An Arkansas father named Aaron Spencer, 36, was arrested after a deadly confrontation with the man he found his missing 14-year-old daughter with.
The incident unfolded after his family reported the teenage daughter missing last week, prompting deputies from the Lonoke County Sheriff’s Office to head to his address.
However, before their arrival, Aaron had already located his daughter in a car with 67-year-old Michael Fosler, a man with a disturbing history involving the young girl.
Trigger warning: this article contains details of sexual abuse involving a minor
Aaron Spencer, 36, was arrested for allegedly shooting Michael Fosler, 67, and is currently facing a preliminary charge of first-degree murder
Officials said a confrontation erupted between the father and Michael before Aaron brandished a gun and fatally shot him.
The father was taken into custody and is currently facing a preliminary charge of first-degree murder. He was released from the Lonoke County Detention Center after posting bail.
“My husband is a hero and we are so thankful to have him home with us for now,” Aaron’s wife Heather said in a series of Facebook posts she shared after the incident.
“In spring/summer 2024 our then 13 year old child was targeted, groomed and ultimately raped by the boyfriend of a family friend,” she also said in a message posted on a fundraiser, set up by Gun Owners of Arkansas.
The father found the minor girl inside a car with Michael, and their confrontation escalated before he pulled the trigger
“Our family did not know this monster,” she continued. “He just appeared in a place where our child should have been safe and got access to her phone number. And that’s all it took.”
The mother said the “monster who hurt [their] child” was “quickly” charged earlier this year for abusing her but was released “even faster on a $50K bond.”
“He was awaiting court in December for several felonies in relation to what he did to our child,” she said.
“In the early morning hours on Tuesday, October 8th, 2024, we awoke to our daughter’s dog barking,” she went on to say. “This is unusual and caused us to check on her. In that moment we lived every parents biggest fear as we realized our teen child was missing.”
Aaron’s wife Heather shared a series of Facebook posts following the incident and said: “My husband is a hero and we are so thankful to have him home with us for now”
“We frantically searched our home/property and started calling friends, family, and 911. My husband immediately got into his truck to go blindly searching for our child,” the parent added.
She said her husband then passed by the accused man, driving on the road with their minor child in the car, and began chasing him.
“The chase ended in an accident,” she said. “Aaron was able to retrieve our child alive, but in the process he was attacked and did what he had to do to protect himself and our minor child. He is now facing an outrageous murder 1 charge.”
In one of the posts, she shared details of the suffering allegedly caused to her teenage daughter at the hands of Michael.
Michael was charged for sexually abusing the teenager and was released on a $50K bond, the mother said
“This man had a no contact order for stalking/graping our child. We absolutely called 911 during the entire event. We had no idea this man was in contact with our child again. He was waiting 6-9 felonies for what he did, not 2,” she wrote.
“He was looking at the rest of his pathetic life in jail, and our daughter was the only witness,” she wrote. “We 100% in the moment thought he had taken her to kill her.”
She blamed the system for failing to put away the “predator” and allowing him to prey on “weak young girls.”
Heather had initially set up a GoFundMe page to offset the legal costs related to her husband’s case. However, the fundraiser was removed as it was in violation of GoFundMe’s terms, which prohibits raising money to legally defend someone facing charges of a violent crime.
Consequently, the mother is now accepting money on Venmo and Cash App.
The non-profit group Gun Owners of Arkansas had also later stepped in to help set up a fundraising page for the family.
Several people on the internet felt the father did what any parent would do in a similar situation
