Nearly 17 years after the murder of nine-year-old Rowan Ford, an execution date has been set for one of the men involved in her death.
The Missouri Supreme Court issued an execution warrant for Christopher Collings on Tuesday. He will be executed on Tuesday, December 3, at 6 p.m. In April, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey requested an execution date for Collings, who was convicted in 2007 of killing nine-year-old Ford.
Ford, who was a fourth-grader at Stella Elementary School, was last seen on November 2, 2007, at her home in Stella, where she lived with her mother, Colleen Spears, and stepfather, David Spears. After a week-long search involving about 40 FBI agents, Ford’s body was found in a cave in a hillside in McDonald County, about 10 miles south of her home.
A day after Ford’s body was found, David Spears, then 25, and Collings, then 32, were arrested and charged with first-degree murder, rape and child molestation, the News-Leader previously reported.
Collings, now 49, was sentenced to life in prison in 2012 for first-degree murder, and Spears was sentenced to a total of 11 years in prison for child endangerment and obstruction of justice. As of Tuesday, Spears is no longer in custody of the Missouri Department of Corrections.
What happened to Rowan Ford?
Just days after Spears and Collings were arrested, Collings confessed to his crimes to authorities.
According to earlier reporting by the News-Leader based on Collings’ confession, on the night of Ford’s disappearance, Collings and Spears took the girl from her home to a trailer in Barry County where Collings lived. There, the men raped Ford and one of them strangled her with a rope. Her body was later taken to the cave in McDonald County.
Authorities initially became suspicious of Spears because he was unwilling to explain the reason for his “long absence” from the family home the night of Ford’s disappearance, according to earlier reporting by the News-Leader.
Ford’s mother, Colleen, last saw her daughter on the evening of Nov. 2 before she left for a shift at Walmart in a neighboring town. When Colleen left, Ford was asleep in her bed and Spears stayed home to watch her.
Spears later told authorities he went out with friends on the evening of Nov. 2 and left Ford at home. He returned around midnight but did not check on his stepdaughter. Spears later left the house a second time after calling his mother and asking her to borrow her SUV, the News-Leader previously reported. Spears’ mother brought her vehicle to the Spears’ home but did not check on Ford while Spears was gone for about five and a half hours.
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Spears and Collings initially pleaded not guilty. However, after hiring lawyers, the two men pleaded guilty. Discussions about the death penalty for Collings began in May 2008.
On November 14, 2007, less than two weeks after Ford was reported missing, more than 300 congregants gathered at the Gospel Lighthouse Church in Neosho to mourn their loss. According to court documents, Colleen filed for divorce from Spears in December 2007.
Greta Cross is the Springfield News-Leader’s trending reporter. She has more than five years of journalism experience covering everything from the history of the Ozarks to the LGBTQIA+ community in Springfield. Follow her on X and Instagram @gretalcross. Story idea? Email her at [email protected].
