Current:Home > ScamsLogan Bowman, 5, went missing 20 years ago. Now his remains have been identified. -VitalWealth Strategies
Logan Bowman, 5, went missing 20 years ago. Now his remains have been identified.
View
Date:2025-04-18 10:24:27
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! (59)
Related
- USA women's basketball live updates at Olympics: Start time vs Nigeria, how to watch
- Crash between school bus, coal truck sends 20 children to hospital
- Will Laura Dern Return for Big Little Lies Season 3? She Says...
- Mass shooting at Buffalo supermarket now Justice Department’s first death penalty case under Garland
- Krispy Kreme offers a free dozen Grinch green doughnuts: When to get the deal
- Washington coach Kalen DeBoer expected to replace Nick Saban at Alabama
- Pakistan effectively shuts the key crossing into Afghanistan to truck drivers
- Kristen Stewart says 'Twilight' was 'such a gay movie'
- Your Wedding Guests Will Thank You if You Get Married at These All-Inclusive Resorts
- 'Ran into my house screaming': Woman wins $1 million lottery prize from $10 scratch-off
Ranking
- Costco membership growth 'robust,' even amid fee increase: What to know about earnings release
- Columnist’s lawyer warns judge that Trump hopes to ‘sow chaos’ as jury considers defamation damages
- Kristen Stewart says 'Twilight' was 'such a gay movie'
- A refugee bear from a bombed-out Ukraine zoo finds a new home in Scotland
- Billy Bean was an LGBTQ advocate and one of baseball's great heroes
- FAA ramps up oversight of Boeing's manufacturing procedures
- EPA proposes a fee aimed at reducing climate-warming methane emissions
- 'Ran into my house screaming': Woman wins $1 million lottery prize from $10 scratch-off
Recommendation
Apple iOS 18.2: What to know about top features, including Genmoji, AI updates
War in Gaza, election factor into some of the many events planned for MLK holiday
NFL All-Pro: McCaffrey, Hill, Warner unanimous; 14 first-timers
House Republicans shy away from Trump and Rep. Elise Stefanik's use of term Jan. 6 hostages
Most popular books of the week: See what topped USA TODAY's bestselling books list
'Highest quality beef:' Mark Zuckerberg's cattle to get beer and macadamia nuts in Hawaii
Teenager gets life sentence, possibility of parole after North Dakota murder conviction
American Petroleum Institute Plans Election-Year Blitz in the Face of Climate Policy Pressure