Viewers of Netflix’s two-part true crime documentary, Into The Fire: The Lost Daughterwill have watched in shock and horror as a woman named Cathy Terkanian searched for her missing daughter, Alexis Miranda Badger, whom she gave birth to at the age of 16 and adopted nine months later.
After her adoption, Alexis’ name was changed to Aundria and she was placed in the care of Dennis and Brenda Bowman, a church-going couple who seemed like the ideal adoptive parents for a child who needed a stable and loving home.
But when Aundria suddenly disappeared at the age of 14 and was initially thought to be a runaway, police overlooked the obvious signs that there was a problem closer to home. Then, ten years after Aundria’s disappearance, Cathy received a letter asking if she could provide a DNA sample because the body of a young woman had been discovered – and investigators believed it might be Aundria’s.
Although the DNA samples did not match, Cathy, now informed of her daughter’s disappearance, set about finding out the truth about what had happened and set up a social media page requesting information about Aundria. This and further police investigations eventually led to the exposure of Dennis Bowman and his numerous violent crimes against women and girls. Tragically, his own daughter was among the victims and it would take nearly 30 years for justice to be served.
Find out where Dennis Bowman is now, where Brenda Bowman is now, and if the couple is still together.
Who is Dennis Bowman?
Dennis Bowman is the name of a multiple rapist and murderer who married his high school sweetheart Brenda, with whom he adopted a daughter named Aundria and over a decade later naturally fathered another daughter, Vanessa. The family lived in Michigan, but Dennis occasionally worked in other parts of America due to his work in the Navy.
When she was a teenager, Aundria accused Dennis of sexually assaulting her. Dennis and his wife Brenda decided to settle the matter by involving the church. According to the documentary, church members pressured Aundria to retract her statement and claim she had lied to get her parents down.
However, it later emerged that Dennis had committed several crimes, including the murder of Aundria. According to his version of events, Aundria fell down the stairs one night after an argument at home and broke her neck. He then staged the house to make it look like the teenager had run away, dismembered her body and kept it hidden in the back garden of their family home for over 30 years.
Who is Brenda Bowman?
Brenda Bowman is the wife of convicted murderer and rapist Dennis Bowman. The couple met in high school and, according to family members who Into the fireDennis is Brenda’s only relationship.
In the documentary, Brenda is portrayed as a woman who is blindly devoted to her husband, regardless of the horrific acts he has committed. At one point, she is quoted as saying, “I haven’t forgotten what he did, but I have forgiven him… I take my marriage vows seriously.”
She was never convicted of Dennis’ crimes or treated as an accomplice. Police said they would consider moving Dennis to a prison closer to his wife if he confessed to other crimes and eventually admitted to killing Aundria. Up until that point, Brenda believed her daughter had run away from home.
What crimes did Dennis Bowman commit?
Unfortunately, Dennis has committed numerous crimes against women – the most notorious being the rape and assault of a 27-year-old woman in Michigan in 1979, who is said to remain anonymous (according to Wood TV News 8). However, it is possible that there are other victims who are not yet known.
Dennis was already in prison serving a double life sentence for the 1980 rape and murder of 25-year-old Kathleen Doyle, a woman whose home Dennis had broken into while working in Virginia (via Holland Sentinel). At that point, he also pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in connection with the killing of his adopted daughter, Aundria Bowman.
During the trial, Brenda was called as a witness and said, “(Aundria) told me one morning that her father had sexually molested her, and I told her, ‘That’s a lie and you know it.'” Many of Aundria’s friends appear in the documentary recalling witnessing Dennis yelling at or chasing his daughter, and another said she was forced to eat different food than the rest of the family (namely, a ketchup sandwich while Brenda and Dennis ate hamburgers).
For Aundria’s murder, Dennis was sentenced to an additional 35 to 50 years in prison in February 2022.
In the Netflix documentary Into the fireA young woman named Metta McLeod, who survived an attempted kidnapping as a child, claims she believes Dennis is the man who lured her into his red pickup truck and told her they were going to visit puppies before taking her to a remote wooded area and attempting to harm her. However, this has never been proven.
Where is Dennis Bowman now?
Currently (according to an online inmate search), it appears that Dennis Bowman is incarcerated at the River North Correctional Center, a men’s prison in Virginia.
It is very likely that he will die behind bars while serving his numerous, long prison sentences.
Where is Brenda Bowman now?
Brenda Bowman is believed to still be living alone in Michigan, clinging to her marriage to Dennis despite knowing the full extent of his many heinous crimes. At the end of the documentary, we learn that Brenda offered Cathy half of Aundria’s ashes, which Cathy did not like as she did not want the ashes separated.
“Into The Fire: The Lost Daughter” can be streamed on Netflix
Jennifer Savin is Cosmopolitan UK’s multi-award-winning Features Editor, who was named Digital Journalist of the Year for her work on the most important issues for young women. She regularly covers breaking news, cultural trends, health, the royals and more, using her valued connections to reach the best experts. She has quizzed everyone from senior politicians to A-list celebrities, and sensitively interviewed hundreds of people about their true life stories. In addition, Jennifer is widely known for her own undercover investigations and campaign work, which includes successful petitions to the government for changes on issues such as abortion rights and image-based sexual abuse. Jennifer is also a published author, documentary film consultant (she helped create BBC’s Deepfake Porn: Could You Be Next?) and patron of YES (a youth services charity). In addition to Cosmopolitan, Jennifer has written for The Times, Women’s Health, ELLE and numerous other publications, appeared on podcasts and spoken on (and moderated) panels for the Women of the World Festival, the University of Manchester and more. In her free time, Jennifer is a huge fan of lipstick, leopard print and eating too much at dinner. Follow Jennifer on Instagram, X or LinkedIn.
