Current:Home > ScamsLogan Bowman, 5, went missing 20 years ago. Now his remains have been identified. -AssetTrainer
Logan Bowman, 5, went missing 20 years ago. Now his remains have been identified.
View
Date:2025-04-16 06:37:04
Human remains discovered in Virginia were identified as belonging to a 5-year-old boy who went missing over 20 years ago, police said.
Logan Nathaniel Bowman went missing in January 2003, and his mother, Cynthia Davis, and her then-boyfriend, Dennis Schermerhorn, were charged in the child's disappearance. The Carroll County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement on social media last week that additional charges are expected to be filed.
Logan's remains were discovered in September 2022 in Galax, Virginia, the sheriff's office said.
Remains found nearly 20 years after disappearance
His remains were discovered in a wooded area of Galax, a southwestern Virginia city of about 6,700 residents, on Sept. 6, 2022, the sheriff's office said. They had been there "for an extended period of time," investigators determined.
Investigators worked with Texas-based forensic genealogy company Othram Inc. to use DNA and compare it to Logan's relatives, confirming the identity of the remains.
The remains were in a trash can, according to DNASolves.com, a site owned by Othram. Also found with the body were a sleeping bag, a Winnie the Pooh blanket and a cloth fragment, the site said.
Logan went missing from nearby Grayson County in 2003 in what DNASolves.com said was "suspicious circumstances." The site said he was entered into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, which noted Logan had a healing fracture in his left arm, tooth decay and burn scars on his feet. Logan's case in the NamUs system is no longer available online.
The boy's father, Wayne Bowman, told WFXR after the remains were identified that Logan was a "good kid" and he would finally be able to give him a proper burial. Wayne Bowman said he hopes the identification of his son's remains could lead to justice.
"I can go on, I know where he’s at now. I don’t have to worry where he’s at. I know it hurts, but it’s going to be OK," Wayne Bowman said.
Mother, boyfriend could face additional charges
Davis pleaded guilty to two counts of child neglect and one count of homicide, court records show. She was sentenced to 10 years for each count of child neglect and 30 years for homicide, with a suspended sentence of 15 years in prison and 15 years of probation.
Davis had been released from prison before her son's remains were identified, following her sentence for the earlier convictions, Carroll County Sheriff Kevin Kemp told USA TODAY.
Schermerhorn was sentenced to a year in jail for one charge of child neglect, according to court records. A murder charge and another child neglect charge filed against Schermerhorn were later dropped, the records show.
"We are still exploring our options for additional charges," Richard Vaughan, sheriff in Grayson County where Logan went missing, told USA TODAY on Wednesday.
Neither Davis nor Schermerhorn was in police custody or currently incarcerated, Kemp and Vaughan said.
Attorneys listed for Davis and Schermerhorn in their previous court cases could not be reached.
veryGood! (37)
Related
- McKinsey to pay $650 million after advising opioid maker on how to 'turbocharge' sales
- Pink Absolutely Stunned After Fan Throws Mom's Ashes At Her During Performance
- Kate Spade 24-Hour Flash Deal: Get This $330 Bucket Bag for Just $89
- Recent Megafire Smoke Columns Have Reached the Stratosphere, Threatening Earth’s Ozone Shield
- Spooky or not? Some Choa Chu Kang residents say community garden resembles cemetery
- Oklahoma executes man who stabbed Tulsa woman to death after escaping from prison work center in 1995
- It's not just Adderall: The number of drugs in short supply rose by 30% last year
- Warming Trends: Banning a Racist Slur on Public Lands, and Calculating Climate’s Impact on Yellowstone, Birds and Banks
- 'Kraven the Hunter' spoilers! Let's dig into that twisty ending, supervillain reveal
- Oklahoma executes man who stabbed Tulsa woman to death after escaping from prison work center in 1995
Ranking
- Average rate on 30
- Unchecked Oil and Gas Wastewater Threatens California Groundwater
- Even Kate Middleton Is Tapping Into the Barbiecore Trend
- Inside Clean Energy: Ohio’s EV Truck Savior Is Running Out of Juice
- Meet first time Grammy nominee Charley Crockett
- Shakira Recalls Being Betrayed by Ex Gerard Piqué While Her Dad Was in ICU
- Panera rolls out hand-scanning technology that has raised privacy concerns
- Senate Judiciary Committee advances Supreme Court ethics bill amid scrutiny of justices' ties to GOP donors
Recommendation
Nevada attorney general revives 2020 fake electors case
After Fukushima, a Fundamental Renewable Energy Shift in Japan Never Happened. Could Global Climate Concerns Bring it Today?
Panera rolls out hand-scanning technology that has raised privacy concerns
Chris Noth Slams Absolute Nonsense Report About Sex and the City Cast After Scandal
Hackers hit Rhode Island benefits system in major cyberattack. Personal data could be released soon
TikTok CEO says company is 'not an agent of China or any other country'
Photo of Connecticut McDonald's $18 Big Mac meal sparks debate online
Biden Promised to Stop Oil Drilling on Public Lands. Is His Failure to Do So a Betrayal or a Smart Political Move?