Why did Cathy Terkanian give up her child? 'Into the Fire: The Lost Daughter' mom uncovers chilling adoption secret
NORFOLK, VIRGINIA: Cathy Terkanian, a rebellious, free-spirited, and adventurous teenager, ran away from home in Norfolk, Virginia, at the age of 14. She soon found work in a bar and later joined a traveling circus. By the age of 16, she was pregnant after falling in love with a 19-year-old man.
The young couple married and tried to raise their daughter, Alexis, but their efforts ultimately unraveled. Cathy returned to her mother’s house and persuaded her to help put the child up for adoption.
Who adopted Cathy Terkanian's daughter?
Cathy choked back tears as she left her sleeping 5-month-old daughter, Alexis, in the arms of a social worker. With a soft goodbye and a promise to see her again one day, she fantasized that Alexis would have the best of everything.
Cathy later learned that Alexis had been raised in a dysfunctional family in Hamilton, Michigan, by her adoptive parents Dennis Bowman, a Navy reservist, and his wife, Brenda. Renamed Aundria, she had purportedly run away from the Bowmans aged 14, and her case received international attention owing to the 1993 video for the Soul Asylum song "Runaway Train".
However, Cathy's relentless search for her daughter uncovered additional information that ultimately helped solve a chilling cold case. 'Into the Fire: The Lost Daughter' chronicles that journey by exploring the dark depths of a harrowing true crime story that seems almost too incredible to be real. At its core, this intricate narrative highlights the enduring bond between a mother and her child, as well as the powerful force of maternal instinct across time and distance.
What happened to Cathy Terkanian's daughter?
In 2010, Cathy’s hopes were lifted when social services in Virginia contacted her, requesting that she call them immediately regarding her inquiries about Alexis. Instead, a social worker informed Cathy that Alexis had been missing for 20 years and refused to reveal her new name or the names of her adoptive parents.
Whatever information they did provide left Cathy deeply unsettled. They revealed that Alexis’s adoptive father had a criminal record and was suspected of being involved in her daughter’s abduction. After learning her daughter's date of birth and the state where she went missing, Cathy and her husband, Edward, became online sleuths. They swiftly located Aundria Bowman.
Cathy found that Aundria had shared disturbing accounts of torture at home with her classmates, alleging that Dennis was sexually assaulting her. Despite this, Aundria chose to remain in the house to protect her younger sister, Vanessa, the Bowmans' biological daughter. Cathy and her husband also began compiling a dossier on Dennis's criminal history.
When was Dennis Bowman arrested?
Over the next ten years, Cathy engaged with web sleuths and reached out to Michigan officials to track the progress of her daughter’s case. In 2019, officials made a significant breakthrough when they connected DNA from Dennis to evidence in the unsolved murder of Kathleen Doyle, a newlywed slain in Norfolk while her Navy husband, Lt Stephen Doyle, was abroad serving on the USS Dwight D Eisenhower.
According to a police affidavit, after his arrest in November 2019 on charges related to Kathleen's murder, Dennis confessed to killing Aundria. He claimed that during an argument, he beat her, and she fell down the stairs, breaking her neck. In February 2020, officials discovered Aundria's remains on Dennis’s property.
Where is Cathy Terkanian now?
Cathy is grappling with a mix of emotions: devastated that her long-awaited reunion with her only child will never come to pass, yet relieved to finally have answers. She is now working to overturn Aundria's adoption and restore her name to Alexis.
'Into the Fire: The Lost Daughter' premieres on Netflix on September 12.