Stepdad Said He Watched For Fun While His Friend Strangled Young Daughter With a Rope
Rowan Damia Ford was born on April 11th 1998 in San Diego California at the time of our story she was a 9-year-old fourth grade student at triway elementary school in Stella Missouri she lived with her mother Colleen mson and her stepfather David Spears she had two brothers James and Robert and two sisters Janice and Arion Rowan attended Stella Baptist Church where she was active in Sunday school Wednesday night team kid in angel food Ministries the one thing everyone noticed about this sweet little girl was
that she was always happy and always willing to help according to her pastor he always came early to church on Sunday to set up Rowan would always be sitting on the steps to greet him and came early just to see if anyone needed any help Rowan had light brown hair dark brown eyes and freckles that scattered about her nose and cheeks during the summer of 2007 Rowan had just learned to to swim and ride a bike her prized possession was her blue tinted Blossom Quest bicycle her favorite color was purple she loved to eat spaghetti sing color
draw and read especially books about cats her favorite television show was Hannah Montana now according to her teacher she was a beautiful student an angel perfect she was everybody’s friend and I couldn’t have asked for a better student also residing in Rowan home was Christopher Collins who was a longtime friend of her stepfathers during the summer and fall of 2007 Christopher slept in the basement of the family’s home Rowan affectionately referred to him as Uncle Chris in late October of the same year Christopher moved into a
travel trailer on his family’s Farm located in weaton Missouri which was about a 10-minute Drive East from Stella along State Highway a on the evening of Friday November 2nd a man named Nathan maharan who was a mutual friend of Christopher and David met met them at a farm where they all worked together the men went to a liquor store to buy two or three sixpacks of malt liquor before heading back to David’s house to play pool and drink at 8:30 p.m.
Rowan’s mother Colleen left for work and left her daughter and her husband’s care after purchasing more alcohol the men continued to drink later that evening Christopher asked Nathan to drive him home the pair talked David into going with them and leaving Rowan home alone asleep on the floor in her bedroom on the way to Christopher’s trailer the stopped to buy more alcohol as if they hadn’t had enough to drink that evening already when they arrived they smoked weed and continued to drink without a care in the world as to how Rowan was
doing after about an hour Nathan and David left to go home Nathan decided to take back roads home instead of State Highway a because he was drunk and he did not want to get stopped by the police he dropped David off and returned to his own home around midnight on November 3rd Colleen returned home from her overnight shift at 9:00 a.m.
and could not find her daughter after searching the house Colleen woke her husband and asked him where Rowan was David told Colleen that Rowan was staying with the friends but he could not identify the friends Colleen walked the neighborhood searching for Rowan to no avail she wanted David to call the police but he insisted Rowan was still at a friend’s house when Rowan did not return that afternoon Colleen contacted the Newton County Sheriff’s Department to report her daughter missing at which time a large scale search was launch to
find her David Nathan and Christopher were all considered Persons of Interest because they were the last people to see Rowan the night prior in a yard where you’d usually hear the sounds of laughter she’s just a sweet loving child and children playing she just captures everyone’s heart silent tears fall as the FBI comes and goes from this house shaken by tragedy she’s been missing for going on 3 days 4 days and I just can’t believe that it’s it’s come down to this I mean the FBI being at the house family law
enforcement and the Stella Community are on the search for 99-year-old Rowan Ford the longer it is the worse it is the long wait started Saturday morning when Rowan’s mother Colleen Spears came home from an overnight job to find her daughter missing Rowan’s stepfather David Spears says the girl was in bed when he left the house to go out with some friends he didn’t check on her when he returned several hours later she’d never be gone this long as the Newton County Sheriff classifies this a case of Foul Play can’t believe this something
like this would happen in a community like this citizens are on high alert are we looking at a nut running around out here that the kids they don’t let the children aren’t out playing as a community hopes to find an answer that will alleviate everyone’s worries we want to keep hope that the longer it goes the we just one are found on November 4th Newton County deputies spoke with Christopher in the parking lot of a local restaurant about Rowan’s disappearance Christopher gave the deputies the same account Nathan did
about their activities that evening but left out the part that they had been smoking weed now keep in mind this was in 2007 so smoking weed was against the law in the state of Missouri and wouldn’t be decriminalized until about 15 years later he told the deputies he stayed home and went to sleep after Nathan and David left he also denied speaking to David after he left and claimed he was unaware that Rowan was even missing until police spoke to him the deputies described Christopher as Cooperative concerned and polite later
that evening Christopher visited Colleen at her home asked how the search was going and offered to help find Rowan on November 5th the FBI became involved with the investigation while Newton County deputies continued to interview David FBI technicians seized and searched his pickup truck as well as a vehicle his mother said she loaned him in the meantime Newton County deputies approached Christopher at work and requested he answer more questions he agreed and drove himself to the Sheriff’s Department Christopher gave a
similar statement to the one he had given the day before he was read as Miranda writes after being questioned about David’s potential involvement in Rowan’s disappearance Christopher indicated that he understood his rights and waved them in fact he also agreed to submit to a polygraph test and a computer voice stress analysis test Christopher was read his rights again prior to testing and waved them once more after the testing was complete Christopher spoke to the deputies he insisted he knew nothing about Rowan’s
disappearance and offered to help them in the search as long as the authorities are allowing the community to search we will search look through the woods surrounding little Rowan Ford’s house and you see friends and family joining that massive search effort couldn’t have asked for a better place for my for my family to live look in front of the missing 9-year-old’s home and you see an effort on a much smaller scale but one that may be even more important to this family the community has been a great support system for my mom Janice schaer
says she holds out hope her little sister Rowan will be back any day now it’s hope you can see in the faces here and in the writings from friends I’ve just been trying to get my mom to eat and sleep and she’s not doing a very good job of that right now all I can tell is that every day that she’s still missing um you know is is a negative for us yes negative due to the fact that no one has seen Rowan since Friday night cold weather is bearing down in this area and the fact that tips have still not led to a person of interest still missing
authorities say this is still a missing child case but admit that at some point in the near future this intense searching will have to come to an end we have a a 9-year-old child that’s missing and a mother who is missing that child and we’ll be involved as long as there is investigative leads for us to follow up on as long as there’s something for the FBI to do family members say they can’t imagine anyone wanting to hurt her but if that is the case um they just better be thankful I’m not the judge we can only pray for
her later that afternoon Wheaten police chief Clinton Clark was on routine Patrol Christopher and chief Clark had a relationship spanning 17 years he had known Christopher since he was a young boy and was close friends with his adoptive parents Christopher trusted Chief Clark and always turned to him for advice he sought Solace from him when his mother passed away and made a point to keep in contact with him when he lived out of town Christopher flagged down Chief Clark told him that Rowan was missing and that he was trying to find
her Chief Clark described Christopher as kind of excited and not his normal self he encouraged Christopher to continue to do what he could to help find Rowan after speaking to him Chief Clark notified the FBI that Christopher contacted him about Rowan’s disappearance Chief Clark told the FBI that he and Christopher had a long-standing relationship and a good rapport he believed Christopher knew something about Rowan’s disappearance and offered to help in the investigation Chief Clark was encouraged by the FBI
and Newton County deputies to continue to talk with Christopher that evening Christopher went to Colleen’s home there the FBI spoke to Colleen and Christopher individually again Christopher was described as cooperative and he gave the same account of the evening’s activities as he had given previously he spoke about his relationship with David told the FBI that David was involved with Rowan’s disappearance and offered to wear a wire to help the investigation Christopher also suggested locations in which to search for Rowan
on November 6th law enforcement officials continued to search for Rowan but the focus of the investigation was on her stepfather David he was interviewed repeatedly his home was searched and he was driven around the area in an effort to find Rowan in the late afternoon or early evening Christopher went to Chief Clark’s office to let him know he had spoken to the FBI and was active in the search to find Rowan even suggesting places for them to search Chief Clark believed Christopher had something on his mind and appeared
apprehensive Christopher would not make eye contact with him and he found this unusual he told Christopher that he knew how to contact him if he needed help with anything after this conversation Chief Clark contacted the FBI and told them about his talk with Christopher the FBI believed that if he was going to confess or reveal any information whatsoever that it would be to Chief Clark himself and so the FBI encouraged the chief to help in the investigation to which he agreed on November 7th Christopher met with the FBI at the
Newton County Sheriff’s Department he consented to provide a buckle swab for DNA testing Christopher signed consent forms for the police to search a safe he owned located at David’s home as well as his property and trailer he submitted to additional testing which required a voluntary waiver of his rights afterwards Christopher was interviewed but not read his Miranda rights he spoke with the FBI about an alibi David presented for the night Rowan disappeared which Christopher said was untrue as the interview progressed he
became more emotional tense and nervous when asked about Rowan Christopher told the agents if they were going to accuse him of being involved with Rowan’s disappearance that he was not going to talk to them anymore that evening Christopher went to Chief Clark’s office and was very upset about how he was treated in the FBI interview he told the chief he was going to dummy up about anything else and maybe he needed to get a lawyer Chief Clark told him that was his right to do so but encouraged him to continue to do anything he could to find
Rowan and stated it was not in his best interest to stop cooperating Christopher then told Chief Clark if I have anything else to say I’ll talk to you Chief Clark then advised Christopher of his Miranda rights he agreed to speak and signed a waiver for him Chief Clark told Christopher that he felt there was something on his mind and asked if he knew anything about Rowan’s disappearance Christopher began to cry and stated that he always loved Rowan would not have done anything to hurt her at this point someone came into the
police department and interrupted their conversation and this caused Christopher to leave abruptly and in a hurry Chief Clark contacted the FBI after after his discussion with Christopher he informed them that he believed Christopher was near a Breaking Point and suggested he needed a day off from questioning he further advised them that Christopher was about to lawyer up and tried to dissuade him from doing so and encouraged him to continue to cooperate on November 8th Christopher had no contact with law enforcement Chief Clark
spoke with the FBI about him the Dynamics of his family and chief Clark’s unique relationship with him he he thought Christopher knew something about Rowan’s disappearance but believed they needed to find her body first the FBI told Chief Clark once they found Rowan’s body they wanted him to be the one to speak to Christopher on November 9th after a harrowing week-long search Rowan’s body was discovered at the bottom of a sinkhole known as Fox Cave the sinkhole was 20 to 30 ft from the road in a heavily wooded area Rowan was
nuded from the waist down except for one sock she had a ligature Mark around her neck and Trauma Blood and Tissue damage consistent with saay her body was covered with leaves and debris Chief Clark learned about the discovery on the news that morning he received a page from his office that Christopher came by asking for him and inquired about what time he came on duty because he needed to speak to him Chief Clark was contacted by the FBI who directed him to find Christopher and tell him that they found Rowan’s body Chief Clark went
looking for Christopher but could not find him however Christopher later called him on his cell phone and asked if police were following him in a gray minivan to which the chief denied knowing anything about surveillance being conducted on Christopher he claimed that he had been driving all over the area trying to shake it as he was nervous and felt threatened the chief advised him to go to the police department but Christopher suggested they meet up instead after they met Christopher told Chief Clark they needed
to talk and agreed to ride back to the police Department in his patrol car they discussed the gry minivan and Christopher indicated he was worried that people might take matters into their own hands now that Rowan’s body had been recovered Chief Clark told him he could not protect him 24 hours a day and could not guarantee his safety when they arrived at the police department the chief read Christopher his Miranda rights Christopher indicated he understood his rights and agreed to talk Chief Clark told him well son it’s over
we found Rowan’s body this morning Christopher dropped his head head and his eyes began to water Chief Clark believed David Spears had done something to Rowan and suspected Christopher had knowledge of what he did Chief Clark told him he needed to tell him what David did to his stepdaughter to which Christopher reacted with surprise and looked at him kind of funny the police department was busy and Christopher indicated he did not want to talk with so many people nearby Chief Clark recommended they go somewhere quiet to
talk and Christopher suggested they go to the Muny Bridge located a few miles outside of weaton now Chief Clark contacted law enforcement officials to inform them he and Christopher were headed to the Muny Bridge after they arrived Christopher held his hands out indicating he ought to handcuff him Chief Clark stated that was not necessary to which Christopher replied for what I’m about to tell you you will Christopher and chief Clark sat on a slope near the bridge he told him what occurred the evening Rowan disappeared Christopher relayed the same
story he maintained all week of about his activities up until the time Nathan and David left his trailer he confirmed that the pair took the back roads home to avoid being detected he told Chief Clark he knew if he hurried he could get back over to David’s house and get Rowan out of there before the other men returns Christopher took State Highway a which was the quickest route back to David’s house once there Christopher went in used the bathroom and retrieved Rowan off of the floor of her bedroom he then carried Rowan who was still asleep
sleeping outside and put her inside of his pickup truck Rowan remained asleep during the drive back to his trailer Christopher then carried Rowan inside placed her on the bed and removed her pajama pants and underwear he did not speak to Rowan so she would not recognize his voice and kept the lights off so she would not see him Christopher then admitted to essaying the 9-year-old girl which caus Rowan to wake up afterwards Christopher told the chief he intended to return Rowan to her house house he said he took Rowan outside and
held her in front of him by her arms facing away from him so she would not see his face but Ren looked back over her shoulder and could see Christopher in the Moonlight he knew that Rowan recognized him and freaked out in an old pickup truck sitting on the property Christopher saw a coil of chicken house rope as he called it so he took it looped it around Rowan’s neck he remained behind Rowan and pulled the Rope tight with his fist clenched pulling his arms away from each other Rowan struggled but Christopher said he
kept it tight even after Rowan stopped struggling and fell to the ground eventually she stopped moving Christopher realized that he was in a lot of trouble in his own words and put Rowan’s body in the bed of his pickup truck he planned to dispose of her body off of the Muny bridge but rejected that idea because he thought her body would be discovered too quickly as he drove around and considered his options he decided to go go to Fox Cave was for told Chief Clark he threw Rowan’s body into the sink hole and tried to pull
some branches and limbs over to cover the entrance but it was too big the debris fell inside Christopher got back into his pickup truck and returned to his trailer at the trailer he discovered blood on his mattress and his clothing Christopher said he knew he needed to get rid of these items in addition to Rowan’s pajama pants her underwear and the Rope he used to strangle her he put everything except the mattress into a wood stove and burned it he then rolled up the mattress and put it into a 55g drum used as a burn barrel with some old
carpet Christopher said I got to thinking now that’s going to make a hell of a fire somebody’s going to see that burning so instead he then dragged the barrel into a barn and set the contents on fire to avoid detection when Christopher finished talking he and sheath Clark returned to the Wheaten Police Department as he wanted the other law enforcement officials involved in the investigation to hear his story now during the ride back to the police department Christopher rode in the front seat smoked a cigarette and was not
handcuffed he was advised of his rights and deputies from Barry and Newton County along with the FBI listened as he repeated his confession Christopher signed a consent form to allow a search of his property during the interview this interview was not recorded afterward Christopher was transported to the Barry County Sheriff’s Department where he gave gave a videotaped statement after being advised of his rights Christopher said that he had been advised of his rights several times throughout the week he repeated the same series of events
during the interview and said that he felt guilty and remorseful he claimed that he had been balling like a baby all afternoon Christopher’s confession was surprising to the investigators because they were operating under the assumption that David Spears killed Rowan and that Christopher merely had knowledge of the event as a result Newton County deputies questioned David again which time David implicated himself upon learning this Christopher was questioned again at Barry County in a recorded interview the
deputies and chief Clark told him that David stated he called his mother had her bring a vehicle to his home and then he joined Christopher back at his trailer David stated he also essayed Rowan he claimed that he was there when Christopher killed her and then helped his friend dispose of her body Christopher vehemently and repeatedly denied that David had any involvement in Rowan’s essay killing or the disposal of her body Christopher’s trailer and adjacent properties were searched while he gave a second videotape statement among the
items collected were a rusted metal spool inside the bed of an old pickup truck a piece of string or twine found on the driver side floor of the old pickup truck rope or wire found inside his pickup truck a 55 5 gallon drum with burnt remnants inside a burn pile that contained an item appearing to be a cord ashes collected from a wood stove and a light to medium brown hair found in the bed of his pickup truck an autopsy revealed that Rowan died from ligature strangulation she was conscious for approximately 10 seconds quit breathing
after approximately 2 to 3 minutes and would have been rind dead approximately 12 minutes later her body had signed of decomposition she was covered in small scrapes bruises and injuries inflicted prior to death she also had significant facial trauma likely inflicted after her death as a result of being thrown into the sinkhole her privates had been lacerated from front to back this laceration was consistent with blunt force trauma which caused significant bleeding and would have been very painful during the autopsy evidence was
collected including swabs for biological evidence blood samples and the recovery of two foreign hairs now keep in mind the monster that did this to Rowan was over 300 lb and was 6′ 3 in tall Christopher was charged with one count of first-degree homicide one count of forcible essay and one count of statutory saay the homicide charge was separate from the sa charges which later were dismissed the venue was changed to Phelps County and a jury was selected from plat County Christopher filed the motion to suppress seeking to exclude
evidence of all statements taken from him by law enforcement agents throughout the entire investigation and all evidence obtained from the searches of his body pickup truck trailer and property the Circuit Court overruled his motion finding Christopher was not in custody for any of these interviews until November 9th after he returned to the Wheaten Police Department with Chief Clark and met with other law enforcement officers to give a statement during the trial Rowan’s mother Colleen spoke about the day she found her daughter missing
and the days leading up to the discovery of her body in the sinkhole go outside sit and wait for when this I’d go in the house when the school bus came by why would you do that because I didn’t want the other kids upset did you go to park any that week no and during the course of that week did you allow law enforcement to search your house yes now you said that you would you would wait outside in those chairs in the yard yes where were you when you found out that Rowan had Rowan had been found I was outside what happened when
that Ken copelan asked if I’d go inside the house who’s Ken Copeland he’s the sheriff of new County was it just you and Mr Copeland no my daughters were there and another offic female officer what did he tell you he told me that they had found thank you at the conclusion of the guilt phase the jury found Christopher guilty of killing Rowan during the penalty phase the state of Missouri presented Victim Impact testimony from six Witnesses Christopher presented two witnesses who offered testimony about David’s potential
involvement Christopher’s family members testified describing his tumultuous upbringing his shuffling back and forth between his biological and adoptive parents who had significant substance abuse and legal issues as well as the issues he encountered as a teenager and young adult Christopher also present presented testimony from an expert in the field of human development that explained he was handicapped developmentally due to severe emotional neglect during the first 6 months of his life and Beyond as a result the expert
testified that Christopher suffered confusion in his connections with other people that resulted in a diagnosis of severe disorganized disassociative attachment disorder and Intermittent Explosive personality disorders after the penalty phase the jury recommended a sentence of death the jury found Rowan’s death involved torture and as a result thereof her death was outrageously and wanly vile horrible and inhumane the jury also determined that Rowan was a potential witness in a pending investigation of her essay and was
killed as a result of her status as a potential witness Christopher was sentenced to death however Christopher was quick to appeal public defenders say Colleen’s conversations with the police officer he knew pictures of Rowan Ford’s lifeless body used as evidence and physical evidence not relevant to the case caused jurors to make an emotional rather than a legal decision when they chose the death penalty I hope you watch the video because it’s really shocking much of the day’s arguments CED around a videotaped
conversation weaton police chief Clint Clark had with callings days after callings confessed to him about the rap and murder of 9-year-old Rowan Ford this is an extensive relationship an attorney from The Office of the State public defender says a videotaped conversation with Chief Clark an officer that cols had a friendship with violated his rights so clearly um and vividly shows what Clark does to pressure and the tactics that he uses the good old boy the you don’t have you you can trust me I’m acting in your best interests um
all that personal argued that Clark used his friendship to to pressure callings into giving information he’s less likely to invoke his right to counsel or to remain silent each attorney was questioned by the seven Missouri Supreme Court Justices it was um uh the defendant who initiated the contact with Clark and um the defendant had the ability to leave uh um the area by the bridge at any point an attorney from the office of the Missouri attorney general argued that because of Colin’s confession subsequent conversations were
more relevant the case against Rowan Ford’s stepfather David Spears Chief Clark is not pursuing evidence against Christopher Collings at this point they have all the evidence they need to to convict Christopher Collings based on Christopher Collings statements on the ninth on the 14th they’re trying to make their case against David Spears in the guilt phase Council admitted that he committed the acts charged several justices noted that callings repeatedly sought out Clark by tracking him around town or by asking for him it’s callings
who seeks out Clark the state also argued for the majority of the conversations between Collings and Clark Collings dictated where and when the conversations would take place it’s as unthreatening as any situation where somebody’s going to confess to murder now the Supreme Court Justices will weigh this appeal and what will likely be one of many appeals in this case in Jefferson City I’m Lori Patton color 10 News thankfully all of his appeals thus far have been denied as of the date of this recording in 202 3 Christopher
Collings has now been on death row longer than Rowan was alive but what about Rowan stepfather David Spears as we mentioned previously he actually confessed to being involved with Rowan’s essay killing and the disposal of her body according to Barry County prosecutor Johnny Cox he said this would put the state in a position of arguing inconsistent theories of who actually strangled Rowan Ford the state would would have to argue that both versions are true even if they both cannot be true he went on to say that
state and federal courts prohibit inconsistent theories in the prosecution of codefendants pursuing such a course of action could result not only in the overturning of any conviction of David Spears that might be obtained but also the conviction of Christopher Collings that already had been obtained he continued without physical evidence that is consistent with David Spear’s statement the state cannot and will not pursue a course of action that would put Christopher Collin’s conviction at risk prosecutor Cox noted that he knows many
people are convinced that David Spears was involved but he cannot be certain without any evidence to support his confession he said I cannot in good conscience ask a jury to convict a person of Murder in the first degree and ask that he be put to death if I am uncertain about his involvement instead David Spears pled guilty to child endangerment and hindering prosecution prosecutors claim that he made a false confession they cited an expert witness who testified at a hearing in 2010 that under such Pressure David gradually came
to internalize a belief that he must have committed the crime even though he had no memory of it he was sentenced to 11 years in prison for the two lesser felonies with 5 years time served Rowan’s funeral services were held on Wednesday November 14th at the Gospel Lighthouse church in Neosho Missouri with Reverend Glenn n is officiating hundreds of MERS came out to the church to pay their respects to the little girl whose life was so tragically cut short Rowan’s favorite hymn The Old Rugged Cross was sung her wake was held the
evening prior Rowan was laid to rest at the Macedonia Cemetery in Stella beneath a gray granite headstone with etchings of a heart and a kneeling Angel they spent hours searching we can only pray for her hours praying she would come home home I can’t comprehend it hours wondering why Rowan’s life ended so soon and with such cruelty you don’t expect something like this to happen those who knew her best say they needed to be at this funeral to get some of those questions answered and to say goodbye even though she wasn’t here long she
left a big impact on everybody friends say they want Rowan’s impact on life to outshine the shock of what happened in her final hours preachers inside this church talked about how several people wanted vigilant Justice to be done to the suspects in this case instead of violence those here urged people to do what Rowan would have done by letting faith guide their lives to living the best life they could for the life that Rowan LED even though I didn’t know her my boy knew her the youngest here may have known Rowan the best she was active
at her school and especially in Sunday school I think they’re dealing all right we go to church they understand about loss and heaven and that right there is a big comfort to be sure this is a crime that changes a community but in this case that Community looks to be stronger stronger for the girl who formed so many bonds in her short life and stronger for those who must push on without that talkative 9-year-old by their side it’s tragic but there’s a lot of love in this community and I think that outpouring of Love
shown itself today in Newton County Chris Grogan Colton news Rowan’s case is particularly sad due to the fact that there’s a lot of unanswered questions as to what her stepfather’s involvement actually was to her family and many members of her community this must feel like a giant miscarriage of Justice this is yet again just another example of the monsters that we fear the most coming after our children statistically being the the people we hold most dear while Christopher Collings is currently sitting on death row as of December of
2023 David Spears has done his time and most likely has been released from prison we could find no current incarceration records for him whether or not we think it’s right that David is likely a free man there is nothing that can be done to change that the best that we can hope for is that her mother Colleen her siblings and her extended family can one day heal from this senseless tragedy
