Kriti Mehrotra
It was March 1989 when everything turned upside down for the Bowman family as their 14-year-old adopted daughter Aundria Bowman (born Alexis Badger) suddenly disappeared. However, as explored in Netflix’s ‘Into the Fire: The Lost Daughter,’ it wasn’t until nearly three decades later that her matter came to a close as it turned out that her adoptive father had killed her. However, what many often forget is that Dennis Lee Bowman and his wife Brenda had another child, too, Vanessa Joy Bowman, someone he apparently genuinely wished the best for at every turn.
Vanessa Bowman Was Merely a Year Old When Aundria Went Missing
Although Dennis and Brenda believed they could not naturally conceive a child owing to the latter having a double uterus, they were presently surprised when she tested positive in 1987. By this point, the Michigan natives had not only happily adopted Aundria but had been proudly raising her for the past decade – they had managed to adopt her when she was a mere toddler. Therefore, by the time Vanessa was born a year later in 1988, her elder sister was 13 and utterly ecstatic to meet her as the family became complete.
According to the aforementioned original, Aundria had gladly embraced the role of an elder sister – she cared for Vanessa and apparently even wished to protect her from their father. She had already accused Dennis of physically as well as sexually assaulting her, so she once even told her friends that she’d run away when her sister was old enough to protect herself to go find her birth mom. Until then, she reportedly indicated to friends that she was happy not to leave her sister’s side, change her diapers, feed her bottles, and do everything necessary. But alas, she disappeared in March 1989 when Vanessa was merely 14 months old, with her father accusing her of running away when she had really died.
Vanessa Bowman Prefers to Lead a Quiet Life These Days
While it’s true that Dennis was arrested for good in November 2019 before ultimately being charged with Aundria’s murder in 2020, Vanessa has never once publicly spoken up about the matter. Therefore, with her not participating in the aforementioned original either, it’s evident this now 36-year-old prefers to stay well away from the limelight and not make her opinions on her father public. So, while we do not know whether she supports her now murder-convicted father or even has a relationship with him, we do know she likely maintains a close, strong bond with her mother to this day, all the while building a separate life for herself in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Read More: Cathy Terkanian: Where is Aundria Bowman’s Mother Now?
