Update – July 12, 2019.
Savannah’s remains have been found at a property belonging to David Sparks. Sparks was attested on suspicion of abuse of a corpse and tampering with physical evidence, Kentucky State Police Trooper Robert Purdy told reporters. Her cause of death has not been released.
Update December 2020
A man accused of killing Savannah Spurlock has pleaded guilty to her murder.
Court records confirm David Sparks pleaded guilty to murder, abuse of a corpse and tampering with physical evidence on Monday.
ORIGINAL STORY
Savannah Spurlock is a beautiful 22 year old mother with four young children – she gave birth to twin boys in December 2018. What should have been one of the happiest times in her life has turned into the most tragic.
She has been missing from Lexington, Kentucky since the night of January 4, 2019. No trace of her has been found since that date.
Was the pressure of having four young children too much for Savannah, causing her to walk away from her family? Or did something sinister happen to her? There are so many players in this case and it has gripped us from the start at True Crime Society. Surely, someone knows where Savannah is?
So, what happened?
Savannah is a mother to four children aged 4 and 2, and she had just given birth to newborn twins approximately six weeks before her disappearance. Savannah had not known that she was pregnant with twins and was actually expecting a single female baby to be born.
Savannah had struggled with the shock of giving birth to the twins and as a result they were primarily in the care of their father at the time she went missing.
Savannah’s close friend Kala Hamblin said ‘She didn’t know she was having twins until they arrived. I wasn’t there but [our other friend] Sabrina was and she said that Savannah just looked terrified when she was told there were two of them.’
The father of Savannah’s twins made a Facebook post showing their feeding schedules in late December 2018.
It is thought that she did not have primary custody of any of her children at the time of her disappearance. Ellen Spurlock, Savannah’s mother, has said that the twin boys and her 2-year-old son are currently living with their father. Savannah’s 4-year-old son, who has a different father, is being cared for by Savannah’s father. Savannah’s father, Cecil, said in early 2019 that his daughter had been going through a ‘tough time’ recently and that she had been making ‘horrible decisions.’ Savannah was due to appear in court on January 7, 2019 for a DUI charge that she incurred on December 21, 2018 and in regards to an ‘incident’ at the hospital following her twins’ births saw them handed into the care of their father.
On the night of January 4, 2019, Savannah decided to meet some friends for a night out. Her mother Ellen told media sources “I thought she needed a little break. She hadn’t done anything for months since she just had the twins.”
Savannah borrowed her mother’s car and she met two friends in Richmond, KY. She left her mother’s car at a friend’s house and they then traveled together to ‘The Other Bar’ in Lexington, KY. One friend didn’t stay long as he had to be up early the next morning, and Savannah soon got into an argument with the remaining friend. That friend also left the bar before her, leaving her there alone. Savannah is said to have been alone at the bar since approximately 10pm.
The circumstances of what happened next are unclear, but at around 2.30am, Savannah was seen on CCTV, leaving The Other Bar with two men. She is seen walking near the men and she seems to be happy and leaving willingly with them. Kala Hamblin believes Savannah was leaving with the men because she needed a ride home as her friends had left .
Between 2.30-3.00am, Ellen Spurlock realized that her daughter had not returned home. She tried to call Savannah and the call was rejected. A few minutes later, she received a Facetime call from Savannah, who was in the front seat of a vehicle, riding with the men from the CCTV footage. During the Facetime call, Savannah told her mother ‘Everything is fine. I’m just having fun with friends. I promise I will be home later this morning.” Savannah’s mother has since said that during the Facetime call it sounded like people in the car were yelling at or arguing with Savannah. Lisa Thoma, Savannah’s aunt, said “Police later determined that Savannah was traveling in the front passenger seat of an SUV, with one male driving and another male, who was in the rear passenger seat.”
Savannah never returned home. By 8.30am on January 4, her phone had either died or was switched off and was going straight to voicemail.
The Richmond Police Department issued their first appeal to the public on Tuesday, January 8, 2019. “Savannah was last seen leaving the bar with an unknown black male and an unknown white male,” police said. “The Richmond Police Department is seeking the identity and whereabouts of these two individuals. The white male was seen leaving the area in a black, Chevy S-10 pickup.” Savannah was last seen wearing a black sleeveless top, a maroon skirt and high heels.
The three men seen leaving the bar with Savannah were identified by a police a few days after her disappearance. They have never been publicly named and none of them have been charged in relation to Savannah’s disappearance. Police believe Savannah was taken around 40 miles away from the bar to a house in rural Garrard County, KY.
One of the men told police that Savannah was at the house, but that she left on foot of her own accord. “Police can confirm she was at that house, but they can’t confirm that she left,” Lisa Thoma says. “That is like a dagger sticking in my brain; that seems like a big deal.”
Law enforcement officials executed a search warrant on January 22 at a home in Garrard County belonging to the parents of one of the men seen in the CCTV footage with Savannah. They also searched a vehicle located on the property. Six days later, police announced they had identified and questioned the three men and that forensic testing had been conducted on both vehicles. It was also revealed that Savannah did not know the three men, prior to meeting them at the bar on January 4.
“No one has been charged with any criminal offense at this time,” Richmond police said in a statement. “We are continuing our search for Savannah and appreciate everything the public and the media have done to assist in our efforts. There are many people, organizations, and volunteers that have assisted us over the past few weeks and for that we are thankful. Finding Savannah continues to be a top priority.”
The Cajun Coast Search and Rescue Team announced in late January would travel to Kentucky to aid in the search for Savannah. Their specialized K-9 unit works on missing persons cases across the nation.
February 5, 2019 marked Savannah’s 23rd birthday. Searches of corn fields were conducted and nothing of note was found.
The official search by the Cajun Coast Search and Rescue Team ended on February 12, 2019.
On June 3, 2019 Assistant Police Chief Rodney Richardson issued a small update in the case. “The investigators have a pretty good idea what’s going on. It’s just a matter of proving what you know. picking up all the pieces to the puzzle and putting it back together,” said Richardson.
Savannah’s family have announced that they are offering a $15,000 reward for the first tip that leads directly to the safe return or recovery of Spurlock, or the first tip that leads to the successful arrest and conviction of those responsible.
Spurlock’s mother spoke with LEX 18 saying she prays the reward will give the family answers.
“I have to tell myself, prepare myself that Savannah is no longer with us. After five-and-a-half months it’s just not looking good. The way I look at is if she’s not with she is looking down on us in a better place…heaven,” Ellen Spurlock told LEX 18’s Leigh Searcy.
Savannah is still missing and no charges have been laid in her case. She really has vanished into thin air. She is 5 feet tall, weighs 140 pounds and has brown eyes, shoulder-length brownish blond hair and multiple tattoos, including a rose on her left shoulder. Her tattoos also include “I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me” on the right side of her midsection and “I’m her daughter” on her back. She was last seen wearing a black sleeveless top, a maroon skirt and high heels. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Richmond Police Department at 859-624-4776 or detective@richmond.ky.us.
Savannah’s Social Media Links
https://www.instagram.com/sspurlock
https://www.facebook.com/savannah.spurlock.9
Reference List
https://www.facebook.com/shaq1010
https://www.news.com.au/world/north-america/cctv-shows-missing-girl-22-leave-bar/news-story/9dd446dae25057e8bfece4ec6338462f
Update 1st December 2020-
A man accused of killing Savannah Spurlock has pleaded guilty to her murder.
Court records confirm David Sparks pleaded guilty to murder, abuse of a corpse and tampering with physical evidence on Monday.
https://www.wave3.com/2020/12/02/man-pleads-guilty-murder-savannah-spurlock/
Update 17th December 2020-
David Sparks was sentenced to 50 years Thursday morning
https://www.wkyt.com/2020/12/17/david-sparks-sentenced-for-murder-of-savannah-spurlock/
Is the guy that killed her one of the men that she went home from the bar with?