Savannah Spurlock vanished on January 4th, 2019. The 22-year-old young woman was last seen leaving The Other Bar, located in Lexington, Kentucky. Savannah was captured on the bar’s surveillance camera with two unidentified men. She FaceTimed her mother one final time at 3:00 AM. During the call, Savannah told her mother that she was out in Lexington and would come home soon. Unfortunately, though, Savannah never returned home and was never seen or heard from again.
The young men Savannah left the bar with were eventually located and questioned by police. The men were initially not named as suspects; however, investigators did not clear them either. Police also interviewed a third man who was seen with Savannah that evening.
No arrests were made at the time, but a search warrant was executed at a home of David Sparks' parents. A car was seized when investigators searched the Sparks' home. Sparks was later identified as one of the men seen with Savannah on the evening of her disappearance.
It was never believed that Savannah left on her own accord. She had recently given birth to twins in December 2018, and she also had two other children. Savannah’s loved ones described her as a dedicated mother who would not abandon her children. During her final FaceTime call, Savannah seemed happy and according to her mother, nothing seemed amiss.
Months after Savannah's disappearance, police revealed a few more details about her case. It was then revealed that Savannah was taken a rural home in Garrard County by Sparks and the other men she was with at the bar. Police explained that they “have evidence to suggest [Savannah] went to the home, but nothing to show she ever left.” At that point, it became clear that investigators believed something awful had happened to Savanah.
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The men from The Other Bar.
Police confirmed that Savannah did not know David Sparks or any of the other men prior to going to The Other Bar on the evening of January 3rd. David later told police that Savannah left his house on foot the following morning, and that he never heard from her again. It was clear that investigators did not buy David's story, but they still initially did not have enough evidence to charge him with anything related to Savannah's disappearance.
The other men present that evening were eventually cleared. They told investigators that they all drank at Sparks' house after leaving The Other Bar. The other men eventually left, but they noted Savannah was alive at that time. They also noted that it appeared Savannah was going in and out of consciousness, and David had touched her inappropriately.
It did not take long for David to become the prime suspect. However, Savannah remained missing, and they could not charge him with anything yet. That finally changed upon the discovery of her remains.
Finding Savannah.
Months later, on the evening of July 10th, 2019, human remains were found on the Sparks' property in Garrard County. The following day, those remains were identified as that of Savannah Spurlock. 23-year-old David Sparks was arrested upon the discovery of Savannah's remains. He was initially only charged with tampering with physical evidence and abuse of a corpse. However, by the end of the next month, David was also charged with Savannah's murder.
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Plea deal.
In 2020, David Sparks pleaded guilty to the murder of Savannah Spurlock.
While in court, the plea deal agreement was read aloud. It stated, “During the early morning hours of January 4, 2019, at 118 Price Court in Garrard County, Kentucky, the defendant, acting alone, intentionally caused the death of Savannah Spurlock. After so doing, he bound her legs and wrapped her body in plastic bags. He later transported her body to (Fall Lick) and buried her in the yard behind that residence. He did so with the intent to elude apprehension for the murder and to impair the evidence’s availability in any future proceeding pertaining to that crime.”
A true motive for Savannah's murder still remains unclear. An investigative file was released on the case, which contains handwritten admissions from David that he is a "psychopath." He called himself a psychopath in a letter found by his bedside table but told investigators it was not related to Savannah's case. However, he also mentioned that he was profiled as a psychopath as well. While this does not provide a true motive, it does provide some insight into his state-of-mind.
As part of his plea deal, Sparks was sentenced to 50 years in prison. He remains incarcerated today.
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Sources:
Courier Journal
Courier Journal
Love the site, just a few things to add & correct that I think would make you a “one stop shop” for all the info on a case.
ReplyDeleteCorrections/Details to the case:
-She was last seen leaving the bar with 3 men, not 2.
-2 of the men were cleared immediately because they left her at David Spark’s house who admitted they did but lied that he woke up & she was gone.
-David Spark’s was the prime suspect from the very beginning because he admitted to being the last person with Savannah during his initial interview, he just lied about what obviously happened after the other 2 men went home.
-David Spark’s parents property was initially searched but her remains were not there. He never said where her body was during that time but she was murdered in his home, moved to an “unknown” location then moved to his parents property after the police were done fully searching it. (Guess he thought she’d never be found since the property was fully searched & he’d be in the clear… probably committing the same act again in the future if he was able to get away with it.)
-I believe you mentioned it somewhere but the letter that was found in David Spark’s home was not connected to the murder or investigation of the murder, it was just something found in his home during the search that demonstrates insight into the type of person he is which gave them more reason to obviously believe he had done something to her.
-In the “Finding Savannah” section, the details are a little distorted. David Spark’s father was working by strawberries in his garden when he smelled a foul scent & alerted the police who then went to search the area where the scent was. Lastly, David Spark’s was not arrested “upon the discovery of her remains” because when the police had gone to search the area of the property that David Spark’s father had alerted them to, David Spark’s was at the police station turning himself in for her murder simultaneously.
-Again, after identifying the 3 men Savannah was seen leaving the bar with that night in the surveillance footage, the police after interviewing the 3 men immediately fully cleared 2 of them & only the 1 man (David Spark’s) became a suspect the prime suspect. All 3 men told police that Savannah was left to sleep at David’s house after 2 of the men had gone home. David said after the 2 men left then the “both of them had gone to sleep” & “she woke him up to find out where she was so he gave her the address” & he said “he fell back asleep only to later wake up to find she had left & he never heard from her again”.
-The other 2 men had regretted leaving her there that night as soon as they did but obviously they didn’t truly know who David was or what he was capable of or they wouldn’t have left Savannah there at all. After hearing the news of Savannah’s disappearance the other 2 men questioned David repeatedly & he told them the same story he had told police. They urged him repeatedly to turn himself in if he had done something to her but he stuck to his story with them as well. Also im sure the other 2 men didn’t want to be held responsible for anything if he did do something to her because they had went home but they did not lie to police during the initial interviews, the both told police that David had been acting inappropriate because he was drunk & that she kept falling asleep so they assumed that when they went home, David would just go to sleep. (Clearly nobody that knew David thought he would be capable of this.)
I really like this website & I wasn’t trying to criticize you. As facts come out though, my only suggestion would be to update the actual facts if more come out & to add the details to the cases your covering as they come out if you put the event up before everything has fully come out & always go back to fact check after the case is fully closed. I hope you keep this site going though & those were just suggestions, you don’t have to do anything but I love when I can come to a website & find out everything there is to know on a case & not have to look anywhere else.. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️