Netflix’s two-part true crime docu-series tracks down the tenacious investigation of Cathy Terkanian. She sets out to find out what happened to her birth daughter, Aundria Bowman, who went missing when she was fourteen years old (in 1989). Directed by Ryan White, “Into the Fire: The Lost Daughter” (2024) looks like a typically voyeuristic yet absolutely captivating and heart-wrenching documentary that unveils shocking answers to unsolved mysteries. Ryan White has made riveting documentaries, including Netflix’s mini docu-series, “The Keepers” (2017), “Assassins” (2020), “Good Night Oppy” (2022), and “Pamela, A Love Story” (2023). With enough restraint and a sharp focus on the terrible facts, “Into the Fire: The Lost Daughter” doesn’t make the mistake of turning the monstrous killer into an anti-hero. It also doesn’t reduce the victims to a footnote in their own stories.
With Charlize Theron serving as one of the producers, this is a remarkably edited and well-told story that isn’t morally bankrupt and repulsive like many of Netflix’s warped true-crime documentaries. Now, let’s look in detail at a mother’s trials and tribulations as she embarks on an arduous journey to find answers to the tough questions. Spoilers Ahead.
Into the Fire: The Lost Daughter (2024) Documentary True Story Explained:
Who is Cathy Terkanian?
Cathy Terkanian lives with her husband, Edward Terkanian, in Gloucester, Massachusetts. Cathy, who worked as a nurse, met Ed in 1991, and a couple of months later, they were married. A month after their marriage, Cathy mentioned the girl child she had when she was sixteen (in 1974) and had to give her up for adoption. Cathy had named the baby Alexis. Under her mother’s insistence that Alexis would have a better home if she were placed for adoption as an infant, Cathy gave up her nine-month-old daughter to the adoption system in Norfolk, Virginia.
Though Alexis had always been on Cathy’s mind, it was a closed adoption, and Cathy could only hope that her daughter would come searching for her as an adult. But in March 2010, she received a letter from the adoption agency conveying that her birth daughter had been missing for 21 years. Now, an unidentified body is found next to a cornfield, which might be Aundria, and the police seek Cathy’s DNA to identify Jane Doe.
What did Cathy learn about her missing birth daughter, Aundria, from Facebook?
Cathy gave her DNA. But she had to wait for the report and wasn’t offered any details about her daughter’s adopted name, where she lived, and went missing from. So, with the help of her husband Ed, Cathy searched for missing persons with a birth date (23rd June 1974) close to her daughter’s. Very soon, Cathy stumbled upon Aundria Michelle Bownman’s profile. Aundria’s eyes and birth date instantly conveyed to Cathy that this was her birth daughter, Alexis. On March 11, 1989, Aundria Bowman disappeared from her home in Hamilton, Michigan. When Cathy couldn’t find any details about her case or adoptive parents, she started a Facebook page, “Find Aundria M Bowman.”
Soon, Cathy received a flurry of messages from people who remembered Aundria. These included Craig and Sue Engweiler, relatives of Aundria’s adoptive parents, Dennis and Brenda Bowman. Craig is Brenda’s cousin, and they studied in the same school as Brenda’s high school sweetheart, Dennis. After school, Dennis was stationed in the Navy for a few years. He married Brenda in 1971 and soon moved to Norfolk, Virginia. When Brenda found that the chances of her getting pregnant were minimal, they applied for adoption. Eventually, Dennis and Brenda were delighted to adopt a nine-month-old baby.
The mystery of Aundria’s disappearance
Dennis, Brenda, and Aundria moved from Virginia to Hamilton, a sleepy town in Michigan. The Bowman family were regular churchgoers, and years later, when Brenda got pregnant, it was seen as a miracle. Aundria was 13 years old when she welcomed her sister, Vanessa. As remembered by her high school buddies Kim, Michelle, and Jenny, Aundria was a typical outgoing girl who wanted to have fun. Aundria had the usual adolescent issues as she tried hard to fit in with her peers. But Brenda and Dennis’ recorded testimony adds a darker edge to Aundria’s teenagehood.
Dennis mentions that Aundria took drugs at school and had anger issues that made her stuck her fist through the glass door. She was attending counseling sessions. One evening, when Brenda was working, Dennis reached home to find an unlocked front door. He couldn’t find Aundria, and after laying down the infant Vanessa, Dennis saw that some money was missing from their bedroom. He reported to the police that Aundria had run away. Various reports cited Aundria’s presence in Holland, Michigan, and Indiana. But the trail soon went cold, and the grieving adoptive parents decided to care for the baby at home.
Who was the catalyst in Cathy’s effort to solve Aundria’s missing persons case?
Cathy Terkanian herself was a runaway. Unable to live with her physically abusive mother, Cathy ran to New Orleans. She recalls how when you are declared ‘runaway,’ you are only seen as a delinquent, and the police never really look for you. Cathy believes – just like in her case – the police wouldn’t have actually searched for Aundria. So, apart from creating a Facebook page, Cathy also contacted Carl Koppelman, an amateur web sleuth. Carl, an accountant with extraordinary spreadsheet skills, went through the missing persons’ websites (with ineffective search options) to assemble a spreadsheet of missing persons (with 19,000 names). This enabled him to solve cases of missing persons across various states.
Contacting Carl was crucial in Cathy’s search for what happened to Aundria. In Racine, Wisconsin, in 1999, an unidentified body of a brutally murdered young woman was found near a cornfield. Going through the postmortem report of the cold case, Carl zeroed in on 13 names in his spreadsheet, which could be the Racine Jane Doe. One of the names on the list is Aundria Bowman. Reading about Aundria’s case, Carl found a lot of similarities and facial characteristics between Aundria and the Racine Jane Doe. Moreover, considering Racine’s proximity to Holland, Michigan, Carl believed that Aundria, who went missing in 1989, was brutally murdered ten years later in 1999.
Who is Metta McLeod?
After contacting the authorities, Cathy’s DNA was tested against Racine Jane Doe (in 2013). Thankfully, the report was a relief as it clearly stated that Jane Doe isn’t Cathy’s Alexis. Although Cathy is relieved about the report, she is also frustrated because she is back to where she started. However, Detective Haverdink of Michigan’s Allegan County – who studied in the same school as Aundria – has formed a cold case team to start anew and solve the case. The Michigan Detectives and State Police were aware of Cathy and Carl’s efforts to find Aundria, and hence, they contacted them, apart from being in touch with the Bowmans.
In May 2013, Cathy received a message on Facebook from Metta McLeod. Metta shared with Cathy a traumatic incident that happened to her when she was six years old in September 1989. She was a Holland, Michigan resident, and one day was abducted at the gas station. Walking back home from the friend’s place, six-year-old Metta was deceived by a man in a red pickup truck. He told the little girl that her mother had allowed Metta to see some puppies in a barn. But the man drove the kid to the woods. As enthusiasm and curiosity were gradually replaced with fear, Metta started screaming. The man sexually assaulted the kid but ran away when he sensed there were people nearby in the woods. Metta was rescued, and the six-year-old girl sat with a composite artist, detailing the facial characteristics of her abductor.
What was the shocking revelation about Metta’s abductor?
However, the guy was never caught. With the help of the internet, grown-up Metta has done her own research on kids and young women who went missing near Holland, Michigan. This research led her to the ‘Find Aundria M Bowman’ page, and Metta was surprised to find that Aundria went missing in the same year she was abducted. But nothing would prepare her (or Cathy or the viewers) for the shock she received next. Going through the details of Aundria’s case, Metta saw the picture of Aundria’s adoptive father, Dennis Bowman, and instantly felt that he looked like the guy who abducted and assaulted her in 1989.
Armed with this horrifying information, Cathy, Carl, and Metta decided to do more research on Dennis. Metta was abducted close to where Dennis worked—as a carpenter on the yachts at the harbor. The route he took to the woods went right by his house, and a relative of the Bowman family sent Carl a picture of the vehicle Dennis drove in 1989 – a faded red pickup truck. Finally, when Metta heard Dennis’ voice, she was sure it was her abductor. After this revelation, Cathy becomes more determined to discover if Aundria’s tragic fate is linked to her adopted father, Dennis.
Did Aundria truly run away, or was there more behind her disappearance?
With Ed and Carl’s help, Cathy frequently travels to Holland, Michigan, to follow up more on the case. These trips enable Cathy to meet with Bowmans’ relatives, Craig and Sue, and Aundria’s school friends Jenny, Michelle, and Kim. From Aundria’s friends, Cathy learns about the physical abuse Dennis directed against his daughter. Aundria has even confessed to one of her friends that Dennis has molested her. However, in the close-knit community of Holland in the 1980s, law enforcement didn’t do its duty. Aundria was labeled as a liar, and instead of counseling or therapy, she had meetings with the local priest.
As the relatives repeatedly assert, Brenda had always been a passive observer of Dennis’ abusive behavior. While her friends suggested that Aundria leave the house, Aundria dreaded leaving her little sister Vanessa with her parents. So it didn’t make sense to anyone who knew Aundria that the teenager ran away with some money. In fact, Sue had reported about Dennis’ troubling demeanor after Aundria’s disappearance. Amidst all this new information about Aundria’s life with the Bowmans, Cathy also reveals the guilt and fear that has followed her life throughout after giving up Aundria for adoption.
More shocking information about Dennis Bowman
Nevertheless, Cathy persists in her quest to disclose the truth behind Aundria’s disappearance. From Carl, Cathy learns about the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and receives a stack of details about Dennis Bowman’s background. It only reveals more shocking truths about Dennis’ criminality. He was arrested a couple of times, once for breaking and entering and stalking a co-worker. The second time (in 1980), he attacked a teenager, intending to sexually assault the victim. When Dennis was caught, he was charged with attempted murder and was confined to prison till 1986. The Judge, in his ruling, has emphasized that “Dennis is a danger to women if he is not confined.” Aundria was eleven years old when Dennis got out of prison.
The details of Dennis’ criminal past further infuriate Cathy, who now strongly believes he has something to do with Aundria’s disappearance. Later, Cathy reveals a tense confrontation with Brenda Bowman during the ‘Missing in Michigan’ Conference. Brenda had always stood by her husband despite knowing and witnessing some of his violent behavior. It only angers Cathy when Brenda tries to play the role of a grieving parent. Though Cathy is uncertain about finding the truth regarding Aundria, she has developed a network of support systems, including Carl and Metta. It strengthens her resolve and helps her move forward in her pursuit of justice.
Why is Cathy obsessed with the Bowmans’ backyard?
During one of her drives to Holland, Michigan, with Carl, Cathy saw the property the Bowmans had moved into after Aundria’s disappearance. It was close to the old Bowman house, which got torn down. Flying a drone over the property, Cathy gradually becomes obsessed with the Bowmans’ backyard. She is sure that Aundria is buried in the backyard. Since Dennis didn’t live on the property when Aundria disappeared, Carl doubts it. Moreover, there is a wooded area close to the new Bowman house, which could be the place where Aundria is buried if Dennis murdered her. Nevertheless, Cathy is so obsessed with her theory that she contacts the authorities.
The police can’t dig someone’s backyard without proper evidence or witness statements. Still, Cathy doubled down on her campaign against Bowman, placing a billboard with Aundria’s name in the street where Dennis lived. Cathy taunted the Bowmans through social media and phone calls, which the detectives themselves believe is harassment. Finally, in November 2019, Metta informed Cathy that police cars were at the Bowman property and Dennis had been arrested. The interrogation footage of Dennis shows him with Lieutenant Squyres and Detective Smith, who informs him that he is arrested for a 1980 homicide case in Virginia.
Who is Kathleen Doyle, and what has happened to her?
The first episode of “Into the Fire: The Lost Daughter” ends with a shocker, suggesting that there’s more to Dennis’ violent criminal behavior than what we already know. The second feature-length episode opens with the Norfolk, Virginia detectives informing Brenda that her husband Dennis will be indicted for murder and rape. Kathleen Doyle was a 25-year-old newly married woman who lived in Norfolk, Virginia, when she was sexually assaulted and brutally murdered in September 1980. Kathleen’s aunt, Christine, provides a detailed account of who the vivacious Kathleen was before her life was cut short. Her father was a sailor and a Navy man, and Kathleen also loved sailing.
The ever-smiling Kathleen had also developed a fascination for the written word. “I feel I must have many more years of living yet before I write something worthwhile,” reads a page Kathleen wrote a week before she was murdered. Kathleen lived alone in September 1980 since her husband, also in the Navy, was deployed that summer. On the evening of September 9th, Kathleen chatted with her friend and neighbor, Vivian. When Vivian couldn’t get in touch with Kathleen the following morning, she went to her home with her husband to check on Kathleen. Vivian found Kathleen in the bedroom dead. She was naked and viciously attacked (including burn marks on the cheek), and the room was torn up. From the crime scene, it was apparent that the offender was a very violent individual.
The DNA evidence and a tenacious Detective
However, the police didn’t have a suspect since they only found Vivian and Kathleen’s fingerprints from the previous evening. Once the suspicion on the neighbors and other people was cleared, the police didn’t have any leads, and hence, it remained a cold case for almost four decades. Kathleen’s father, Tim, wanted answers and continued to inquire about the investigation until he passed away in 2016. In the present, Brenda, despite hearing from the detectives about Kathleen’s murder, stands by her husband, Dennis. She also believes they lived in Michigan at the time of Kathleen’s murder.
In 2018, Detective Smith was assigned to the Cold Case Department in Norfolk. He went through Kathleen’s case files and found two sets of DNA left by the perpetrator: seminal fluid on the bedspread (which was preserved for years) and seminal fluid from the rape kit. Then, the Detective sought advances in genetic genealogy to develop a DNA profile of the offender. The result yielded thirty-one names, who could either be the potential suspects or a family member of the suspect. Detective Smith traveled across states to meet these individuals and got a sample of their DNA with a mouth swab.
Is Dennis the murderer of Kathleen?
In November 2019, the regional homicide investigators association meeting was held in Norfolk, and Detective Smith attended it. As Smith went through the list, he came across a name at the very bottom: Dennis Lee Bowman. Smith found the guy’s violent criminal record when he searched for Dennis in the database. Then, during the conference, Detective Smith met Bryan Fuller of Michigan State Police, who knew Dennis Bowman from his investigation of Aundria’s disappearance.
In May 1980, Dennis was arrested for the assault of a teenager in Michigan. Kathleen’s murder happened in September 1980 in Norfolk, which is nearly 600 miles from Michigan. So, Detective Smith was skeptical of Dennis’ involvement in Kathleen’s murder. But then he read a court transcript that changed everything. At a hearing dated September 6th, 1980, Dennis’ lawyer mentioned that his client, a US Navy man, was on a two-week summer camp requirement in Norfolk, Virginia. Now that the detectives know Dennis was in Norfolk during Kathleen’s murder, they need his DNA to confirm. This is precisely when Cathy was hassling the Bowmans over the phone.
The chilling testimony of Dennis Bowman
The Bowmans went to the Sheriff’s Department to complain about Cathy. At the station, the Detectives offered Dennis something to drink during their meeting and promptly collected his DNA. Later, the report confirmed that the DNA on Kathleen’s bedspread was 100 percent Dennis Bowman’s. Dennis was arrested after the confirmation, but he maintained his innocence. Hence, Detective Smith approached Dennis with a different tactic and made Dennis believe he had a semblance of control in the narrative. The detective gradually built a rapport with Dennis, and Smith finally pushed Dennis to discuss the case. Then, Dennis chillingly narrates the events of the night in September 1980 when he broke into Kathleen’s home.
Dennis says he was drunk and simply looking for money when he heard Kathleen screaming. He confesses that he stabbed her with a pocket knife and left her alive when he left the home. Dennis deliberately ignores a lot of crucial and vicious details in Kathleen’s murder. It’s as if he is trying to minimize the sheer brutality of his unforgivable act. When pressed about his feelings about the murder, Dennis blames it on the ‘demon’ within him. Detective Smith was satisfied with what Dennis confessed (and misconstrued) because it was enough to convict him in court.
What really happened to Aundria in March 1989?
Brenda, though heartbroken, was still in contact with Dennis. Dennis’ confession has also caused Michigan State Police to double down on their efforts on Aundria’s missing person case. The police monitored the calls between Brenda and Dennis, and nothing seemed to have changed in their dynamics. The Michigan detectives devised a plan to use the old couple’s relationship to extract a confession from Dennis regarding Aundria. Dennis will be extradited to Virginia for Kathleen’s murder, although he wanted to stay in Michigan prison to retain the privilege of his wife’s visits.
So, if Dennis thought he could stay in Michigan, he would provide the truth behind Aundria’s disappearance. Though Dennis initially resisted the idea that he was responsible for Aundria’s disappearance, he eventually relented and requested a meeting with Brenda. In the interview room, Dennis coldly declares to Brenda, “Aundria’s dead. She’s been dead from the start.” Once again, Dennis’ version of events explains that he didn’t mean to harm the girl but somehow ended up doing so. According to Dennis, in March 1989, he came home and argued with Aundria, who wanted to run away. He hit her, and she fell back on the staircase and died.
The manipulative Dennis and his twisted narratives
Dennis took Aundria’s body, hid it in the barn, and then called the police. He kept the body for two days before putting it in a barrel and after cutting off her legs. Then, he moved the barrel alongside the neighbors’ garbage cans and knows nothing about Aundria’s remains. Dennis’ teary-eyed confession to Brenda perfectly reveals the deeply manipulative nature of the guy. Dennis sets the narrative that he accidentally killed Aundria, and for the sake of Brenda and Vanessa’s wellbeing, he did what he did to conceal the murder.
Of course, Cathy doesn’t believe that Aundria died after being pushed down the stairs. She is particularly infuriated that Dennis actually filed a complaint against Aundria for stealing money from him. Still, it’s hard to present the case in the court without Aundria’s remains. At this point, what’s unsurprising is Brenda believing in Dennis, whatever story he spins. While Brenda’s relatives and Aundria’s friends believe Brenda is as culpable in Aundria’s murder as Dennis, Brenda maintains the dual role of a supportive wife and a grieving mother.
Into the Fire: The Lost Daughter (2024) Documentary Ending Explained:
What did Dennis do with Aundria’s remains?
The detectives could pick up the flaws in Dennis’ testimony, especially since no one believes he just put out Aundria’s corpse with the trash cans. Hence, they intercepted the letters Dennis Bowman wrote to Brenda. In each letter, he contradicted what he said in the confession. Dennis mentions in one letter that Aundria was properly buried in a grave next to a private graveyard. Dennis writes that he placed her on a clean white sheet and sprinkled cedar chips, pieces of cinnamon, and cloves. But the detectives came up with nothing when they searched the perimeters of the graveyards with ground-penetrating radar and cadaver dogs.
Dennis offered different versions in each letter, knowing his letters would be intercepted. It’s just to give his wife, Brenda, an acceptable version of what happened to Aundria after her death. Therefore, once again, the Michigan detectives and Brenda had to remind Dennis that he wouldn’t be charged and kept in Michigan prison without Aundria’s body. One day, Dennis confesses where Aundria is buried during a call with Brenda. “She’s very close,” he says. While Cathy’s belief that her daughter was buried in the Bowmans’ backyard came across as an obsession and something impossible, it actually turned out to be true.
Cathy was right from the beginning
After moving to their new house, Dennis took the barrel, dug a hole, and buried it in the backyard. Soon, the Michigan police were in the Bowmans’ backyard to find Aundria. After stumbling upon the ring of a barrel, they slowly went into the hole to dig with toothbrushes and little shovels. Eventually, the barrel was unearthed, and Aundria’s remains were found in four different bags. To confirm that it was Aundria, Cathy gave her DNA. The report confirms Aundria’s tragic fate. She never went missing. She was dead in the barrel from March 1989. Cathy’s suspicion that Aundria was buried in the Bowmans’ backyard is unexplainable. It can be called ‘maternal instinct.’ But while the docu-series is reverential about Cathy’s determination, the makers don’t try to label it as that.
Under custody, Dennis has also confessed to more violent crimes, even before he was married to Brenda. He is a serial violent sexual offender, and there might be more victims in the Michigan area. Dennis was sentenced to 35-50 years in the second-degree murder of Aundria on Feb. 7, 2022. Dennis was extradited to Virginia and is serving his life sentence in the Virginia prison. As the prosecuting attorney says, she “will do everything in her power to make sure Dennis Bowman doesn’t control one damn thing.” Kathleen’s aunt laments, “Except for the fact he took her from us, he was superfluous to her story,” and then strongly reiterates, “Don’t let the person who did this awful thing be the person everybody remembers. Let them remember the young women who have died.”
The spirit of Aundria lives within the indefatigable Cathy
Cathy’s anger persists, although she has found some sort of closure after finding Aundria’s remains and through Dennis’ sentencing. The reason is Brenda sent half of Aundria’s cremated remains to Cathy. Cathy believes this is an act of chopping up more of her daughter. “Into the Fire: The Lost Daughter” ends with Cathy attesting that Aundria/Alexis was close to her in terms of her spirit. They both suffered abuse from the person who was supposed to care for them. But while her daughter’s life was cut short, Cathy had ‘walked into the fire that transformed her.’
Ultimately, “Into the Fire: The Lost Daughter,” unlike many detrimental true crime documentaries, treats the victims and their lives with dignity and respect. Moreover, it shows that there’s nothing darkly fascinating about the relentlessly manipulative and pathetic behavior of the serial offender Dennis Bowman. There’s only a feeling of pensive sadness over how the monstrous guy freely roamed the community for decades and committed his dark deeds.
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