Mother of slain 9-year-old files for divorce from suspect husband

JOPLIN, Mo. -- The mother of a slain 9-year-old girl has filed for divorce from her husband, one of the two men accused of raping and killing the child, according to online court records.

David W. Spears, 25, and Chris Collings, 32, were each charged with one count of first-degree murder, forcible rape and statutory rape in connection with Rowan Ford's abduction, alleged sexual assault and murder last month.

Colleen Spears, 44, filed for divorce Tuesday in the Circuit Court of Newton and McDonald counties, according to online court records. She could not be reached for comment Saturday.

Investigators think Rowan was abducted early Nov. 3 from her home in Stella in Newton County, murdered in Barry County, and her body disposed of in McDonald County. Her body was found in a hillside cave after a nearly weeklong search.

The two men are incarcerated at the Barry County Jail.

that involved the Newton County Sheriff's Department, the McDonald County Sheriff's Department, the Missouri State Highway Patrol and the FBI.

Authorities still are trying to reconcile some discrepancies between the two defendants' accounts of the events leading to Rowan's death. Both David Spears and Collings reportedly have confessed to rape and murder.

On the day Ford's body was recovered, hours before David Spears was charged with Ford's murder, Colleen Spears told The Joplin Globe that even if her husband was not directly responsible for what happened to her daughter, he at least bore indirect responsibility.

"He left her alone," she said. "She is gone. There is no bringing her back. It's unforgivable. What he did cost her the rest of her life."

Newton County Sheriff Ken Copeland previously told the Globe that Colleen Spears was the provider for her family, which consisted of herself, David Spears and Ford.