Overview
- Clinic staff in Campton alerted Kentucky State Police on Dec. 31 after a patient disclosed an at-home abortion and burial at a Flat Mary Road residence.
- Police say Melinda S. Spencer, 35, admitted she ordered abortion pills online and later buried remains, which investigators recovered in a shallow grave consistent with her account.
- Spencer faces charges of first-degree fetal homicide, abuse of a corpse, and tampering with physical evidence, and she is being held at the Three Forks Regional Jail in Beattyville.
- Court filings detail a timeline stating she took medication on Dec. 26, the abortion occurred on Dec. 27, and the burial followed on Dec. 28, with an autopsy pending to establish gestational age.
- Kentucky law classifies first-degree fetal homicide as a capital offense that can carry life imprisonment or the death penalty if convicted, according to reporting on state statutes.