Rowan Ford, 9yr old girl missing Stella MO 11/3/07(BODY FOUND)

[A's Fever]

Stepfather and friend charged in Rowan's rape, murder.  I hope they fry.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/11/10/missing.girl.ap/index.html

[San]

Stepfather and friend charged in Rowan's rape, murder.  I hope they fry.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/11/10/missing.girl.ap/index.html

This is so sad.   This poor helpless child.  I hope they kill both of them him in jail.

[Angiex911dsptchr]

Stepfather and friend charged in Rowan's rape, murder.  I hope they fry.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/11/10/missing.girl.ap/index.html

This is so sad.   This poor helpless child.  I hope they kill both of them him in jail.

 San,
 You took the words right out of my mouth. 
Poor innocent little girl...      
What I wonder is how the hell he got her out of the house with his MOM there when she brought over her car for him to use??  How did she not see this???   
 I hope his and his friends ass FRY bigtime.. bastards.   

[FoolsGold]

This one was so obvious!

Its just too tiny and remote a community and one that is too surrounded by farmland to have been anything other than the one male with the most access to the victim!

I don't think the full story has yet come out though. As I recall the mother was not immediately forthright with the police which to me indicates she already harbored some suspicions about his sudden need to borrow her vehicle.

I sure don't believe she would have sat there infront of the TV all night long and not once have gone and checked on the supposely sleeping girl. Women don't do such things usually.

Add up the cost of two trials, two appeals, two life sentences... you could have saved her life ten times over by giving the mother enough money that she didn't have to spend nights at WalMart! This 'blackout' and 'can't remember' stuff sounds unlikely too.

[Tamikosmom]

It is so difficult for me to comprehend such evil exists in the world.

My heart breaks for the betrayal that defenceless little girl experienced at the hands of those who care she was entrusted and ... my heart breaks for all the lives that these despicable men who lack consciences have forever affected.

Janet

+++++++++++++++


http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/11/10/missing.girl.ap/index.html

November 10, 2007

Stepfather, friend charged with murder, rape in girl's death

CASSVILLE, Missouri (AP) -- Two men were charged Saturday with murder and rape in the death of a 9-year-old girl whose body was found the day before in a hillside cave in southwest Missouri.

Barry County prosecutors charged the girl's 25-year-old stepfather, David Spears, and his friend, Chris Collings, 32, with one count each of first-degree murder, forcible rape and statutory rape in the death of Rowan Ford.

Rowan's body was found Friday in a cave in a remote part of McDonald County, about 10 miles south of the village of Stella, where she lived with her mother and David Spears. Her disappearance last weekend led to an intensive search by dozens of officers from three counties and 50 FBI agents and specialists.

Barry County Sheriff Mick Epperly said Collings confessed to authorities on Friday.

Based in part on Collings' statement, the affidavit Epperly sent to the prosecutor alleges that the men took Rowan from her home to a camping trailer where Collings lived in Barry County, Epperly said.

There, Epperly said, both men raped Rowan and one of them then strangled her with a cord. Epperly did not say which one of the men strangled the girl.

[carolyn]

This frustrates me and and angers me.  This poor CHILD deserved more!

 

[kissyface]

I hate to be an " I told you so" but if you look at my earlier post, I suggested that if the stepmaggot, oops I mean father, was not involved then maybe his buddies were.  I knew the stepfather was full of garbage.  What a sick, sad and tragic end.  I don't understand.  I never will.  Nor do I even want to.  My question now is the same though....how did the stepfathers' mother not notice any of this?  I mean come on.  You have a tendency to check on children when you are there to watch them.  If not through the night, at least when you first arrive or shortly after the parent has left.  It's ridiculous.  It makes you wonder if the step-grandmother would've only checked in on her before her son left, maybe this could've been prevented.  I'm just sick now. 

[Red]

Bloggers Give Insight to Rowan's Childhood

http://www.kspr.com/news/local/11259636.html

Many people have spent the last few days looking at Chris Collings' MySpace page, and people have been asking KSPR for more web-related information.

Click here to see one website that has generated a lof of feedback and possibly insight to Rowan Ford's childhood. One blogger wrote that Rowan would sometimes go to church early to avoid trouble at home. KSPR confirms that, at least, part of that is true. Some people at the Stella Baptist Church said that Rowan would often go to church early and wait for the people to arrive.

[Sleeks]

Bloggers Give Insight to Rowan's Childhood

http://www.kspr.com/news/local/11259636.html

Many people have spent the last few days looking at Chris Collings' MySpace page, and people have been asking KSPR for more web-related information.

Click here to see one website that has generated a lof of feedback and possibly insight to Rowan Ford's childhood. One blogger wrote that Rowan would sometimes go to church early to avoid trouble at home. KSPR confirms that, at least, part of that is true. Some people at the Stella Baptist Church said that Rowan would often go to church early and wait for the people to arrive.

Talk about getting completely sick over this one.  All I can think of is how this child eyes last looked upon someone who was supposed to love and protect her.  May she rest in peace. 

I cannot even begin to say what I would like to see happen to the 2 dirtbags who did this to her.

[pdh3]

Bloggers Give Insight to Rowan's Childhood

http://www.kspr.com/news/local/11259636.html

Many people have spent the last few days looking at Chris Collings' MySpace page, and people have been asking KSPR for more web-related information.

Click here to see one website that has generated a lof of feedback and possibly insight to Rowan Ford's childhood. One blogger wrote that Rowan would sometimes go to church early to avoid trouble at home. KSPR confirms that, at least, part of that is true. Some people at the Stella Baptist Church said that Rowan would often go to church early and wait for the people to arrive.

Talk about getting completely sick over this one.  All I can think of is how this child eyes last looked upon someone who was supposed to love and protect her.  May she rest in peace. 

I cannot even begin to say what I would like to see happen to the 2 dirtbags who did this to her.

I feel the same way. This child had no one in her life who was willing to step up and protect her. I hope they also charge Rowan's mother with something. She was aware of her husband's tendency to molest children, because her two older daughters left due to David Spears. They told their Mom he was molesting them, and she refused to do anything about it. She also allowed Rowan to sleep in the back seat of her car while she worked at night. Rowan didn't want to stay home with that sicko step-dad. What kind of mother would ignore all those warnings? She holds quite a bit of responsibility for allowing this scum into her home. And it also looks like she had a thing going on with Chris Collings as well. She needs to go to jail right along with those two perverts.

[Nut44x4]

 Trial Set in Child's Murder

A trial date is set for one of the men accused in the rape and murder of 9-year-old Rowan Ford.

Christopher Collings (right) will face a jury January 13, 2011.
His trial was moved to Phelps County on a change of venue.

Police say Collings and David Spears raped and strangled Ford near a home in Wheaton.

Her body was found in a cave in McDonald County about a week after she was reported missing.

David Spears' trial is scheduled to begin this july in Pulaski County.
http://ozarksfirst.com/content/fulltext/?cid=238551

[Bearlyhere]

Just found this, it is from 2009.  I didn't see any pictures posted.  Look at the size of these guys, they are huge!  Poor Rowan, she never stood a chance.  Rest in peace, sweet angel! 

Looking to see if they took the Death Penalty off the table on the 23rd of February this year.

http://rturner229.blogspot.com/2009/07/lawyer-for-rowan-fords-stepfather-files.html

        
                             Spears                                           Collings

Friday, July 24, 2009
Lawyer for Rowan Ford's stepfather files motion to have death penalty taken off the table

A pre-trial conference for Chris Collings, Wheaton, who is charged with the murder and rape of nine-year-old Rowan Ford of Stella, originally scheduled for today in Phelps County Circuit Court, has been postponed until Feb. 23, 2010, according to court records. Collings' trial, being held in Phelps County on a change of venue from Barry County, is scheduled for March 2010. The state is seeking the death penalty.

Collings, you may remember, is or was a friend of Rowan Ford's stepfather, David Wesley Spears, Stella, the other man accused of her rape and murder. Collings was the one with the MySpace site that proclaimed his mood as "horny" on Nov. 2, 2007, the day that Rowan Ford was murdered.

Spears' case has been moved to Pulaski County. A 9 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 12, hearing is set for a motion to remove the death penalty from the table.

Collings and Spears are being represented by public defenders who are experienced in dealing with capital murder cases.

Previous Turner Report posts on the Rowan Ford murder can be found at the link in the article.

[Bearlyhere]

http://rturner229.blogspot.com/search?q=Rowan+Ford

Saturday, February 27, 2010
Wheels of justice turn slowly in rape and murder of Rowan Ford

(The following is my latest Daily Kos post.)

In a perfect world, Rowan Ford would be halfway through her sixth grade year at Triway Junior High School in Stella, Missouri.
The biggest trials for Rowan would already be completed- adjusting to the change from the one-teacher existence of elementary school to having different teachers every hour and learning how to deal with the eighth graders who rule the school.
Like all junior high or middle school students, Rowan would be worried about just where and how she fits in.

Unfortunately, we do not live in a perfect world.

Rowan Ford never had the chance to experience middle school, and will never experience first love, graduation, marriage, children, or any of the other parts of life that most of us take for granted.
On Nov. 3, 2007, Rowan, a nine-year-old fourth grader was brutally raped and murdered- and nearly two and a half years later the two men who were arrested later that week for the crimes are still awaiting trial.

Rowan Ford was one of those children who slip through society’s cracks. She showed up at school long before classes began, and she stayed long after the final bell rang. She never wanted to go home.

That was noted in a Joplin Globe article by reporter Derek Spellman published two weeks after her death:

    Her bike was her steadfast companion and she knew the roads well.
    Friends and others in the community of Stella would see her — a slender, brown-haired 9-year-old girl gliding along on her blue-tinted Blossom Quest bicycle.
    Rowan Ford was careful to steer clear of heavy traffic, preferring quieter side streets that took her around the town’s tree-clad slopes and to the home of her best friend, Tyler, who happened to live across the street from Ford’s second home: the Stella Baptist Church.
    A friend recalled at her funeral last week that Ford “just kept going and going and going.”
    There’s speculation in hindsight now, speculation after Ford went missing nearly two weeks ago, speculation that intensified after Ford’s body was found, that the Stella girl spent so much time riding around town because she was keeping away from something.



After she was reported missing, it did not take long before her stepfather, David Wesley Spears, and his friend, Chris Collings, were arrested. Both made statements admitting to the crime, according to published reports.
The murder, as one might imagine, was devastating to the town of Stella, which has a population of about 200 and to the staff and students at Triway Elementary. Those students are now at the junior high school, still awaiting justice for their slain classmate.

David Spears’ trial is scheduled for this summer, while Collings will not see the inside of a courtroom until early 2011, thanks to a system that perverts justice through easily obtained continuances and built-in roadblocks designed to prevent trials from taking place on a timely basis.

Though I have never been a supporter of the death penalty, if anyone ever deserved the ultimate punishment it is the men who could even contemplate such evil, much less actually go through with the act. And the death penalty is on the table for both men.

Life has gone in Stella since the community was shaken to the core by the murder, but there is never a day when Rowan Ford is far from the townspeople’s thoughts.

Visitors still flock to a memorial webpage for Rowan, with condolences continuing to pour in and pages filled with pictures of Rowan and images of cartoon characters like Winnie the Pooh, a direct contrast to the violence that ended Rowan’s life.

When the community recently dedicated a memorial park for veterans, a tribute to the child was included. In her absence, she remains a part of Stella’s everyday life.

Rowan Ford was robbed over and over during her young life. She was deprived of her normal childhood, her innocence, and eventually, her life.

Meanwhile, the hourglass of justice continues to turn at a glacial pace, as the years pass since Rowan Ford, forever nine, was taken from us.
++++++++++++++++++++++++

Memorial Webpage     http://rowan-ford.last-memories.com/

[Nut44x4]

Rowan Ford's step-father waiting for judge to decide if taped confession will be thrown out
Updated: Apr 16, 2010 6:25 PM EDT

A judge is hearing evidence in the case of a southwest Missouri man accused of raping and killing his step-daughter, Rowan Ford.

Attorney's for David Spears are trying to get his confession thrown out.

After three days of testimony from investigators the judge has not yet issued a ruling.

In court this week Spears was heard on tape saying yes, yes he did it.

This alleged confession was in response to a sheriff deputy's questions regarding the murder and rape of Rowan Ford.

Rowan's body was found in a cave in McDonald County, Missouri in November 2007.

Authorities say it was David Spears that told them where to find the little girl's body.

Investigators also allege that Spears along with his friend and co-defendant Christopher Collings took the girl from her Stella home to Barry County.

That is where the two are accused of raping and then strangling the little girl.

It was only after several days of searching that the little girl's body was found.

Spears and Collings have both had their trials moved out of Barry County.

http://www.koamtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=12326699

[pdh3]

Fry them! They deserve no mercy,

[Nut44x4]

Trial delayed for man charged in 9 year old's rape and murder
Updated: Dec 01, 2010 1:55 PM EST

One of the two men charged with killing nine year old Rowan Ford will have to wait four more months to go to trial.

The trial for Christopher Collings is now set for April 7.

It was continued yesterday morning in Phelps County court.  Collings was originally scheduled for trial in January.

Both Collings and David Spears are charged with raping and killing Spear's step-daughter, Rowan Ford.

Her body was found in a cave in McDonald County in 2007.

The judge is looking at whether to allow certain evidence in the case, including an alleged taped confession from Collings.
http://www.koamtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=13596595

[Constance]

Mistrial delcared in Chris Collings Case
The trial of a southwest missouri man accused of raping and murdering a nine-year-old girl will not go ahead as scheduled on Monday.
The judge in the case has declared a mistrial in the case involving Christopher Collings, according to Phelps County Deputy Circuit Court Clerk, Jill Cooksey.   A person who tells KY3 News they were in the jury pool says the mistrial was declared due to a lack of an adequate number of jurors left in the pool to meet legal requirements.
(more at link below)
http://www.ky3.com/news/ky3-collings-mistrial-declared-mistrial-declared-in-chris-collings-case-20110423,0,2858679.story
 

[Constance]

Chris Collings Jury Selection Moved to February 2012
(Rolla, MO) -- Another delay and a new direction for a three-and-a-half year-old Ozarks murder case.
On Tuesday, a judge pushed back the trial for Christopher Collings by more than ten months.
 Jury selection is now set to begin February 27, 2012, for Collings, one of two men accused of raping and murdering 9-year-old Rowan Ford of Stella, Missouri.
 ::snipping2::
http://ozarksfirst.com/fulltext?nxd_id=448867

[Constance]

David Spears' trial for murder of 9-year-old Rowan Ford is delayed another 15 months

June 15, 2011|by Gene Hartley, KY3 News | newsalerts@ky3.com
WAYNESVILLE, Mo. -- Someone kidnapped, raped and murdered 9-year-old Rowan Ford of Stella in November 2007.   One of the two men charged for those crimes, David Spears, is now scheduled for trial in November 2012.
 ::snipping2::
http://articles.ky3.com/2011-06-15/jury-selection_29663599

[Constance]

Chris Collings was just found Guilty of First Degree Murder in the rape-murder of Rowan Ford.
Jurors are now in the penalty phase. The death penalty or life without parole are on the table.
http://www.joplinglobe.com/topstories/x1440947149/Jury-returns-guilty-verdict