ALLEGAN COUNTY, Mich. —
A new Netflix two-part documentary, “Into the Fire,” shows how the 1989 cold case of Aundria “Alexis” Bowman ended in the conviction of her adopted father, Dennis Bowman. Dennis Bowman was found guilty of Aundria’s disappearance and murder in 2022.
Cathy Terkanian, Aundria’s mother who gave her up for adoption after she was born, found out in 2011 that her daughter had been missing from her home in Hamilton, MI, for twenty years.
“To see it go, you know, all the way from 2011 to where it's at now, I'm just walking around with bells in in my head," Terkanian said. “Just like I'm absorbing it slowly. I'm trying not to let things get stuck in me.”
The documentary shows how Terkanian’s Facebook account, Justice For Aundria M Bowman, friends, family, amateur sleuths, and investigators with Allegan County Sheriff’s Office and Michigan State Police helped solve the case.
Terkanian said there weren't many surprises while watching the documentary and that it was pretty “spot on.” But that doesn’t mean it was easy.
“There are parts of it I dread, kind of to have to witness, but I am here to bear witness to all of it, no matter how it makes me feel, it's just, I'm doing this for Alexis,” she said. “She deserves it. So, you know, I'm just feeling what she would feel, maybe without it getting you know, I don't want this to bear down on me too much, because I just feel this kind of, I feel good.”
Allegan County Undersheriff Mike Larsen ran the county's investigative services division of their detective bureau for seven years. One thing he said the Netflix documentary doesn’t cover is the amount of people that put effort and work into a cold case.
He knew that with Terkanian’s persistence, the case would gain national attention.
“From what I've been told, I haven't watched it yet, kind of focuses on some of the initial law enforcement efforts, and what people need to understand is the technology and the resources back then don't match what they do now, and even with what we have now, it's not a guarantee that we're going to find somebody or have the Fourth Amendment rights that they have aligned with us in our ability to gain that information,” he said. “So I think it's important for people to see every element of the case across the entire timeline, to put things in perspective.”
Whenever the sheriff’s office gets an inquiry for cold case coverage, like Bowman’s case, they always make sure to approve the coverage with those involved.
“The first thing we do is we always talk to the victim's family. Sometimes victim's family doesn't want additional exposure, so we'll consult with them,” he said. “The next step is we consult with the prosecutor's office to make sure that they're comfortable if there's anything pending that we're not going to damage a case by talking about something that may or may not be readily available to the public at the moment, but we start with the victim's family, then we consult the prosecutor's office, and then our policy is to be as transparent where we can.”
Larsen said their involvement in the documentary was not to bring fame to the office.
“Our goal in law enforcement is to bring justice to the victims of crimes, any exposure or news coverage that stems from that is just in an effort to be transparent,” Larsen said. “It's not for the notoriety or the credit in anything, and it just comes to the territory.”
Terkanian believes more victims are out there, and with the release of the documentary she has been in connection with others who were in similar circumstances as her daughter.
Over the decade she spent finding answers, she faced many roadblocks. But when it comes to cases like this, she said persistence is key.
“If you know you're right, don't give up. Don't back off, because you're right, and everybody's going to have their opinion, and that's fine, you know, but you've decided stick to your decision," she said. “Just know it's going to be difficult, especially in this situation. You know, there's many times you just wish you wonder, ‘God, why am I having to do this?’ But you know, trust, trust your gut, and if you know you're right, don't give up.”