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Dennis Bowman called constabulary to study his 14-year-old girl missing connected March 11, 1989.
Aundria Bowman was a bully kid but astatine nan property of 12 aliases truthful it was for illustration "somebody flipped a switch," Dennis told investigators, arsenic heard successful a signaling played successful nan Netflix docuseries Into nan Fire: The Lost Daughter. She had started moving away, he continued, and getting into problem astatine school.
When he returned to their Hamilton, Mich., location connected nan time she disappeared, not only was Aundria gone, Dennis said, truthful was nan taxation refund rate he'd stashed successful nan dresser and nan alteration from his younger daughter's babe bank.
Initially location were reported sightings of Aundria from adjacent Holland—in statement astatine nan market store, astatine a skating rink, etc.—all nan measurement to Indiana, authorities recalled successful nan series. But those yet tapered disconnected and nan lawsuit went chromatic cold.
Aundria's commencement mother, Cathy Terkanian—who placed nan 9-month-old girl she'd named Alexis for take successful 1975—said successful nan bid she had nary thought thing was amiss until she sewage a missive from nan take agency successful 2010.
She recalled reasoning that possibly her girl was looking for her. Instead, it was a petition for a DNA sample to spot if nan assemblage of a Jane Doe recovered successful a Wisconsin cornfield successful 1999 mightiness beryllium Aundria.
Netflix
Three years later, Cathy recovered retired her DNA was not a familial lucifer for nan chartless woman. But successful nan meantime, it had go her ngo to find retired what did hap to Aundria.
And she admittedly didn't expect nan consequence she'd get erstwhile she group up a "Find Aundria Bowman" page connected Facebook. She yet ended up connecting pinch aged friends of Aundria who had disturbing stories to stock astir nan teen's location life earlier she went missing.
Cathy recalled being "devastated" and wondering, "Who nan hellhole adopted my daughter?"
Who are Dennis Bowman and Brenda Bowman?
Dennis and Brenda Bowman (née Engweiler) joined successful 1971 and adopted Aundria successful 1975.
Dennis, a U.S. Navy veteran, was sentenced successful February 1981 to 5 to 10 years successful situation for battle pinch intent to perpetrate criminal intersexual behaviour aft he attacked a teenage woman successful 1980, according to tribunal documents shown successful nan series. He was released Jan. 1, 1986, erstwhile Aundria was 11.
Dennis and Brenda's younger girl Vanessa Bowman was calved successful 1988.
Netflix
As Cathy elaborate successful Into nan Fire—named truthful because she compared her quest for nan truth to seeing a location occurrence and choosing to locomotion correct successful and get burned—she became definite that Dennis not only killed Aundria but had buried her correct successful his backyard.
She started calling nan Bowmans aggregate times a time and had a advertisement put up on nan main roadworthy to their location offering an $11,000 reward for an apprehension successful nan unsolved missing-person case.
Yet arsenic respective investigators pointed retired successful nan series, Cathy's hunch wasn't nan grounds aliases probable origin they needed to spell digging up nan Bowmans' yard. And Dennis had denied many times done nan years having thing to do pinch his daughter's disappearance.
But successful November 2019, Dennis was arrested connected suspicion of murder.
He was not being charged, however, successful relationship pinch Aundria's disappearance. Rather, according to authorities, forensic grounds put him astatine nan segment of nan 1980 execution of Kathleen Doyle successful Norfolk, Va.
Kathleen Doyle/"Into nan Fire" (Netflix)
Who was execution unfortunate Kathleen Doyle?
Kathleen, 25, had been joined to her Navy aviator hubby since December 1979 and was surviving successful a mini location successful Norfolk while he was deployed.
On nan nighttime of Sept. 9, 1980, Kathleen had a friend complete for a mates glasses of wine, according to Deputy Commonwealth's Attorney Phil Evans. The friend near astatine astir 9:30 p.m. Kathleen was recovered dormant connected nan level of her chamber 2 days later.
Detective Jon Smith of nan Norfolk Police Department's Cold Case Homicide Unit said successful Into nan Fire that Kathleen's origin of decease was "mechanical asphyxiation, fundamentally strangulation." She had been sexually assaulted and had a information pain people connected her correct cheek, Smith said, that matched a Lincoln Log artifact pinch 1 scorched extremity that was recovered successful her bath trash.
But pinch nary fingerprints aliases apt suspects among nan Doyles' neighbors, nan lawsuit went acold for almost 40 years until advances successful DNA testing—including nan emergence of genealogy and familial testing services—made a break possible.
Investigators were capable to build a Y-chromosome DNA floor plan from grounds recovered connected Kathleen's bedspread. Using familial genealogy matching, they compiled a database of 31 names who were imaginable matches.
Dennis was No. 31 connected that list, Smith said successful nan series, and he soon learned astir Aundria's mysterious disappearance and Dennis' criminal record.
Kathleen Doyle/"Into nan Fire" (Netflix)
But successful what he called a changeable of dumb luck, Smith coincidentally met Detective Sgt. Bryan Fuller of nan Michigan State Police astatine a Regional Homicide Investigators Association convention successful Norfolk.
As some men recalled successful nan Netflix series, Fuller was very acquainted pinch Aundria's lawsuit and told Smith that Dennis was astir apt nan feline he was looking for.
From tribunal records, Smith subsequently confirmed that Dennis had been successful Norfolk astatine nan clip of Kathleen's execution for a two-week training campy while he was successful nan Navy.
Dennis was subsequently arrested successful Allegan County, Mich., wherever investigators lifted DNA from a cup he utilized astatine nan station. It was a lucifer for nan DNA collected from Kathleen's bedspread, Smith said.
What did Dennis Bowman opportunity astir Kathleen Doyle's murder?
In a videotaped question and reply pinch Smith shown during Into nan Fire, Dennis said he drunkenly collapsed into a Norfolk location connected nan nighttime successful mobility utilizing a pen weapon to unfastened a window. He was successful nan surviving room, he said, erstwhile a female walked successful and "freaked out." She grabbed his manus holding nan knife, Dennis said, and nan weapon pierced her stomach.
According to Smith, Kathleen had been stabbed successful nan thorax and back, her hands were tied down her backmost and she was bruised each over.
Det. Jon Smith, Dennis Bowman/"Into nan Fire" (Netflix)
Confronted pinch nan grisly details, Smith recalled successful Into nan Fire, Dennis' demeanor changed and "he wouldn't look me." He became "childlike, successful a way," nan detective added.
As seen successful nan video of his interrogation, Dennis denied sexually assaulting Kathleen aliases stabbing her much than nan 1 clip he admitted to, and continued to repeat, "I didn't do that," erstwhile he was unsocial successful nan room. Then he muttered twice, "I've done it again."
In June 2020, Dennis pleaded guilty to 1 count apiece of first-degree murder, rape and burglary. He was sentenced to 2 position of life successful prison, positive 20 years for nan burglary.
By then, however, nan lawsuit of Aundria's disappearance had cracked wide unfastened arsenic well.
What happened to Aundria Bowman?
After Dennis was charged pinch Kathleen's murder, authorities successful Virginia and Michigan engaged his woman Brenda successful trying to get him to admit to sidesplitting Aundria.
They offered nan anticipation of Dennis getting nan chance to service his situation clip successful Michigan alternatively of Virgina truthful he'd beryllium person to his wife, if he came clean.
Meanwhile, investigators did commencement digging up nan Bowmans' yard—as Cathy had ever hoped they would—but they didn't find anything.
Dennis continued to contradict successful taped situation telephone conversations pinch Brenda, sampled successful Into nan Fire, that he didn't cognize what happened to their daughter. Until 1 time successful precocious 2019 he requested that his woman beryllium allowed to sojourn him successful jailhouse truthful he could speak to her alone.
In nan videotaped conversation, he told Brenda that, connected nan time he reported Aundria missing, he had really returned location and spied nan teen coming retired of their bedroom. When he asked what she was doing successful there, she said she was leaving home, and if he tried to extremity her she'd show group he'd been molesting her.
He deed her, Dennis said, and Aundria fell down nan stairs.
Seeing that she was dead—"Her caput rolled over," he told Brenda—"and she conscionable stared, for illustration doll eyes"—and fearing he'd beryllium sent backmost to prison, Dennis continued, he carried nan 14-year-old's assemblage retired to their barn. She was location for respective days, he said, during which he burned her overnight container (and perchance nan rate he'd reported stolen had been successful nan bag, he told police, because he ne'er recovered it) and her coat.
Dennis said that he tried to put nan assemblage wrong a cardboard tube and, erstwhile she didn't fit, he trim her legs off. He rolled nan tube retired adjacent to nan neighbor's trash connected pickup day, he continued, and it was taken away.
"As agelong arsenic I didn't show you," Dennis told Brenda, "you had hope."
Where was Aundria Bowman's body?
But authorities continued to show nan couple's communication, including letters Dennis wrote to his wife, and successful 1 dated Dec. 12, 2019, a transcript of which was shown successful nan series, he changed portion of his story.
Aundria did fall, he wrote, but past he buried her successful "a due grave" adjacent to a section graveyard. According to Dennis' letter, she was wearing jeans, a sweater and a golden necklace pinch a bosom and a transverse erstwhile he wrapped her successful a cleanable achromatic expanse "like a mummy," past encased her successful a tarp pinch cedar chips, cloves and cinnamon. He drove by nan tract much than 100 times complete 30 years, he wrote.
Investigators said during Into nan Fire that they followed up and searched adjacent graveyards for a imaginable funeral site, but they were admittedly skeptical and told Brenda that she needed to property Dennis harder for nan truth.
Finally, complete nan telephone successful different recorded conversation, Dennis admitted that Aundria was buried successful their backyard. When Brenda protested that they didn't moreover unrecorded location erstwhile their girl disappeared, he said that he had put her successful a tube and buried her astatine their erstwhile home. Then, erstwhile they moved, he said, he dug up and moved nan tube arsenic well.
"I dug nan hole, and I put nan tube in," he said. "She's been correct location nan full time."
Netflix
A consequent excavation of nan Bowmans' yard, this clip pinch nan thief of dense machinery to break done cement, recovered skeletal remains successful February 2020.
The bones were positively identified arsenic Aundria's done a familial DNA lucifer pinch Cathy, who remarked successful Into nan Fire that it was arsenic if her girl had "been screaming successful that backyard for years."
Aundria's remains were fixed to Brenda, who—having told Dennis successful 1 of their taped conversations that she wanted "our babe woman location pinch maine successful a very beautiful urn"—had them cremated. She offered to springiness Cathy half of nan ashes.
Cathy Terkanian/"Into nan Fire" (Netflix)
Cathy reluctantly accepted but said successful Into nan Fire that she was wished to get each of her girl back, lamenting, "All that is is conscionable chopping her up more."
The docuseries notes that Brenda refused to beryllium interviewed aliases different comment. E! News couldn't instantly find interaction accusation for Brenda and reached retired to Netflix, but did not perceive back.
Where is Dennis Bowman now?
On Dec. 22, 2021, Dennis pleaded nary contest to second-degree murder, and connected Feb. 7, 2022, he was sentenced to a minimum of 35 to 50 years successful prison.
"His galore assaults, his behaviour successful this case, different convictions each bespeak Mr. Bowman is simply a serious, vulnerable man that has harmed galore communities, galore families," Allegan County Circuit Court Judge Margaret Zuzich Bakker said astatine nan sentencing hearing. "It's intolerable to moreover articulate nan words to picture what he has done. Reading what he has done is sickening."
Cathy, who was successful tribunal to watch, called nan infinitesimal "surreal," telling reporters afterward, "I spent 10 years trying to spot that happen."
Weeks later, Dennis was transferred backmost to Virginia to commencement serving his life sentences. According to nan state's Department of Corrections, nan 75-year-old is an inmate astatine River North Correctional Center successful Independence.
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