A 23-year-old mother of 4 has been missing for over a month: Here's what we know about the search
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Shortly after Savannah Spurlock went missing last month, her teen sister celebrated a birthday.
A few days ago, family and friends gathered for her oldest son's 4th birthday party.
And on Tuesday, Spurlock turned 23.
"It’s another important day that she’s not here for," Spurlock's uncle Mark Thoma said. "Her absence is that much more obvious."
The search for the Kentucky mother of four, including twin boys born in December, entered its second month this week.
Over the weekend, Richmond police released more details about the disappearance.
Investigators confirmed Spurlock left The Other Bar in Lexington with three men in the early hours of Jan. 4 after a night out with friends.
Assistant Chief of Police Lt. Col. Rodney Richardson said there's no indication she knew the men before meeting them that night.
Surveillance video shared by police captured her leaving with the men. Richardson said they headed to a home in Garrard County, about an hour's drive south.
Thoma said that while on that drive, Spurlock's mother, Ellen Spurlock, called her daughter, having expected her back at the home they shared in Richmond.
She assured her mother she'd be home in the morning, Thoma said.
Exactly what happened after that is not known.
Only over the weekend did police release that her last known location was at the Garrard County home, in hopes that people in the area would come forward with information.
"After that, her whereabouts can’t be accounted for," Richardson said.
The county still remains the focal point of the investigation. Nearby bodies of water have been combed, K-9s have searched open fields and police have looked through at least one home and towed away one vehicle as they investigate.
The three men have been interviewed by authorities. They do not currently face charges. Richardson said at least one of the men told investigators that Spurlock was at the home but didn’t stay there all night.
Richardson declined to provide further details about what the three shared with detectives.
By morning, around 8:30 a.m., Spurlock's cellphone went out of service, police said, though it's unclear why.
Thoma, her uncle, occasionally calls the number. He knows others try, too. Each time, no ring. It goes straight to voicemail.
"Nobody thought we would be here a month with them still not having many answers," he said.
Thoma and his wife live in Ohio, and he said watching from afar is difficult.
He recalls a time when he lived in Lexington while going to college and his niece was growing up in nearby Richmond. The two were quite close.
She was a vivacious child, he said, a quality she kept as she got older. She has many friends, some of which were at the recent birthday party for her oldest son.
It was a happy moment in what otherwise has been a very long, very trying start to the year.
Thoma said he thought once the public saw the surveillance video images, the three men would be identified and the case would crack wide open. Same with when a search warrant was executed on the Garrard County home.
"We kept thinking maybe this is the break," he said. "I’m just praying that one of these times that we are going to get something concrete that gives a true answer. And I do think that is going to happen.”
Anyone with information is asked to call the Richmond Police Department at 859-624-4776 or email detective@richmond.ky.us.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: A 23-year-old mother of 4 has been missing for over a month: Here's what we know about the search
