Where is Cathy Terkanian now? 'Into the Fire: The Lost Daughter' chronicles a mother's hunt for her child
GLOUCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS: In April 2010, Cathy Terkanian received a letter that would permanently change her life. It was sent by a social worker, who stated that the daughter Cathy had given up for adoption 35 years earlier and 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 impossible to believe. The unshakable tie between mother and child, as well as the strength of maternal instinct across space and time, stand at the heart of this complex story. Cathy currently lives a quiet life in Gloucester, Massachusetts, with her current husband, Edward Terkanian, a retired ship's chief engineer whom she married in 1991. Cathy is torn between two emotions: devastation that her long-awaited reunion with her only child will never happen, and relief that she now has answers. She is currently seeking to reverse Aundria's adoption and change her name to Alexis.
Who is Cathy Terkanian?
Cathy's life story reads like something out of a made-for-TV movie. Her mother, Shirley, had six children with three partners.
Cathy's stepfather served in the Navy, and the family relocated seven times before she began seventh grade. The stepfather was gone for lengthy periods of time, and Cathy's mother was overwhelmed by the obligations of caring for so many children, one of whom had epilepsy.
With no one to care for her, Cathy was abused at the age of 10 by the husband of one of her mother's acquaintances, then raped at the age of twelve by a teenager. She realized she needed to flee her life, so she began to devise a plan.
Was Cathy Terkanian a runaway?
Cathy left Virginia, where her family lived at the time, in 1972, without saying goodbye and with only the clothing she was wearing. She was fourteen and had no money.
She hitchhiked to Tennessee, where she met a buddy in Memphis before heading to the city's Greyhound bus terminal. Furthermore, she didn't have a specific destination in mind, but she did see another tourist wearing beautiful beads who suggested a Mardi Gras celebration in New Orleans.
The next day, Cathy landed in the Big Easy, where jazz music echoed throughout the French Quarter and revelers laughed and sang in the streets.
When did Cathy Terkanian give birth to Aundria Bowman?
Cathy wasn't the only young person on the run in New Orleans during the 1970s counterculture movement. She got to know a group of young people who were supportive of one another, giving them jobs, somewhere to sleep, and advice on how to avoid becoming homeless.
She got to know Randy Badger, a 19-year-old who had just hitched a ride from Los Angeles to Louisiana, through this group. They quickly located a place to stay and started working together on everything.
They even got to work together on a sideshow at a circus. Cathy was finally living the life she had always desired.
Cathy and Randy left for South Carolina in December 1972, where it was permissible for a youngster to marry with consent from their parents. Cathy's parents warmly accepted it; in fact, they were adamant about the marriage.
If Shirley's child got into trouble, she didn't want to be the one the police contacted. The required documentation was signed by Cathy's stepfather.
When Cathy discovered she was pregnant, the couple had been married for less than a year. The news came as a surprise, but it was also a step closer to freedom.
Cathy aspired to provide for her child better than her mother had. Cathy gave birth to a healthy daughter on June 23, 1974.
After the actress Alexis Smith, she gave her the name Alexis.
What happened to Aundria Bowman's biological father?
Cathy and Randy's relationship quickly deteriorated. While Cathy took care of Alexis and worked, her husband appeared more interested in going out to parties with friends—including other women.
When Alexis was five months old, the last straw was when Cathy arrived home from work and discovered Randy kissing a different lady on the couch as Alexis cried by herself in the back room without wearing a diaper. Cathy made the decision to go, but not before considering Alexis.
What was in her daughter's best interests? Cathy accepted it as the only course of action available to her.
She returned to Virginia.
Why did Cathy Terkanian give Aundria Bowman up for adoption?
Alexis hardly wept during the five-day Greyhound voyage. Passengers praised Cathy, offering the then-single teen mother much-needed support. However, Cathy's confidence disappeared the moment her mother picked her up at the station upon her arrival in Norfolk.
Shirley refrained from embracing her daughter or kissing Alexis's full cheeks. Rather, she scrutinized the two closely and furrowed her brow in disapproval.
Shirley, it was found out, had been handed a five-year survival sentence after being diagnosed with breast cancer. It didn't take Cathy long to figure out that her mother wanted her to look after her siblings.
Furthermore, it was evident that Shirley believed Cathy shouldn't become a parent, even though she never stated this explicitly. You ran out of formula, Shirley commented casually one day.
How are you going to look after this child? Cathy's skepticism began as a seed and spread.
Her perception that she would never be able to provide Alexis with the life her daughter deserved grew.
In agreement, Cathy offered her infant for adoption. Shirley took care of the arrangements, telling Cathy that Alexis would be placed with a reputable family via Catholic Charities.
Cathy departed the house once more not long after the adoption was completed. The adolescent thought that things would go differently this time.
When did Cathy Terkanian find out about Aundria Bowman?
Finally, Cathy enrolled in nursing school, where she finally met her spouse. They never became parents themselves.
She had no idea what had happened to her daughter for almost thirty years. Blond-haired and self-assured, Cathy occasionally wondered if Alexis looked like her.
She hoped Alexis's adoptive parents realized how fortunate they were and that her daughter was content.
Then, in April 2010, Cathy's world was turned upside down when a letter arrived at her Massachusetts home. It came from a social worker who revealed that in 1989, Alexis had vanished from her Michigan adoptive family.
Authorities were looking at a fresh lead in the case, which suggested Alexis may be a Wisconsin-found Jane Doe. A girl who has died.
To be certain, police need a sample of Cathy's DNA.
The letter gave Cathy very little information, which confused her. Neither Alexis's adopted name nor the city in which she had resided were mentioned.
It didn't provide any information on Alexis's disappearance at the age of 14, which is the same age Cathy was when she ran away from home, or police contact information. Although Cathy was eager to give up her DNA, she was curious about her daughter's fate.
She looked up information on Michigan's missing girls on the internet. Finding someone from the Holland town whose birthdate and physical attributes matched Alexis's wasn't difficult.
Upon seeing Aundria Bowman's school photo, Cathy assumed the child was her daughter.
Cathy would eventually find out that Alexis had ended up under the custody of Virginia's Department of Social Services when she was a newborn. Cathy argued that the reports that Alexis was born with fetal alcohol syndrome and that Cathy had used LSD during the pregnancy were untrue, and attributed to someone—possibly Shirley.
Alexis's life would have fallen apart in her imagination. Cathy, who was desperate to find out what had happened to Aundria, created a Classmates.com account and a Facebook page about her absence.
Her goal was to get in touch with her daughter's former pals. Rather, she discovered Carl Koppelman, an American professional accountant and unpaid volunteer forensic sketch artist.
How did Cathy Terkanian uncover Aundria Bowman's case?
After exchanging texts, Cathy and Carl had many lengthy phone calls. Along the way, Cathy encountered other internet detectives drawn to Aundria's case.
One such detective, Sue Kovacs, is from New Jersey and she assisted Cathy in updating and broadening the reach of the Find Aundria Facebook page. To find out if Cathy's DNA test results matched the Racine County Jane Doe, everyone was waiting for them.
However, finding out if Aundria's corpse had been discovered was only one piece of the jigsaw for those involved in the investigation. How had Aundria died, if she was dead at all?
Who was to blame if she had been killed? Cathy made contact with Pat O'Reilly, a former Michigan investigator who was acquainted with Aundria's case.
She was astonished by his candor. "They botched this case from the beginning," Cathy recalled him stating.
Pat said Cathy should have been focusing on Dennis Bowman, Aundria's adoptive father.
Did Cathy Terkanian find Aundria Bowman?
Dennis's criminal history was disclosed to Cathy through a Freedom of Information Act request. She had been advised by investigator Pat that it had made sense to look into Dennis's history.
Cathy experienced a dreadful conviction when she read for the first time about what Dennis had done to two young women: "When I got his FOIA records I said, "Oh, this man killed my daughter."
If Cathy was correct, then Jane Doe from Racine County was not Aundria; that idea would only make sense if Aundria had survived for 10 years after her disappearance. The eagerly expected DNA test findings in 2013 proved Cathy's relationship to Jane Doe was untrue.
She had believed that she and Carl, along with the other amateur investigators drawn to Aundria's story, were piecing together one cold case when, in reality, they were examining two.
Cathy discovered that Aundria had told school classmates she had been assaulted by her adoptive father, Dennis. She also discovered that Dennis, a Navy reservist, pleaded guilty to assault with intent to commit criminal sexual conduct in a 1980 case involving a 19-year-old woman he attempted to lure into the woods.
Cathy contacted Michigan officials about her daughter's situation, distributed fliers near where Alexis went missing, and hired a private investigator.
Unfortunately, Cathy eventually received a response. Dennis was charged with murder in November 2019 after DNA evidence tied him to the 1980 murder of 25-year-old Kathleen Doyle, a Navy pilot's wife who was discovered raped, strangled, and stabbed in her Norfolk, Virginia, home.
Dennis pled guilty in June to murder, rape, and burglary and was sentenced to life in prison. Dennis reportedly told investigators in December 2019 that he had hit Aundria during an altercation, leading her to tumble down the stairs and break her neck.
In February 2020, officials discovered Aundria's bones on Dennis' property. Dennis has subsequently been charged with homicide, child abuse, and mutilation of human remains. He has yet to submit his plea.
Cathy intended to get her daughter's adoption overturned and her name changed back to Alexis.
'Into the Fire: The Lost Daughter' premieres on Netflix on September 12