Missing mother of four Savannah Spurlock's body found bound, folded in half inside trash bags in shallow grave
The man charged in the disappearance of 23-year-old Savannah Spurlock appeared in Garrard District Court Monday morning as horrific details emerged of how her body was found. Reports stated the Kentucky mother's body was found naked, folded, bound, bundled into trash bags in a shallow grave behind a property belonging to David Sparks' parents.
Months after the disappearance of Spurlock, the FBI found human remains buried at a rural property in Kentucky while they were searching for the 23-year-old mother of four, who vanished after leaving a bar with three men she met there in January this year. Spurlock was last seen January 4, 2019, leaving The Other Bar in Lexington with the three men.
Officials believe she had not known these men before their meeting that night. Spurlock, who gave birth to twins in December, also has a four-year-old son, Noah, and a two-year-old son, Jace. Authorities arrested Sparks in connection with the case Thursday morning after uncovering Spurlock's remains on his parents' property in Garrard County.
Sparks was charged with abuse of a corpse and tampering with physical evidence. The suspect is believed to be one of the three men who were last seen with Spurlock when surveillance footage showed her leaving the bar in Lexington January 4.
Kentucky State Police Detective Tyler Chamings told the court Spurlock was found in a "clandestine grave" July 10. He said the grave, at its deepest point, was nearly 19 inches deep. She had been placed in "multiple black trash bags, was unclothed and her feet were bound with tape." The officer described it being in an "unnatural orientation" as her "head and feet were in the same position. She had been folded in half," the Daily Mail reported. The detective added that a grey rectangular accent rug was found buried near her back.
The detective told the court, Sparks, on January 5, had sent a text message to his sister Sarah asking: "Hey where did you get that rug? I'm going to get another one." Sparks, later that day, went to a Wal-Mart in Richmond and purchased an identical rug to the one found buried with Spurlock.
Reports stated that just a few days after Spurlock's disappearance, Sparks' home in Lancaster was searched by the authorities January 10, the last place she was seen alive. They also seized a car parked outside the property then. However, no information about the search was revealed to the public at the time. The detective, during Monday's hearing, could not explain why the body had not been found during an earlier search conducted at the same property.
The grave was reported by Sparks' own father, Allen, who "reported to his attorney a foul odor coming from his property and became concerned," according to the arrest citation. Sparks, when interviewed by detectives in January, told them he and the other three men had gone back to his house with Spurlock.
They eventually left and he and Spurlock remained. The suspect claimed she went to sleep in his bedroom while he slept on the couch and when he woke up mid-morning, she asked him where she was so she could arrange transport home. Sparks claimed he fell asleep after that and when he woke up around noon, she had left.
However, the detective revealed that Sparks' had visited his parents' home twice on the night of January 4 and in the early hours of January 5. Sparks reportedly spent two hours at his parents' property, the evening after Spurlock was seen alive at the home. He then left and returned in the early hours the following morning.
Officials found package wrapping tape similar to the one used to bind Spurlock's ankles. Sparks, after the 30-minute hearing, was taken back to Lincoln Regional Jail where he is currently being held with no bond. The three other men involved in the incident have not yet been identified.
Spurlock reportedly Facetimed her mother from one of the men's vehicles during the drive and had told her she would be home later that morning. All the three men were questioned by police during the early stages of the investigation, however, no arrests were made at the time.
Spurlock's best friend, Kala Hamblin, while talking to the Daily Mail in February said that the night the 23-year-old disappeared was her first night out since giving birth. Her children were reportedly being cared for by their father and her ex-boyfriend, Shaquille Smith.
Hamblin added that she went with another friend of hers but was alone towards the end of the day after arguing with her friend. Hamblin also rejected the men's claims who said she walked out of the home early that morning: "I don't believe it at all. I just do not believe that she walked out that door. She would have called one of us. She would have called her mom. She had on heels and a skirt and it was cold and she didn't have a jacket. She was on a country road where she has never been in her life. She would never walk on that."