By Derek Spellman

dspellman@joplinglobe.com

CASSVILLE, Mo. — A Wheaton man accused of raping and killing a 9-year-old Stella girl was bound over to circuit court Friday after waiving his preliminary hearing.

Chris Collings, 32, will stand trial for one count of first-degree murder, forcible rape and statutory rape in connection with the abduction, alleged sexual assault and murder of Rowan Ford last month.

Collings waived his preliminary hearing after appearing before Judge Victor Head with his public defender, Clate Baker, said Barry County Prosecutor Johnnie Cox. Collings’ court appearance on Friday was his first since his initial arraignment on Nov. 13.

Ford’s stepfather, David W. Spears, 25, is also charged with one count of first-degree murder, forcible rape and statutory rape in connection with the Ford case.

Spears’ case remains in Barry County Associate Court, and his next hearing date is still to be set, Cox said.

Investigators believe Rowan Ford 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.

Ford’s body was found in a sinkhole after a nearly weeklong search 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 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.

Colleen Spears, David Spears’ wife and Rowan Ford’s mother, filed for divorce on Nov. 27. That case, too, is pending.

Up next

Chris Collings will appear for his arraignment in Barry County Circuit Court at 10 a.m. on Jan. 22.