A DEVASTATED wife is speaking out after her husband was arrested for allegedly killing a man they say abducted and sexually abused their young daughter.
The father, Aaron Spencer, had awoken one night to the sounds of their dog barking when he noticed that his daughter was no longer in her bed, the family says.
Aaron’s wife, Heather, has been outspoken about the family’s struggles[/caption]
Aaron goes to trial in January[/caption]
The family says that Aaron had went into his daughter’s room one night to find the daughter missing from her bed[/caption]
Months previously, the girl, then 13, had told her parents that a person she’d met at a family friend’s house had sexually assaulted her multiple times.
The man, Michael Fosler, was hit with 43 charges, including internet stalking of a child, sexual indecency with a child, and pandering or possessing child pornography.
He had been arrested, but was released on bond.
A no contact order had been issued against Fosler for the girl, her mom said in a Facebook post.
The parents hoped that it would’ve been enough to protect their daughter.
But when Spencer realized his homeschooled 14-year-old daughter was gone that night, he immediately went searching, according to reports.
“[A]ll the lights in the house were on, we were calling for her inside the house, then outside,” his wife, Heather, posted.
She claims she panicked, and called other family members who said they had not seen the girl.
“I called 911 immediately as my husband left to go looking for her, with no direction in mind, only a prayer of finding her,” Heather wrote.
The child’s aunt noticed that just a day or two prior, Fosler had allegedly sent the girl money for food delivery through a payment app.
“In that moment we realized that she may have been taken, but it’s the middle of the night and everything is happening in seconds and every second counts,” she wrote.
“I tell 911 that this man may be involved and as I’m speaking I’m realizing that if he does have her, I’ll probably never see her again.
“Statistics and horror stories race through my mind. My baby. My little girl. Gone. All I could do was pray,” Heather added.
“I hung up with the 911 operator and called my mother. I screamed in horror while she prayed Hail Marys.”
“God, please save my baby.”
It was then that Aaron says he had noticed Fosler’s pickup truck on the road — and his little girl was with him.
The mother’s statement
On Facebook, the wife and mother wrote what had allegedly happened before the night 67-year-old Michael Fosler was killed.
“It has been a hard 8 months, silently fighting battles we were unprepared for. In those early days we had a very limited understanding of the magnitude of what we were facing.
What happened to our child starting in the spring of 2024 when she was just 13 was horrifying and traumatic for all who loved her. She is a quiet homeschooled child who at the time spent more days than not helping care for her dying grandpa. It was hard work and when presented with the opportunity to spend some time in a “safe place,” I allowed her to take a much needed break on days when we weren’t busy to be with friends that were family. Deep in my soul they were family and I trusted she was safe. She wasn’t.
It took very little exposure for an unknown man who was old enough to be my father to start pursuing my child. This monster was an opportunist and started grooming my then 13-year-old via text.
In July of 2024 we were informed by a family member that our now 14-year-old child had confided that she had been r*ped. Immediately, we asked our child what happened and she explained that this man who was a stranger to us had assaulted her, multiple times.
We let the law run its course, and we were promised along the way that this “isn’t 20 years ago,” they take these things seriously now. We trusted that this man would be served justice under the law. While we were happy that he was quickly arrested we were not privy to the fact that he was released on a low bond with zero supervision. Even though we anticipated his release, we thought the pending felony charges and a no contact order would be enough to keep him away from our child. We were wrong.
We put our daughter into therapy and tried our best to manage her trauma while still caring for my dying father.”
He told police he turned around and started following Fosler, before eventually slamming into the back of the vehicle and pushing it off the road.
Aaron said he got out of his car with his gun, and told Fosler to get out of the truck and into a ditch, according to the arrest affidavit.
He told police that as his daughter tried to get out, Fosler appeared to have stopped her and got out of the car with something in his hand.
After Fosler lunged at Aaron, he emptied his gun and then pistol-whipped him, according to the father’s recounting in the affidavit.
The report said that Aaron had gotten his daughter out, called 911, and said that Fosler, the “man who kidnapped his daughter,” was “dead on the side of the road,” according to CNN.
He said he “had no choice.”
“Thanks to my husband’s quick and courageous actions our child was saved that night,” his wife wrote in the Facebook post.
“I have no doubt that if it weren’t for God and my husband, I would have never seen my child again.”
Aaron is charged with second-degree murder with a gun enhancement as his case goes to trial in January 2026.
He was released on a $150,000 bond on October 9.
Arkansas Judge Barbara Elmore, who Heather claimed was “the same judge who released this monster out into the community to continue his reign of terror on our child,” granted a broad gag order on the family, lawyers and those connected to the case from speaking on it.
“We were no longer able to share our story and were forced to suffer the injustice of it all in silence,” Heather said.
The case was later heard by the Arkansas Supreme Court, who lifted the gag order.
Aaron and his family have received national support for his defense, raising over $60,000 so far on GiveSendGo.
The fundraiser claims that the little girl was expected to testify in court against Fosler before his death.
“This case has changed nearly every part of our daily lives,” Heather Spencer said to CNN.
“Not long ago, my biggest concern was whether my sourdough was rising. My days were filled with baking. Now they’re filled with therapy appointments, legal updates and the constant focus on keeping my husband home while helping my family navigate an unthinkable reality.”
To report child abuse, individuals can call the Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-482-5964. Mandated reporters can send information to mandatedreporter.arkansas.gov.
The national contact to report child abuse is the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 800-422-4453.
The arrest affidavit said that after going out in the middle of the night searching for the girl, Aaron had found the 14-year-old with the 67-year-old man[/caption]
His wife has praised him for saving their daughter’s life[/caption]
The arrest affidavit claimed that the dad said “had no choice.”[/caption]
