Into the Fire’s Cathy Terkanian Denies Speculation Vanessa Bowman Is Actually Aundria Bowman’s Daughter

Content warning: This story discusses murder and sexual assault.

Cathy Terkanian is shutting down conspiracy theories about the identity of Vanessa Bowman.

Netflix's two-part documentary Into the Fire: The Lost Daughter follows Cathy's chilling journey to find the baby girl she gave up for adoption in the 1970s, eventually learning that her daughter was adopted by Michigan couple Dennis Bowman and Brenda Bowman, who had trouble conceiving due to her double uterus.

However, Cathy discovered in 2010 that her daughter—born Alexis Badger but renamed Aundria Bowman by her adoptive parents—went missing as a 14-year-old in 1989, soon after Dennis and Brenda were able to conceive and welcome their baby girl Vanessa. 

Considering allegations of molestation leveraged against Dennis in the series—which he has denied—social media users have speculated whether Dennis could have gotten Aundria pregnant as a teen—and if she could have actually been the one to give birth to Vanessa. 

But Aundria's biological mom Cathy pushed back against the rumors. 

"Vanessa is NOT Alexis' child!" read a Sept. 16 post on Cathy's Justice for Aundria M Bowman Facebook Page, adding that Vanessa looks "just like the Monster's that spawned her!" 

After all, there has been no evidence to support the fan theories. The documentary does not question that Vanessa is indeed the biological daughter of Brenda and Dennis.

E! News has reached out to Netflix for contact information for Brenda, Dennis and Vanessa, as well as the Virginia Department of Corrections to seek lawyer information for Dennis but has not heard back. Brenda declined to be interviewed for the documentary, according to Netflix.

Released on Sept. 12, Into the Fire: The Lost Daughter documents how Cathy worked with police to uncover Dennis' disturbing past, with him pleading guilty to the 1980 rape and murder of 25-year-old Virginia woman Kathleen Doyle. After his 2019 imprisonment in Doyle's case—for which he was given two life sentences—Dennis made a startling confession about his missing daughter Aundria in an attempt to make a deal with the authorities to avoid extradition to a Virginia prison.

According to the now-75-year-old, Aundria didn’t run away from home as he reported to police in 1989. Instead, Dennis told investigators that the pair actually had a physical fight at their Michigan home, with Aundria falling down the stairs and fatally injuring her neck. He admitted to chopping up her body, placing her in a barrel and burying her in the backyard, where authorities later found her remains and DNA matched them to Cathy, according to documentary footage from investigators.

Dennis pled no contest in Aundria's killing in 2021 and was sentenced 35 to 50 years behind bars, per local Michigan outlet WWMT.

For his part, Dennis denied ever sexually abusing Aundria in audio tapes police recorded as part of their investigation into the teen’s disappearance that were included in Into the Fire.

However, Brenda testified in 2021 that Aundria told her she had been molested by Dennis when she was 13 and 14, per WWMT. Aundria later recanted her accusations, her parents said in audio tapes in Into the Fire.

Now that Cathy has brought Aundria’s story to light, she hopes to continue honoring her memory—including obtaining the rest of Aundria's ashes after Brenda sent her half of the remains.

"Petition for Alexis' ashes coming soon," she wrote Sept. 14, adding in another post two days later, "I want to thank everyone for your kindness and condolences! My sweet Alexis feels the love too!!"

For free, confidential help, call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673 or visit rainn.org.