Current:Home > ScamsLogan Bowman, 5, went missing 20 years ago. Now his remains have been identified. -TradeGrid
Logan Bowman, 5, went missing 20 years ago. Now his remains have been identified.
View
Date:2025-04-15 17:41:41
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! (8)
Related
- The Grammy nominee you need to hear: Esperanza Spalding
- Authorities urge proper cooking of wild game after 6 relatives fall ill from parasite in bear meat
- Texas power outage map: Over 800,000 outages reported after storms, with more on the way
- Appeals court upholds retired NYPD officer’s 10-year prison sentence for Capitol riot attack
- Pressure on a veteran and senator shows what’s next for those who oppose Trump
- Daria Kasatkina, the world's bravest tennis player
- 134 Memorial Day 2024 Sales You Can Still Shop: J.Crew, Pottery Barn, Tatcha, Saatva, Lands' End & More
- How facial recognition technology is transforming travel efficiency and security
- The Louvre will be renovated and the 'Mona Lisa' will have her own room
- Cara Delevingne and Jeremy Pope Strip Down for Calvin Klein’s Steamy New Pride Campaign Video
Ranking
- The 401(k) millionaires club keeps growing. We'll tell you how to join.
- Layoffs can be part of running a small business. Some tips for owners on handling them
- The evolution of the song of the summer, from 'Afternoon Delight' to 'I Had Some Help'
- British equestrian rider Georgie Campbell dies from fall while competing at event in U.K.
- Meta releases AI model to enhance Metaverse experience
- Swapping one food for another can help lower your household's carbon emissions, study shows
- Body found after person went missing trying to swim from Virginia to Maryland, officials say
- Jan. 6 officers to campaign for Biden in battleground states
Recommendation
All That You Wanted to Know About She’s All That
Florida coach Billy Napier talks Jaden Rashada lawsuit and why he is 'comfortable' with actions
Severe storms over holiday weekend leave trail of disaster: See photos
Air Force unveils photos of B-21 Raider in flight as nuclear stealth bomber moves closer to deployment
DoorDash steps up driver ID checks after traffic safety complaints
Jimmy Kimmel's son Billy, 7, undergoes third open-heart surgery
Ohio Billionaire Larry Connor Plans to Take Sub to Titanic Site After OceanGate Implosion
Washington Post said it had the Alito flag story 3 years ago and chose not to publish