ALLEGAN COUNTY, Mich. — A 70-year-old Michigan man was arrested Friday, Nov. 22 in connection to a Virginia homicide turned cold case from 1980.
According to Michigan State Police, Dennis Lee Bowman was arrested as his Allegan County home because of a joint effort with local law enforcement, Virginia police and NCIS.
Kathleen O'Brien Doyle was 25 when she was found murdered in her Norfolk home on Sept. 11, 1980. Doyle was married to a U.S. Navy pilot and she was the daughter of a naval officer. Her husband was deployed at the time of her murder.
Detectives in Virginia have been working the case for 39 years and identified Bowman as the suspect after the discovery of forensic evidence. No other details about the investigation were released, but Norfolk police Chief Larry Boone said the department was committed to pursuing justice for the victims and their families, "No victim is ever forgotten.”
Bowman was arrested on Friday morning at his home in Allegan County and will be extradited to Virginia for prosecution.
Police say Bowman's 14-year-old adoptive daughter, Aundria Bowman, disappeared in Michigan in 1989. She has not been found.
Aundria's biological mother, Cathy Terkanian, said after trying to connect with her daughter through the adoption agency, she was notified in 2010 that Aundria was disappeared in 1989.
Terkanian has since started searching for answers, hiring a private investigator and starting the Facebook page, Find Aundria M Bowman. Terkanian largely suspects Bowman is involved in the disappearance of the teen girl.
"I think this is a reprieve for me in a way, that I get to realize the love I had for her—have for her," she said about her dedication to Aundria's case. Terkanian said she hopes the break in Doyle's cold case will lead to answers and closure in Aundria's disappearance.
"There's a part of me that just dissects it, wants the answers, wants to put it to bed, and I think it really kicked in here," she said.
The Allegan County Sheriff's Office is not speaking on Aundria's case right now.
The Associated Press contributed to this reporting.
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