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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 the property of 12 oregon truthful it was similar "somebody flipped a switch," Dennis told investigators, arsenic heard successful a signaling played successful the Netflix docuseries Into the Fire: The Lost Daughter. She had started moving away, helium continued, and getting into occupation astatine school.
When helium returned to their Hamilton, Mich., location connected the time she disappeared, not lone was Aundria gone, Dennis said, truthful was the taxation refund currency he'd stashed successful the dresser and the alteration from his younger daughter's babe bank.
Initially determination were reported sightings of Aundria from adjacent Holland—in enactment astatine the market store, astatine a skating rink, etc.—all the mode to Indiana, authorities recalled successful the series. But those yet tapered disconnected and the lawsuit went chromatic cold.
Aundria's commencement mother, Cathy Terkanian—who placed the 9-month-old girl she'd named Alexis for adoption successful 1975—said successful the bid she had nary thought thing was amiss until she got a missive from the adoption bureau successful 2010.
She recalled reasoning that possibly her girl was looking for her. Instead, it was a petition for a DNA illustration to spot if the 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 the chartless woman. But successful the meantime, it had go her ngo to find retired what did hap to Aundria.
And she admittedly didn't expect the effect she'd get erstwhile she acceptable up a "Find Aundria Bowman" leafage connected Facebook. She yet ended up connecting with aged friends of Aundria who had disturbing stories to stock astir the teen's location beingness earlier she went missing.
Cathy recalled being "devastated" and wondering, "Who the 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 with intent to perpetrate transgression intersexual behaviour aft helium attacked a teenage miss successful 1980, according to tribunal documents shown successful the 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 the Fire—named truthful due to the fact that she compared her quest for the information to seeing a location occurrence and choosing to locomotion close successful and get burned—she became definite that Dennis not lone killed Aundria but had buried her close successful his backyard.
She started calling the Bowmans aggregate times a time and had a billboard enactment up on the main roadworthy to their location offering an $11,000 reward for an apprehension successful the unsolved missing-person case.
Yet arsenic respective investigators pointed retired successful the series, Cathy's hunch wasn't the grounds oregon probable origin they needed to spell digging up the Bowmans' yard. And Dennis had denied repeatedly done the years having thing to bash with his daughter's disappearance.
But successful November 2019, Dennis was arrested connected suspicion of murder.
He was not being charged, however, successful transportation with Aundria's disappearance. Rather, according to authorities, forensic grounds enactment him astatine the country of the 1980 execution of Kathleen Doyle successful Norfolk, Va.
Kathleen Doyle/"Into the 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 tiny location successful Norfolk portion helium was deployed.
On the nighttime of Sept. 9, 1980, Kathleen had a person implicit for a mates glasses of wine, according to Deputy Commonwealth's Attorney Phil Evans. The person near astatine astir 9:30 p.m. Kathleen was recovered dormant connected the level of her chamber 2 days later.
Detective Jon Smith of the Norfolk Police Department's Cold Case Homicide Unit said successful Into the Fire that Kathleen's origin of decease was "mechanical asphyxiation, fundamentally strangulation." She had been sexually assaulted and had a circular pain people connected her close cheek, Smith said, that matched a Lincoln Log artifact with 1 scorched extremity that was recovered successful her bath trash.
But with nary fingerprints oregon apt suspects among the Doyles' neighbors, the lawsuit went acold for astir 40 years until advances successful DNA testing—including the emergence of genealogy and familial investigating services—made a interruption possible.
Investigators were capable to physique a Y-chromosome DNA illustration 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 the series, and helium soon learned astir Aundria's mysterious disappearance and Dennis' transgression record.
Kathleen Doyle/"Into the Fire" (Netflix)
But successful what helium called a changeable of dumb luck, Smith coincidentally met Detective Sgt. Bryan Fuller of the Michigan State Police astatine a Regional Homicide Investigators Association league successful Norfolk.
As some men recalled successful the Netflix series, Fuller was precise acquainted with Aundria's lawsuit and told Smith that Dennis was astir apt the feline helium was looking for.
From tribunal records, Smith subsequently confirmed that Dennis had been successful Norfolk astatine the clip of Kathleen's execution for a two-week grooming campy portion helium was successful the Navy.
Dennis was subsequently arrested successful Allegan County, Mich., wherever investigators lifted DNA from a cupful helium utilized astatine the station. It was a lucifer for the DNA collected from Kathleen's bedspread, Smith said.
What did Dennis Bowman accidental astir Kathleen Doyle's murder?
In a videotaped interrogation with Smith shown during Into the Fire, Dennis said helium drunkenly broke into a Norfolk location connected the nighttime successful question utilizing a pen weapon to unfastened a window. He was successful the surviving room, helium said, erstwhile a pistillate walked successful and "freaked out." She grabbed his manus holding the knife, Dennis said, and the weapon pierced her stomach.
According to Smith, Kathleen had been stabbed successful the thorax and back, her hands were tied down her backmost and she was bruised each over.
Det. Jon Smith, Dennis Bowman/"Into the Fire" (Netflix)
Confronted with the grisly details, Smith recalled successful Into the Fire, Dennis' demeanor changed and "he wouldn't look me." He became "childlike, successful a way," the detective added.
As seen successful the video of his interrogation, Dennis denied sexually assaulting Kathleen oregon stabbing her much than the 1 clip helium admitted to, and continued to repeat, "I didn't bash that," erstwhile helium was unsocial successful the room. Then helium muttered twice, "I've done it again."
In June 2020, Dennis pleaded guilty to 1 number apiece of first-degree murder, rape and burglary. He was sentenced to 2 presumption of beingness successful prison, positive 20 years for the burglary.
By then, however, the lawsuit of Aundria's disappearance had cracked wide unfastened arsenic well.
What happened to Aundria Bowman?
After Dennis was charged with Kathleen's murder, authorities successful Virginia and Michigan engaged his woman Brenda successful trying to get him to admit to sidesplitting Aundria.
They offered the anticipation of Dennis getting the accidental to service his situation clip successful Michigan alternatively of Virgina truthful he'd beryllium person to his wife, if helium came clean.
Meanwhile, investigators did commencement digging up the Bowmans' yard—as Cathy had ever hoped they would—but they didn't find anything.
Dennis continued to contradict successful taped situation telephone conversations with Brenda, sampled successful Into the Fire, that helium didn't cognize what happened to their daughter. Until 1 time successful precocious 2019 helium requested that his woman beryllium allowed to sojourn him successful jailhouse truthful helium could talk to her alone.
In the videotaped conversation, helium told Brenda that, connected the time helium reported Aundria missing, helium had really returned location and spied the teen coming retired of their bedroom. When helium asked what she was doing successful there, she said she was leaving home, and if helium tried to halt her she'd archer radical he'd been molesting her.
He deed her, Dennis said, and Aundria fell down the stairs.
Seeing that she was dead—"Her caput rolled over," helium told Brenda—"and she conscionable stared, similar doll eyes"—and fearing he'd beryllium sent backmost to prison, Dennis continued, helium carried the 14-year-old's assemblage retired to their barn. She was determination for respective days, helium said, during which helium burned her overnight container (and perchance the currency he'd reported stolen had been successful the bag, helium told police, due to the fact that helium ne'er recovered it) and her coat.
Dennis said that helium tried to enactment the assemblage wrong a cardboard tube and, erstwhile she didn't fit, helium chopped her legs off. He rolled the tube retired adjacent to the neighbor's trash connected pickup day, helium continued, and it was taken away.
"As agelong arsenic I didn't archer you," Dennis told Brenda, "you had hope."
Where was Aundria Bowman's body?
But authorities continued to show the couple's communication, including letters Dennis wrote to his wife, and successful 1 dated Dec. 12, 2019, a transcript of which was shown successful the series, helium changed portion of his story.
Aundria did fall, helium wrote, but past helium 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 with a bosom and a transverse erstwhile helium wrapped her successful a cleanable achromatic expanse "like a mummy," past encased her successful a tarp with cedar chips, cloves and cinnamon. He drove by the tract much than 100 times implicit 30 years, helium wrote.
Investigators said during Into the Fire that they followed up and searched adjacent graveyards for a imaginable burial site, but they were admittedly skeptical and told Brenda that she needed to property Dennis harder for the truth.
Finally, implicit the telephone successful different recorded conversation, Dennis admitted that Aundria was buried successful their backyard. When Brenda protested that they didn't adjacent unrecorded determination erstwhile their girl disappeared, helium said that helium had enactment her successful a tube and buried her astatine their erstwhile home. Then, erstwhile they moved, helium said, helium dug up and moved the tube arsenic well.
"I dug the hole, and I enactment the tube in," helium said. "She's been close determination the full time."
Netflix
A consequent excavation of the Bowmans' yard, this clip with the assistance of dense machinery to interruption done cement, recovered skeletal remains successful February 2020.
The bones were positively identified arsenic Aundria's done a familial DNA lucifer with Cathy, who remarked successful Into the 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 miss location with maine successful a precise beauteous urn"—had them cremated. She offered to springiness Cathy fractional of the ashes.
Cathy Terkanian/"Into the Fire" (Netflix)
Cathy reluctantly accepted but said successful Into the Fire that she was determined 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 oregon 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, helium 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, unsafe antheral that has harmed galore communities, galore families," Allegan County Circuit Court Judge Margaret Zuzich Bakker said astatine the sentencing hearing. "It's intolerable to adjacent articulate the words to picture what helium has done. Reading what helium has done is sickening."
Cathy, who was successful tribunal to watch, called the 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 beingness sentences. According to the state's Department of Corrections, the 75-year-old is an inmate astatine River North Correctional Center successful Independence.
