Netflix released a two-part docuseries on the disturbing murder of 14-year-old Aundria Michelle Bowman in 1989 titled Into the Fire: The Lost Daughter. The streaming giants' latest offering has left viewers stunned about the disappearance of the teenager followed by her murder.
Into the Fire: The Lost Daughter is the latest docuseries about a girl named Aundria Michelle Bowman, presumed to have run away from her adoptive parents' home in March 1989. The first part of the docuseries begins with the introduction of Aundria's biological mother Cathy Terkanian, who gave birth to her in 1974, at the tender age of 16.
Since Cathy was too young to raise a child, her mother forced her into giving Aundria up for a close adoption. Cathy explains in Into the Fire: The Lost Daughter, that she named her daughter Alexis Miranda Badger, but her adoptive parents changed the name to Aundria Bowman.
Cathy Terkanian wanted to raise the child herself, but her mother didn't agree to it. Years later in 2010, a letter from the adoption agency left Cathy with more questions, as it requested for a DNA test to determine if a dead body found in a cornfield was that of Aundria.
It wasn't her daughter's dead body, but Cathy learned that Aundria had been missing and she set put to uncover the truth. Upon searching on the official page of the Michigan State Police Department, Cathy and her husband found Aundria listed at the top of the missing persons list.
How did Cathy search for Aundria in Into the Fire: The Lost Daughter?
As seen in Netflix's Into the Fire: The Lost Daughter, Cathy Terkanian learned Aundria was adopted by Brenda and Dennis Bowman, a couple who lived in Hamilton, Michigan when the teenager went missing. After closely looking at some pictures, Cathy realized Aundria was indeed her daughter.
She then made a Facebook page named "Find Aundria Bowman" to learn about her daughter and gather the maximum information available about her daughter. Cathy Terkanian received numerous messages from different people, describing Aundria and her relationship with Brenda and Dennis Bowman.
Terkanian also connected with an accountant named Carl Koppelman, who worked on missing cases in his free time. A kidnapping survivor Metta McLeod also reached out to Cathy, informing her about Dennis Bowman, who was claimed to be an abusive adoptive father.
It's revealed in Into the Fire: The Lost Daughter, that Dennis was highly abusive toward Aundria. While Brenda seemed a quiet lady, her husband didn't treat Aundria right. One of the victim's friends exposed that Dennis only gave her and Aundria leftover sandwiches with ketchup, while the family was enjoying a meal.
When Dennis came into Aundria's room and learned about the complaint over the food, he tortured and hit her so hard that she almost fell. As seen in Into the Fire: The Lost Daughter, Cathy Tarkanian came to know her daughter had a tough life at home, as Brenda turned a blind eye to the child abuse.
Aundria's friends revealed in the docuseries that Brenda didn't care much about what Dennis did to their adopted child, as the couple had welcomed their biological baby. The teenager hid herself in a friend's room for days as Dennis used to s*xually assault her at night.
Exploring Aundria Bowman's mournful end
Cathy Tarkanian was convinced that Dennis was behind her daughter's disappearance and that he knew what happened to her. As seen in the first part of Into the Fire: The Lost Daughter, Cathy believed Dennis had disposed of Aundria's dead body somewhere near his old house, most likely in the backyard.
Cathy sought help from the police, but the investigators were already busy solving another 1980 murder case of Kathleen Doyle which involved Dennis Bowman. His DNA matched with the bedspread found by the police, and Dennis had no choice but to confess his crime.
Dennis Bowman confessed r*ping and then killing Kathleen Doyle in 1980 when he was in the Navy in Norfolk for a short period. Following his arrest in 2019, Dennis kept on changing stories about his crimes and finally revealed to Brenda what he did to Aundria.
The clip in which Dennis disclosed killing Aundria Bowman is featured in the Netflix docuseries, as he said:
"I wrapped her in a blanket, and then took her out and hid her body in the barn... called the police and said she was missing."
He continued:
"She laid out there for a couple of days... I tried to stick her body in a barrel. It wouldn't fit... I had to cut her legs off."
Dennis revealed that he put the body parts in the barrel, and when his neighbors brought their trash cans out, he rolled the barrel with them. The truth came out and it shocked Brenda. She couldn't believe that her husband was a terrible man who killed two innocent people.
He dug up a hole in a backyard and buried Aundria's remains deep inside the soil. The police authorities along with the anthropology unit finally discovered the barrel containing the dead body's remains and also found a candy wrapper from 1989, confirming that she was murdered that year.
What happened to Dennis Bowman?
Dennis Bowman kept his crimes hidden for years until February 2022 when he was charged with second-degree murder and given a life sentence. He confessed to killing Aundria Bowman by hitting her to the floor and then disposing of her body.
Dennis Bowman is alive and serving his punishment inside the prison. Even though the criminal has been exposed, Cathy Tarkanian still believes that Dennis didn't share the full story. She described him as "a monster" in Netflix's Into the Fire: The Lost Daughter who took two innocent lives.
Into the Fire: The Lost Daughter is streaming on Netflix.
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