Where is Dennis Bowman now? 'Into the Fire: The Lost Daughter' tracks father whose crimes shocked judge
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA: A father from Hamilton was transported to a state prison in Virginia after receiving a recent sentence for the 1989 murder of his adopted daughter in Holland. Dennis Bowman is incarcerated in the Virginia Department of Corrections for the rape and killing of Kathleen Doyle two life terms, as well as an extra 35 years for killing 14-year-old Aundria Bowman.
According to a VADOC spokesman, he was turned over to their care on February 17, 2022, and is being processed at the Nottoway Correctional Center in Burkeville, Virginia.
At the time, the VADOC stated that after the intake procedure, Dennis may be sent to another jail in Virginia. He does not yet have a security level assigned to him.
In December, Dennis entered a plea of not guilty to second-degree murder of his daughter Aundria. Her corpse was discovered buried in his backyard in Hamilton, some 25 miles (40 kilometers) southwest of Grand Rapids, two years prior.
Although a no-contest plea is not an admission of guilt, it is regarded as such for sentencing purposes.
According to state sentencing criteria, Dennis would have received a life term. The judge stated that he would have been qualified for parole after fifteen years.
The judge went above and beyond those rules, noting that this was a terrible offense.
“Mr Bowman is unsafe for our community,” the judge said.
“His numerous assaults, his behavior in this case, and other convictions all indicate Mr Bowman is a serious, dangerous man that has harmed many communities, many families. It’s impossible even to articulate the words to describe what he has done. Reading what he has done is sickening.”
Who is Dennis Bowman?
For the majority of people living in Holland, Michigan, Saturday, March 11, 1989, was just another ordinary day. With spring arriving in less than a week, the frost on the city's water tower ladders melting in the sunlight.
However, there was trouble at the home at the intersection of 52nd Street and Lincoln Road. It belonged to the married pair Dennis and Brenda Bowman, who had two children.
The Bowmans's last time seeing their 14-year-old daughter, Aundria, alive was on March 11.
When did Dennis Bowman adopt Aundria Bowman?
Aundria was born Alexis Miranda Badger on June 23, 1974, in New Orleans, LA. At nine months old, her biological mother, Cathy Tarkanian, gave her up for adoption.
After a stint in foster care, Alexis was adopted by the Bowman family of Michigan at the age of 21 months and given the name Aundria.
In April 2010, Cathy received a letter that would alter her life forever. It was sent by a social worker, who revealed that the daughter Cathy had put up for adoption 35 years before had vanished from her new family in 1989.
Driven by a need for answers, Cathy sought the assistance of an amateur detective and local authorities, embarking on a 10-year search to discover what happened to her child.
'Into the Fire: The Lost Daughter' follows that journey, delving into the deep depths of a terrifying true-crime narrative that appears almost difficult to believe. The unshakable tie between mother and child, as well as the strength of maternal instinct across space and time, lie at the heart of this complex story.
Dennis Bowman accused his adoptive daughter Aundria Bowman of running away with money
It was Dennis who called the cops. He informed them that upon returning from his work as a wood machinist, he discovered that Aundria had vanished, along with a few of her possessions and a hundred dollars from his dresser.
Dennis said that Aundria, whom he and Brenda had adopted when she was a baby, was a difficult adolescent who had previously fled to a friend's house and clashed with her mother regularly.
To find out if anybody had seen Aundria, Dennis volunteered to make calls to the houses of children she knew. However, his wife quickly assumed the role of the family's spokesperson.
Brenda was the one who reported missing $150 in cash from her husband's drawer and made frequent police calls. That was sufficient for the police to get a larceny warrant for Aundria's arrest, with Dennis named as the victim of his daughter's claimed offense.
The police reported Aundria as a runaway and forwarded her case to the Youth Services Bureau as they did not suspect foul play. Not many individuals acquainted with the Bowmans challenged the official story.
In the weeks and months after her daughter vanished, Brenda shared several suggestions that appeared to corroborate Aundria's escape. Brenda reported at the end of March that she had seen Aundria in a 7-Eleven.
Brenda claimed to have gotten an anonymous call in mid-April from someone saying that the adolescent was being sought by police, but that they were searching the incorrect street—whatever that meant. She claimed to have seen Aundria in June at a nearby house where she was allegedly hanging out with some young men.
Additionally, Brenda reported in October that a friend had spotted Aundria in a Meijer queue, pregnant and sporting colored hair. Police looked into it, but they discovered nothing.
Dennis Bowman accused of abusing adoptive daughter Aundria Bowman
Rumors were circulated about the family throughout the years. Aundria once had a wrist injury and had to be helped onto the school bus while in middle school.
While some children engaged in rumors about Aundria having attempted suicide, others said that she had cut herself attempting to re-enter her home after her parents had shut her out. Rumors circulated that Aundria was abused by Dennis, a reddish-brown-haired ex-Navy reservist with a goatee and wire-rimmed spectacles, and Brenda, a stocky lady with curly bangs who had formerly worked at the Meijer department store's jewelry counter.
However, back then, private matters were seen as family matters.
Playing in the wind section in a middle school band, Jennifer Jones and Aundria became friends. During their first year in high school, they stayed close.
When it was time to depart one Tuesday afternoon, Aundria came home with Jennifer, but she refused to go. Aundria allegedly told Jennifer that her father was assaulting her sexually.
After allowing Jennifer to spend the night, Jennifer's mother brought her daughter to the principal's office the next day, when Aundria made the same accusations to administrators. Jennifer was promised that the problem would be handled by the grownups and sent to class.
Jennifer surmised that Aundria was in protective custody since she didn't show up to school for the remainder of the day. She found out afterward that Aundria had returned home with her parents.
Aundria spoke with Arlene Rahn, a local mother, about the same time she confided in Jennifer and her mother. Through their church's youth group, Aundria made friends with Arlene's children and began spending time at their home.
Arlene surmised that Aundria had feelings for one of the boys. At some point, Aundria confided in Arlene that her father was mistreating her.
Brenda knew, she added, but didn't seem to care. Aundria was advised to speak with her youth pastor by Arlene, who was reluctant to become involved.
Then, one evening, Dennis showed up as Arlene was pulling into the Bowmans's driveway to drop Aundria down, telling Arlene to get out of his affairs. She then remarked, "It just made me so uncomfortable."
Arlene didn't notify the police about the event. Aundria disappeared after a few months.
Dennis Bowman served minimum sentencing for attacking a 19-year-old woman
A 19-year-old lady was riding her bike north of Holland, Michigan, on a lovely May 1980 morning when she was pushed off the road by a motorcycle rider. She was instructed to get off her bike and into the woods by the stranger.
The girl remained still. She only needed a moment to gather her thoughts, divert his attention, and take action.
With a rifle in his hand, the guy shot past her and gave the command again. She remained still though.
Once more, the guy shot at the dirt close to her feet. He threatened to shoot her next.
The rider turned his head at the sounds as a vehicle passed by at that very moment. The girl seized the chance to cycle as quickly as she could.
She was able to wave down someone in a pickup truck who transported her home, and the man chose not to fire or pursue. The young lady gave the police a description of the culprit, a white person wearing a blue helmet and tinted spectacles when her parents phoned the police.
She mentioned that his motorcycle had a black top case attached to the rear.
The authorities had taken into custody a suspect at the end of the day. After glancing at him, the young lady realized that he was the one who had attempted to harm her.
It was Dennis, who was a married parent at the time. Aundria was going on six years old at the time.
Dennis received a five-to-ten-year jail term after being found guilty of assault with the intent to perform criminal sexual behavior. After receiving a referral for psychological therapy, the judge concluded that releasing him from custody would probably put women in danger.
Dennis did, however, receive the minimal punishment.
Dennis Bowman charged with breaking in 1998
In 1998, Brenda continued to support her husband as she had done back then. That year, a state trooper in Dorr, Michigan, responded to an alarm at Vicki Vanden Brink's (28), mobile home.
Due to her numerous reports of break-ins, the sheriff's office established a security system. Dennis was seen leaving the site through the back door by the trooper when he arrived.
Shortly after Aundria vanished in 1989, the Bowman family relocated to Hamilton, a town sandwiched between Holland and Dorr. Dennis revealed to the police that he was temporarily lodging with Vanden Brink, a former colleague.
He was released, but Vanden claimed Dennis was lying when the authorities contacted her since she wasn't home when the alarm went off.
Dennis subsequently gave a different account, telling authorities that he had gone inside the trailer to use the restroom. He said that he had visited the location at least once previously when his daughter Vanessa desired to offer Vanden Girl Scout cookies.
Dennis was reluctant to give the police permission to search his property. A short-barreled shotgun, a black hoodie, a mask, and a black duffel bag containing underwear that was subsequently recognized as Vanden's were discovered in the loft of an outbuilding.
Dennis admitted to breaking in on one occasion. Neither his 1980 conviction nor the earlier break-ins that Vanden had reported—which the police suspected Dennis was responsible for—are mentioned in the sentencing letter prepared by his lawyer.
The principal of Vanessa's elementary school, Dennis's boss, the counselor overseeing his sex offender group treatment program, and a Christ Memorial Church member who mentioned that Dennis had been teaching Sunday School to kindergarteners for the previous six years were among the people whose letters Dennis's attorney presented on his client's behalf. Additionally, Brenda wrote to the court in support of her husband, and Dennis also sent a statement describing his actions, saying, "Sometimes we don’t realize a problem until it confronts us face to face."
Having been happily married for 28 years, Dennis characterized himself. He claimed to have two daughters, one who was 25 and the other who was 11.
The elder one had been gone for almost ten years, but he made no mention of it.
Dennis Bowman accused of kidnapping a 6-year-old girl
Another source surfaced on Facebook, stating that Dennis continued to engage in illegal activity between his 1980 and 1998 convictions. This woman, who was six years old in 1989, posted a message to the administrators on the Find Aundria website, explaining what had occurred to her on a sunny September afternoon.
A man in a vehicle stopped her as she was on her way to a friend's house and offered to take her to view some puppies. After pulling the little girl into the taxi, he informed her that her mother had given the go-ahead.
The man touched her face as he drove. She felt her stomach turn.
She kept asking, "Is that it?" pointing to every barn and turnoff they came across in the hopes that the pups would be there.
The car eventually came to a stop in a rural region close to Hamilton. After parking the truck, the guy took her by the neck and pulled her into a dense undergrowth.
He tore off her blue sweatshirt, which had the phrase "Young at Heart" emblazoned on it, and wrapped it over her lips. With a rope tied behind her back, he undressed the remainder of her clothing.
Then the sound of dogs barking nearby surprised the assailant as he bent over her and undid his pants. She was left alone as the man fled.
She made her way to the main road, naked and barefoot. After two vehicles came to a stop, a 911 call was made.
That evening, when the police came to her house, a sketch artist drew a picture of the criminal and his car, a red pickup truck with a white cab. However, no suspect was ever identified, the investigation was never pursued, and the statute of limitations finally ran out.
The fact that the man who had attacked the little girl was still alive and may potentially be harming other girls was the thing that worried her the most as she grew older. She watched for similar instances on social media, in police statements, local news articles, and postings.
However, she didn't think she could ultimately identify the man who had tricked her into getting into the truck until she came across the Find Aundria Facebook page: Dennis Bowman.
At the very least, the cops appeared to be listening to her. In February 2021, Michigan's News 8 reported that authorities had verified Dennis as the primary suspect in her kidnapping.
A rope collected from the scene and held on file since 1989, when the crime happened, tested negative for Dennis's DNA, but investigators said they hoped that technical developments would allow it to be retested later.
Dennis Bowman was charged with the 1980 murder of a young woman in Virginia
Dennis was taken into custody by the Allegan County Sheriff's Office around the beginning of November 2019. But not for any reason related to Aundria.
He was detained in connection with a murder that neither Cathy nor Carl Koppelman, an American professional accountant and unpaid volunteer forensic sketch artist, were aware of.
The murder occurred nine years before Aundria's disappearance, almost 800 miles from the beaches of Lake Michigan.
Kathleen was a pilot's wife and the daughter of a naval officer. Kathleen and the couple's tabby cat, Ike, were the only residents of a modest Norfolk, Virginia, home on Granby Street while her husband was away serving on board the USS Eisenhower in the Indian Ocean. Kathleen was a budding writer who had just started keeping a notebook.
The 25-year-old talked in her writing about her hopes and fears for the future.
When Kathleen's corpse was discovered, she had been dead for about two days. She had been raped and stabbed after being stripped, gagged, and strangled with electrical cables.
Authorities believed it was a stranger who had broken in. Semen was taken from the site, but until serial murderer Henry Lee Lucas was apprehended in 1983, they had few leads.
Henry said that he and his accomplice, Ottis Toole, were accountable for hundreds of unsolved homicides nationwide, including Kathleen's. Police accused the two the next year, but the charges were ultimately dismissed after it was discovered that Henry had made up his admissions.
The father of Kathleen, John O'Brien, criticized investigators for their errors and stated his unwavering faith that his daughter's killer would be apprehended in a letter to the editor that was printed in the Virginian-Pilot in 2003. That didn't occur before John's passing in 2016.
Science eventually made its way to the scene. Investigating cold cases using genetic genealogy, which matches unknown DNA with a vast number of samples kept in databases, was growing in popularity.
Instead of expecting full matches, the system produced partial matches that police might utilize for triangulation and probable suspect identification. A leading authority in the area, Parabon Nano Labs collaborated with Norfolk detectives to examine DNA taken at Kathleen's murder scene.
Genealogical research quickly provided them with a list of over thirty suspects.
To perform an exact comparison, investigators had to get DNA samples from every individual on the list. However, the procedure may take months or even years for law enforcement due to the suspects' dispersed locations and the volume of other cases competing for their attention on their desks.
Then, in 2019, cold-case teams from all across the nation attended a national seminar that a group of Norfolk detectives attended. It was a chance to share information, work together on plans, and gain knowledge about new technology.
With the list of suspects in the Kathleen case in hand, the Norfolk team made acquaintances with a Michigan team, where coincidentally one of the individuals on the list resided.
The name Dennis Bowman was not unfamiliar to the Michigan detectives. They were aware of what Cathy Tarkanian had accused him of, and he had a criminal history.
His DNA was also on file with the police, who were happy to offer it for comparison.
The findings verified that Dennis was the source of the semen discovered at Kathleen's murder scene. An arrest warrant was issued for him by Norfolk police.
Dennis would be extradited to Virginia for a trial in a matter of months. He had already been admitted by then.
He acknowledged coming inside Kathleen's house via the rear window. Furthermore, he said it was an attempted robbery and that he was intoxicated.
He said he had no intention of killing Kathleen, and that he had not anticipated finding her in the residence. However, he was there and she was.
Dennis was in Norfolk at the time for his yearly two-week stint in the Navy Reserve. Additionally, he was free on bail from jail, awaiting trial for the attempted attack of the Holland lady, 19, at whom he had discharged a revolver before she fled on her bike.
Dennis Bowman confessed to murdering his adoptive daughter Aundria Bowman in 1989
It happened three months after Dennis's arrest. Police visited the Bowmans' property once again during the first week of February 2020, when the ground was covered in a heavy layer of snow.
This time, there was a forensics team present, along with dogs in the backyard and a crime scene tent. It seemed like officials were focusing on one specific region, and they had begun to excavate.
The police conducted a news conference later that day. They reported the discovery of human skeleton remains, which were most likely those of Aundria.
Cathy promptly supplied her DNA to the police so they could verify her identification.
Nearly 31 years to the day when Aundria vanished, in March, the findings showed that there was a DNA match.
Aundria's bones were discovered by the authorities under the concrete slab behind the Bowmans' home.
Dennis said Aundria's death was accidental. He stated they were bickering, then smacked her, causing her to fall and break her neck.
He declared her missing, concealing the truth. That was the tale he told Brenda via jail correspondence.
Dennis was sentenced to two life terms plus 20 years in prison in June 2020 for the murder of Kathleen Doyle. He was sentenced to serve time in Michigan, where he would face prosecution for Aundria's murder.
Brenda informed the police where Aundria's remains might be found. Dennis admitted to burying their daughter in the backyard during a phone call from prison.
Brenda first didn't believe him—they hadn't lived in Hamilton when Aundria died, so how could he have buried her there? To Brenda's horror, Dennis revealed that he had relocated his daughter's body to the new property as soon as they signed the contracts.
Brenda had no idea there was a burial in the shadow of the house she and Dennis had inhabited for over 30 years, marked with a cement slab in the yard.
Expert testimony on Aundria's retrieval and autopsy indicated that she had been dismembered; Dennis had wrapped her body pieces in plastic bags and packed them into a cardboard barrel before burying them. The remains were too decayed to determine an official cause of death, but the circumstances were sufficient for the medical examiner to deem the incident a murder.
After being arrested in Michigan in 2019 for Kathleen Doyle's murder, Dennis eventually told authorities that he had nothing to lose and went on to describe a version of events similar to the one he'd given Brenda: Aundria's death was an accident, and he'd attempted to cover his tracks. He had dissected his daughter since she would not fit into the cardboard barrel otherwise.
To back up his statement, he showed officials a machete tucked beneath his bed. Dennis told police that when the youngster threatened to report him for molestation, he pulled her downstairs and killed her.
He contacted the police that day to tell them that his daughter had taken $100 from him and his wife and fled the house.
Dennis informed police that he used an axe to hack off Aundria's legs so that her body could fit inside a barrel. He stated that he buried the barrel in the family's Holland-area house at the time, then reburied it at their new home in Hamilton when they relocated.
Dennis Bowman admits to attacking a 27-year-old woman after 40 years
"Man sought in assault," says a front-page headline in the Holland Sentinel on October 18, 1979. The story describes a severe attack on a 27-year-old lady who was tied, gagged, and sexually abused by an intruder in her house on Sunday morning.
The attacker, described as a Caucasian male between the ages of 25 and 30, with sandy hair and wire-rimmed spectacles, fled the area after taking cash. He was reported to be five-foot-six and weigh 150 pounds.
The young woman described her assailant as wearing a leather jacket and black pants. The newspaper ran a police sketch of the culprit, his ink-blotted pupils staring blankly on the main page.
Dennis admitted to the attack more than 40 years after it occurred. There was no risk in doing so—he was already in prison for murder, and the statute of limitations had long ago passed.
'Into the Fire: The Lost Daughter' premieres on Netflix on September 12.