Police confirmed on Thursday that the remains found buried on the rural Kentucky property belonged to Savannah Spurlock who vanished after leaving a bar with three men on January 4
The body of missing Kentucky mother of four, Savannah Spurlock was found naked, bound, bundled into trash bags and buried in a shallow grave behind property belonging to the parents of the man now charged in connection to her disappearance.
David Sparks, 23, appeared in Garrard District Court this morning for a preliminary hearing at which these and other disturbing new details emerged.
Savannah, 23, was last seen on the night of January 4, leaving a bar in Lexington, Kentucky with three men – one of whom was Sparks.
Sparks arrived in court, small, lean shackled and handcuffed. He took his seat without making eye contact with Savannah’s father, Cecil, 54, his fiancée, Cheryl Lynn Wright, or the young mother’s friends who sat by his side.
Cecil Spurlock had arrived clutching a photograph of himself with his daughter.
Kentucky State Police Detective Tye Chavies described the ‘clandestine grave’ in which Savannah was found on July 10.
It was, he said, at its deepest point approximately 19 inches deep and the black plastic in which her naked body was wrapped could be seen at points without disturbing the ground.
She had been placed ‘in multiple black trash bags, was unclothed and her feet were bound with tape.’ He described her as being in an ‘unnatural orientation’ in that her ‘head and feet were in the same position. She had been folded in half.’
David Sparks, 23, was arrested early Thursday morning after the remains were uncovered on the property in Garrard County where he lives with his parents
Savannah’s father, Cecil, 54, and his fiancée, Cheryl Lynn Wright are pictured leaving court today after Sparks’ hearing. Spurlock held a photograph of himself with his daughter in his lap
This is the rural home in Garrard County where Spurlock’s remains were found ‘folded in half’, stuffed in trash bags and thrown in a shallow grave
A grey rectangular accent rug was found buried by her at her back.
Det Chavies went onto tell the court that at 2.10pm in the afternoon of January 5 Sparks sent a text message to his sister, Sarah.
It said, ‘Hey where did you get that rug? I’m going to get another one.’
Later that day, the detective stated, Sparks went to Wal-Mart in Richmond and purchased an identical rug to the one found buried beside Savannah.
Spark’s home in Lancaster – the last place where Savannah was seen alive – was searched on January 10 and the officer said that he had observed a grey rectangular rug in his bedroom, between his bed and a closet.
A subsequent search conducted on April 2 revealed a blood stain on the inside of that closet door – the stain was invisible to the naked eye but showed following the use of a luminol based agent.
When interviewed by detectives back in January, Sparks had told them that he and the other men had gone back to his house with Savannah.
They left but he and Savannah remained. He claimed that she went to sleep in his bedroom while he slept on the couch.
When he woke mid-morning he said that she asked him where she was apparently so she could arrange transport home.
He claimed to have fallen asleep and that, when he woke again around noon, she had gone. He said she was uninjured when she did.
But today Det. Chavies revealed that Sparks had visited his parents’ home twice on the night of the 4th and in the early hours of the 5th of January.
This is the arrest citation of Davis Sparks, who appeared for a preliminary hearing Monday in the case of Savannah Spurlock
Spurlock traveled to the home located 40 miles from the bar in the back of two of the men’s car, with another vehicle driven by the third man following behind
Spurlock was last seen on surveillance video on January 4 after she left The Other Bar in Lexington with the three men – one of whom is David Sparks
Authorities said Spurlock was driven to the rural home in the back of a car with two of the men while another vehicle driven by the third man followed behind. Both cars were seized and examined by police as part of their investigation
According to Det. Chavies the evening after Savannah was last seen alive at his then home, Sparks spent two hours at his parents’ property. He then left and returned in the early hours of the following morning.
Police found package wrapping tape similar to that used to bind Savannah’s ankles and black trash bags like those in which her body had been wrapped.
Sparks’s own father, Allen, reported the shallow grave in which she was buried. According to Sparks’s arrest citation his father, ‘reported to his attorney a foul odor coming from his property and became concerned.’
Officer Chavies could not give any reason for why the body had not been found during an earlier search conducted in February.
Sparks has been charged with tampering with evidence and abuse of a corpse, but neither cause nor time of death has been determined.
After the hearing, which lasted just 30 minutes Sparks, was transported back to Lincoln Regional Jail where he is currently being held on no bond. Honorable Bill Oliver, the presiding judge at this morning’s hearing, is reviewing that.
The discovery of the remains came just days after the six month mark in the investigation.
Over the course of the investigation, police refused to publicly identify the three men last seen with Spurlock or reveal much of the details of the case.
They had previously searched the property in February and seized a car parked outside in the early days of the investigation.
It is not clear whether police found any evidence at the property during the initial search.
The young woman gave birth to twins in December and also has a four-year-old son, Noah, and a two-year-old son, Jace.
Police have previously said they do not believe that Spurlock knew the men prior to meeting them that night.
Authorities said Spurlock was driven to the rural home in the back of a car with two of the men while another vehicle driven by the third man followed behind.
Spurlock had video called her mother at about 2.30am from one of the men’s vehicles to tell her she would be home later that morning.
Police searched the countryside surrounding the home for weeks but were unable to find any evidence. K9 units and searches on foot and boat combed the rivers and ponds across an area stretching close to 70 miles with that house as its epicenter.
During the search, a scrap of material the same color as the skirt Savannah was wearing the night she disappeared was found. It was discovered in an area not far from the rural home and near one of many ponds in the stretch of countryside. It was sent off for forensic examination.
Police also released photos of the purse and cell phone she had on her at the time given neither have been found.
Her cell phone was switched off, or died, around 8am – five hours after she called her mother saying she would be back later that morning.