Wed, Nov 19 2008
|
|
Published November 10, 2007 12:34 am - STELLA, Mo. — She liked to be one of the first ones there. They would come to the Baptist church in Stella and often see the quiet, brown-haired 9-year-old girl already waiting for worship on both Wednesday and Sunday nights, her trademark blue bicycle close by. News of girl's death shocks community By Derek Spellman
dspellman@joplinglobe.com STELLA, Mo. — She liked to be one of the first ones there. They would come to the Baptist church in Stella and often see the quiet, brown-haired 9-year-old girl already waiting for worship on both Wednesday and Sunday nights, her trademark blue bicycle close by. Rowan Ford was a deeply religious girl, right up until the night she was taken from her Stella home sometime late Nov. 2 or early Nov. 3, according to friends and family. Not long before she saw her daughter for the last time, Colleen Spears said Ford gave her a bookmark with a verse from the Bible. The church that she frequented was just over the hill from Ford’s home, its white clapboard exterior visible through the trees. “She was memorizing the Bible,” Colleen spears said Friday, hours after she received word that her daughter had been found dead in a sinkhole in McDonald County. “I know she is with God, and he is taking care of her,” Colleen Spears said. As she stood in front of her house, Spears and Bill Aslop, the mayor of Stella, speculated about what kind of bicycle she would be riding in heaven. Would she take one like she had been riding, or would she pick a new one? It was one way that Spears and other members of Stella tried to cope with what happened. Glenn Ennis, the pastor of the Baptist Church in Stella, was among those who spent time with Colleen Spears on Friday as steady processions of townspeople and press made their way to the family home. “Some are angry, some are struggling to cope with it,” Ennis said about the town’s reaction to the news. In a sense, Ennis said, it was as if the whole village — population 184 — had been violated. “People move in here because you think it is a nice place to live and raise a family,” Ennis said. Around Stella, yellow ribbons were hung from mailboxes and posts, around the handle of the door to a store in neighboring Longview, where some Stella residents went on Friday for gas or food or for hunting-season supplies. A poem written by a classmate of Ford’s was photocopied and circulated about town for people to take. 
•
Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.
More from the Local News section
|
Print this story
E-mail this story
Post to del.icio.us
Discuss this story
2:25 p.m. McCain wins Missouri in close race against Obama
2:08 p.m. Prices down, but consumer break doubted
10:18 a.m. Bomb squad dogs sweep PSU building
 |
 |
 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
 |
The Joplin Globe Publishing Company 117 East Fourth Street, Joplin, MO 64801 Using our site is your agreement to the terms and conditions. News: news@joplinglobe.com • (417)623-3480 Advertise with the Joplin Globe Copyright © 2006 The Joplin Globe, Joplin, MO All rights reserved. |
Popular Business directory links - Joplin Apartments | Joplin Attorneys | Joplin Auto Dealers | Joplin Auto Parts | Joplin Auto Repair | Joplin Beauty Salons | Joplin Car Rental | Joplin Dentists | Joplin Doctors | Joplin Flowers | Joplin Hotels | Joplin Insurance | Joplin Loans | Joplin Mortgages | Joplin Movers | Joplin Pizza | Joplin Realtors | Joplin Restaurants | Joplin Storage | Joplin Tax Preparation | Joplin Travel | Joplin Featured | More...
|
|
Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc. • CNHI Classified Advertising Network • CNHI News Service |