A Michigan man was reportedly arrested in 2019 on charges emanating from a 1980 homicide has now been prosecuted with murdering his daughter, who vanished in 1989.
According to a statement released by the Allegan County Prosecutor's Office, Dennis Lee Bowman, 71, was arrested for felony murder, open murder, first-degree child abuse and mutilation of his 14-year-old daughter named Aundria Michelle Bowman, on Friday, 31 years after her disappearance.
The Hamilton-area girl was reported as a runaway victim from her family's home in Fillmore Township on March 11, 1989.
In February 2020, authorities excavated skeletal remains from a shallow grave covered by cement at Bowman's house at 136th Avenue and 32nd Street in Monterey Township, located east of Hamilton.
According to prosecutor Myrene Koch, "I also want to assure Aundria's family and friends that even though this has been a very long road, this is the first step to seeking justice for her."
It was not immediately made known if Bowman has a lawyer who could comment on his case.
Bowman was arrested last November after detectives associated him to a cold, decades-long case out of state, triggering police officials to investigate a probable connection to the 1989 vanishing act of Aundria.
The native from Hamilton area was charged for the murder of Kathleen Doyle in Norfolk, Virginia in 1980. She was reportedly strangled and stabbed in her home in Norfolk. She was also killed while her husband was stationed as a US Navy pilot.
The prosecutor's office declared that DNA testing and medical examination courtesy of Michigan State University Forensic Biology and Western Michigan University School of Medicine Forensic Pathology laboratories recently detected the body remains as Aundria's.
Bowman was repatriated to Virginia back in February and is currently in custody in Norfolk.
Aundria's birth mother Cathy Terkanian earlier said she was informed that Bowman had confessed to the murder accusation and directed the police to the area he buried her body. Terkanian had publicly remarked that she believed the 71-year-old was her daughter's killer, expressing her suspicions to police officials.
Koch stated Bowman will be transferred back to Michigan.
According to investigators, tracing where Aundria was located gained momentum after Bowman was arrested in November.
Bowman told Norfolk General District Judge Robert Rigney in a prosecution in February that he would like to represent himself and as a guilty party to the murder charge from Doyle's homicide case. However, Rigney did not accept his plea at the time. Bowman has not been pronounced guilty in the Doyle case.
Bowman has a criminal record since 1980 that involves charges for assault, sexual and burglary assault.
Evidence recently emerged tying the elder Bowman to the murder of Doyle, and he was arrested after a joint investigation by the Norfolk Police Department and numerous Michigan police forces.
"I want to thank all of the law enforcement teams both from Michigan and Virginia who have worked diligently on this case with my office over the years," Koch said.
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