Viewers of the Netflix docu-series, Into The Fire: The Lost Daughter, will be more than familiar with the powerhouse that is Cathy Terkanian – the woman who gave up her daughter at the age of 16, then named Alexis Badger, who ended up being adopted by Dennis and Brenda Bowman (and later being renamed Aundria Bowman).
Sadly, those who’ve seen the documentary will also know that in her teenage years, Aundria disappeared (when her sister Vanessa was just a baby) after accusing Dennis of molesting her, an allegation she was forced to retract after her parents got their local church involved. According to the film, the church pressured Aundria into ‘confessing’ that she had lied, leading the authorities to believe her parents’ story that she was a troubled runaway teen who had fled with a wad of stolen cash and an overnight bag.
Tragically, in reality, Aundria was murdered by Dennis Bowman – a man with a long history involving violence against woman and girls. He is currently serving a 35 to 50 year sentence for his harms, and Brenda has committed to remaining in her marriage, despite the fact her husband killed their daughter.
Here, we recap the disappearance of Aundria Bowman, how Cathy Terkanian is involved and where Cathy is today.
Aundria Bowman (who was born Alexis Badger)
Who is Cathy Terkanian?
Cathy Terkanian is the name of the woman who gave birth to Aundria Bowman in 1974, then known as Alexis Badger. Cathy welcomed her daughter into the world when she was only sixteen herself, and gave her up for adoption (after being pressured by her own mother) when the child was nine months old. Cathy shares in the documentary that she thought she was doing the best thing possible for her child, but it transpired that the family who took her in, the Bowmans, were the opposite of a loving family.
Ten years after Aundria vanished, Cathy received a letter from the police asking if she could provide a DNA sample as they’d discovered a body which they believed to be Aundria. Cathy obliged, however the DNA samples proved to not be a match – but by this point, after learning for the first time that her daughter had gone missing, Cathy was ready to fight tooth and nail to discover the truth. It would take her more than a decade of researching, trying to contact the Bowmans, police and others in the local area before justice prevailed.
How did Cathy Terkanian search for her daughter?
Beginning her quest for information, with the support of her partner Ed, Cathy set up a Facebook page called ‘Find Aundria M Bowman’ and began asking around for information. Cathy ended up connecting with some of Aundria’s old school friends along the way and a woman named Metta McLeod, who shared that she survived a kidnap attempt in the local Michigan area the same year that Aundria disappeared.
“I saw what a broken system did to her,” Cathy said in an interview with Tudum. “She was a normal teenage kid, but [she was] navigating trying to keep herself alive with two monsters just trying to squash her.”
Metta told Cathy she felt sure that her own ordeal was connected to Aundria’s disappearance and ater seeing an image of Aundria with her parents, Metta said that she believed Dennis Bowman to be the man who tried to abduct and harm her as a child. This, however, has never been proven.
Others close to Aundria also reinforced the idea did not have a happy home life with Dennis and Brenda, and Cathy began to point the finger in their direction, urging the police to investigate them. She also attended missing person conferences, some of which the Bowmans would also be at, and continued to make as much noise as she could about her daughter’s disappearance.
Cathy also launched a targeted campaign against the Bowmans specifically, covering the local area with images of her daughter (especially near to their home), and making it plain she believed Dennis had killed Aundria and buried her in the back garden. Heartbreakingly, almost thirty years on – a few months after being arrested in 2019 for raping and killing another woman, Kathleen Doyle, a 25-year-old whose home he broke into while working away with the navy in 1980 – Dennis admitted to Brenda that he killed Aundria and dismembered her body, burying it in the garden.
Dennis later admitted to second-degree murder in the death of 14-year-old Aundria in Allegan County Circuit Court, for which he was given a 35 to 50-year sentence.
Where is Cathy Terkanian now?
In the present day, Cathy is still fighting to have justice restored for her daughter and according to the Facebook page – which has been renamed ‘Justice for Aundria M Bowman’ as opposed to ‘Find Aundria M Bowman’ – she plans to launch a petition calling for her daughter’s ashes to no longer be split in half, and for her to be entitled to the entirety of Aundria’s ashes. Currently, Brenda has one half but shared the other with Cathy.
Cathy is still very vocal online about her dislike of the Bowman family. In one post, she claims: “Brenda Bowman NEVER once told me she loved Alexis and wanted to find her!
That inaction sealed her fate with me!”
Into The Fire: The Lost Daughter is available to stream on Netflix
Jennifer Savin is Cosmopolitan UK’s multiple award-winning Features Editor, who was crowned Digital Journalist of the Year for her work tackling the issues most important to young women. She regularly covers breaking news, cultural trends, health, the royals and more, using her esteemed connections to access the best experts along the way. She’s grilled everyone from high-profile politicians to A-list celebrities, and has sensitively interviewed hundreds of people about their real life stories. In addition to this, Jennifer is widely known for her own undercover investigations and campaign work, which includes successfully petitioning the government for change around topics like abortion rights and image-based sexual abuse. Jennifer is also a published author, documentary consultant (helping to create BBC’s Deepfake Porn: Could You Be Next?) and a patron for Y.E.S. (a youth services charity). Alongside Cosmopolitan, Jennifer has written for The Times, Women’s Health, ELLE and numerous other publications, appeared on podcasts, and spoken on (and hosted) panels for the Women of the World Festival, the University of Manchester and more. In her spare time, Jennifer is a big fan of lipstick, leopard print and over-ordering at dinner. Follow Jennifer on Instagram, X or LinkedIn.
