are many MANY people here, on FR, who have been watching the case, and that she has our sympathies and is in our prayers.
Sorry to not have been in contact after all your pings. I’ve been away from the PC since early Friday. Just now catching up on the thread.
What a sad ending. The comfort, though, is that Rowan is now finally resting with someone who really loves her. Beyond that, what can anyone say? McCoMo, I’m also saddened to hear of the loss of your son. Tragedy can befall us each in different ways. May God give you and your wife strength in your life.
Too many threads yet need to be clarified before we know the whole truth to this tragedy. Who are the other people of ‘interest’? What was the real timeline of events? What was the exact purpose of Spears getting his mom’s Suburban (beyond the obvious speculation)? Was his mom complicit or duped? Who was the real instigator? Upthread posts noted remarks made by Colleen Spears, indicating a real animosity toward her husband over this; somewhat before it was announced that he’d been arrested for Rowan’s murder. I still wonder what accounts for these early hateful utterances; what did she learn, and when? Perhaps some of this has been answered but overlooked by my while going through the thread.
In any event, I want to thank you both, as well as everyone else who contributed to this thread. It’s been a marvelous job of fact-finding, discussion and insight. You’re all to be commended for a job well done. It’s just sad it had to be for such a inhuman event.
You are right, there are a lot of loose ends yet to be tied up.
“I still wonder what accounts for these early hateful utterances; what did she learn, and when?”
Well, my take on this is that, even if she did not think he had anything directly to do with it, she had plenty of reason to write him off. I would not want to get in bed at night with a spouse who, thru pure negligence, was responsible for leaving my child alone with the result of her being abducted. That alone would seem to me to be enough to generate such animosity.
One loose thread is this other friend who was supposed to be out with them that night. Some mention has been made of a Billy Jack Mahurin. I do not know if this was the third guy with them that night... and if he was brought in for questioning, even if uninvolved, then that might explain the rumors about him in Neosho. Or it may be that he was simply someone they were looking at early on since, as I understand it, he has a bit of a shady past, and happens to live near there. It may simply be a coincidence that is unfortunate for him. Something like this happens, and everyone with a record near there is naturally going to be looked at. So, as far as he is concerned, there is no evidence of his involvement that I am aware of, yet. But we may wanna keep our eyes on that.
I suspect there is plenty of DNA evidence incriminating those two. I wouldn't be surprised if they plead guilty in exchange for life w/o parole instead of the death penalty.
Where is Rowan’s real father? I haven’t seen any mention of him.
I keep wondering if Spears didn’t figure out that his buddies had taken Rowan, and decided he wanted to get in on that too, so he got his mama’s car to go to Collings’ house.
But it could just be that he is the one who took Rowan out there to begin with.
“Oh, my sister had severe knee pain at that age. Google Osgood Schlatter’s disease, that’s what she had. Very common at that age. She outgrew it but it was worrisome until it was diagnosed.”
I had that when I was a kid.
Extremely painful...they would ache and ache all night.
Took a couple of years to completely outgrow it.
Almost forgot about it until I read this thread.
Thank you for telling them about our sympathy and prayers.
This is going to be tough to overcome, but God provides a way.
Post #532 - ktscarlett66 said: “Oh, my sister had severe knee pain at that age. Google Osgood Schlatter’s disease, that’s what she had. Very common at that age. She outgrew it but it was worrisome until it was diagnosed.”
That could be a possible reason for the heating pad. I’ve heard of those symptoms too.
When I spoke to her I thought it important to pass it on to her how people here felt. When my son died, some lady I did not even know, from two states away, sent us a card with a very pretty poem, and expressing her sympathies. How she even knew about our son dying I’ve never known. But I do remember how touched we were to know that someone out there cared enough about complete strangers to go to the trouble of sending the card. It meant a lot to us, and we still have that card in our memory box today. (Our memory box is a black trunk that we keep all our most precious stuff in.. family pics and such. It sits by our front door, so if there is ever a fire or something, it is the one and only possession I intend to grab on the way out.)
I know what you mean. It makes a difference to know that people care and hold you in their prayers.
My husband and I lost a baby many years ago too, so you and your wife have my heartfelt sympathy. The one thing that brings the most comfort, in times like that, is knowing that they are eternally safe with God, and far better off than we are here. It doesn’t keep us from missing them, and longing for them, but it is a healing balm for the loss. Rowan’s family can take comfort in that too. May we live our lives in such a way that we can be reunited with them one day.
Yep.
The Van Dam’s skated, and Westerfield sits in prison.
The public has gone on, and forgotten about all the controversy, and the ‘lies’, and the evidence that was ignored (like the blood on the sidewalk and garage wall).
I wonder, with all the corruption being exposed in Law Enforcement, Public officials, etc., if the results of the trial would have been different had it occurred in the present.
Probably would not. The sensationalism caused by the MSM and the local radio DJ hyping the stories would probably still occur, especially if it could take the public’s attention away from Hillary and her squad of Expert Goofballs.
And please. I have no intent of hijacking this thread to discuss Danielle Van Dam.
I had a feeling this was going to turn out to be a worst case, and it has.
I have read the police reports (what has been published on FR and other news sources) and am very aware of what happened.
I am glad I am home alone, because every time I catch up on reading the posts on these threads about Rowan, I cry.
Goes to timeline. Explains why no arrest (so far) of the third guy.
Myrna? When was Rowan taken out of the house? Do I correctly recall reading that Spears was waiting outside the house when his mother arrived?
I suspect that new developments will probably taper off for a while before much longer. Trial will probably wind up happening.. well, who knows when? These things can drag out a while and this thread will probably get pretty dead long before that happens.
I am local to the area this happened, and will be keeping a close eye on what develops over the next few months.. or whenever this finally plays itself out. SO, if anyone wishes to PM me, I will put ya on a ping list to let ya know of future developments.
elli1, I wish I had answers to some of those questions. I think, however, that you and I are of the same thinking about how this went down. Time will tell.
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