From the site you listed....I'm assuming this is her?
Posted on 11/08/2007 3:34:54 PM PST by McCoMo
9-year-old Stella girl missing
By Jeff Lehr
jlehr@joplinglobe.com
STELLA, Mo. — Law officers and volunteers spent several hours Sunday searching in vain for a 9-year-old girl who disappeared from her home in Stella late Friday or early Saturday.
Rowan Ford was last seen inside her home at 777 Grove St. about 10:45 p.m. Friday, Newton County Sheriff Ken Copeland said. She is the daughter of Colleen Spears and stepdaughter of David Spears, and is a fourth-grader at Stella Elementary School, Copeland said.
Investigators found no signs of a crime scene at the Spears residence, and no charges had been filed by Sunday night in the missing-person case, the sheriff said.
“But we have every reason to believe there is foul play involved,” Copeland said.
He said the girl’s mother left the house about 8:30 p.m. Friday to go to work at the Wal-Mart store in Purdy. She told investigators that her daughter was getting ready to go to bed at the time, the sheriff said.
Copeland said the stepfather and two of his male friends were with the girl at the home until they decided to go out together about 10:45 p.m. The stepfather told investigators that he looked in on the girl in her bedroom before leaving, and she was asleep.
David Spears did not return to the house until sometime around midnight, when one of his friends dropped him off, the sheriff said. Copeland said Spears told investigators that he did not check on Rowan again before going to bed.
The sheriff said the girl was discovered missing when her mother returned home from work about 9 a.m. Saturday.
“Her daughter didn’t greet her like she normally does,” Copeland said. “So she went to her room, and she wasn’t there.”
The mother then woke up the stepfather, and he told her he did not know where the girl was, the sheriff said. The stepfather later told the mother that Rowan might have half-awakened him during the night and mentioned something about going to a friend’s place, but he could not be certain because he is a sound sleeper, the sheriff said.
Copeland said the house apparently was left unlocked throughout the night. He said the Spearses spent the better part of Saturday looking for Rowan at various acquaintances’ places in the Stella area before reporting her missing to the Sheriff’s Department at 6:50 p.m.
Investigators canvassed Stella for witnesses who might have seen any suspicious people or vehicles during the night and came up empty, Copeland said. He said they also checked for registered sex offenders living in the vicinity and did not find any.
Law officers and volunteers combed some woods near the girl’s home Sunday on foot, horseback and all-terrain vehicles. A Missouri State Highway Patrol helicopter aided the search effort from above.
Copeland said the girl’s mother has been in shock.
“She’s very upset,” he said. “She’s been very cooperative with us. She doesn’t know where her little girl is.”
Copeland described the stepfather as “less than cooperative.” He said Spears later acknowledged to investigators that he left the home a second time during the night.
Copeland said Spears made a phone call to his mother sometime after 1 a.m. Saturday and asked to use her vehicle. She took it to him about 1:30 a.m. and stayed at his house while he left in the vehicle for about 5 1/2 hours, the sheriff said. The stepgrandmother told investigators that she never checked on Rowan while she was there watching television in the living room, he said.
The sheriff declined to say what Spears said he was doing while he had his mother’s vehicle.
The stepfather and mother could not be reached for comment Sunday night.
Description Investigators are uncertain what 9-year-old Rowan Ford may have been wearing when she disappeared. She is described as being just under 4 feet tall and weighing 62 pounds. She has brown hair and brown eyes. A photograph of her was released to the media on Sunday.
Why? They figure a missing girl in Portugal is more important? Is it that she is niether a minority nor rich? Or is it just that the big city elitists think a missing child in "Fly-over country" is unimportant?
Madelyn McAnn has been missing for months, and likely dead. This little girl may still be alive, and if the big media gets off their butts and helps out, maybe she will be alive when she is found.
Nice to know that the big media outlets do not give a damn about our children around here.
From the site you listed....I'm assuming this is her?
I’m not comfortable with the stepfather’s story. I hope it doesn’t turn out for the worse.
He left a 9 year old at home alone at night?
Logan’s Prayer Warriors......!!
Neither am I. Jesus Christ.
The thread yesterday, most everybody was skeptical of his story......
You got the right one. I was just about to post that. Thx
What stuns me is no one bothered to check on this child. Something smells here.
Thanks. I’m a day late and a dollar short it looks like.
Copeland suspects foul play in child's disappearance [Rowan Ford, 9-year-old girl, small-town SW MO]
Most everyone in our community are skeptical about his story, but in the absence of evidence, I do not think we can ASSUME that it happened differently than the Step-father says.
Local police and FBI (there are currently about 50 fbi here) are so focused on the step-father that they may be overlooking other possibilities. No amber alert has even been issued yet.
The Step-fathers story is fishy, but there are some possibilities as to why he does not give a good accounting of his time during that period. He may have been out with some of the local cranksters doing drugs or something and does not want to fess up. Just because he is not giving a good accounting of his whereabouts does not mean he is responsible (directly) for her disappearance.
I just posted that very phrase on another thread!..........
No sorry. I ran a search but did not find any post about it. Sorry for the repeat.
From the first of the article, I suspected the step father and my suspicions were confirmed the more I read. I’m sorry, but he definitely did something to Rowan, killed her, and got his mother to bring over the car so he could dispose of the body. He and his buddies might have done something before they left the first time, but I’m thinking he did the deed after they dropped him off around midnight hence the need for mama’s car at 1:30 and the 5 1/2 hour trip in it for the rest of the night. She obviously knows much more than what she’s told so far. Hope the police are searching the car, getting soil samples from the tires, checking gas purchases and security cameras, and having the girl’s mother go through the house/garage to find any missing bedding or tarps. Anyone know how long mom and stepdad been together and his criminal history?
Sounds like the step father and his buddies would be a good place to start the investigation.
No problem. I just wanted you to know that some of us have been thinking about her even if big media has taken a pass.
http://neoshodailynews.com/articles/2007/11/08/news/01missing.txt
The Neosho paper has a little more on the search for this little girl.
Looks like a duck.........
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.