Maryland's Bizarre Case of the Bodies in the Freezer

October 23, 2008

"My mother beats me-she just beats me to death," the 7-year-old girl said to a neighbor as she walked down a Lusby, Maryland street near her home on Friday evening, September 26, 2008. 

The girl, adorned in pigtails held in place by pink barrettes, had a number of bruises and cuts on her body that were visible to the neighbor who had called her over to his front yard.  She was wearing only a T-shirt, which was covered with blood and feces.  She claimed that she had escaped from her house by jumping out of a second-story bedroom window, and had been going door-to-door throughout the somewhat secluded and wooded neighborhood seeking help from anyone when she encountered the Good Samaritan.  She told him that she had not eaten for days, and he subsequently ordered a pizza for her. 

Her statement to the man, not to mention the visible signs of abuse that he had seen which included sores and abrasions in the area of her buttocks and thighs, prompted him to call 911 after providing the girl some clothes to wear. The girl also had bruises on her lips and hands, and there were abrasions on her neck that looked like ligature marks that may have been caused by a rope or similar item.  His brief encounter with the girl had been the catalyst that had launched the investigation that would, ultimately, lead to a tragic and horrific discovery inside the house where she had lived.

Lusby, Maryland is located approximately 50 miles southeast of Washington, D.C.

When the sheriff's deputies responded to the home of Renee D. Bowman, 43, formerly of Rockville, Maryland, located in the 200 block of Buckskin Trail, no one appeared to be at home.  However, Bowman showed up at the sheriff's office later that night looking for her daughter as investigators sought a search warrant for her home. She was informed that her daughter was being held in protective custody by the children's services division.

When deputies asked her about the girl's comments alleging the beatings she had sustained at the hands of her adoptive mother, Bowman admitted that she had beaten the girl because she had "lost her temper," according to Calvert County Detective Sgt. Michael Moore Jr.  She also said that she had locked the girl inside a bedroom while she made a trip to Washington, D.C.  During interviews with investigators, Bowman also stated that she had struck the child with a "hard-heeled shoe."  Bowman allegedly told Calvert County investigators that she was angry and stressed out over her daughter's mental capacity, which was why she had purportedly beaten the girl, and stated that she no longer wanted custody of her.  Investigators later learned that the girl was one of three girls that had been adopted by Bowman years earlier.

When the sheriff's department had obtained their warrant to search the house at about 2:30 a.m., they noted that it was dirty and in disarray and was also home to four cats and a dog.  It wasn't until they had reached the basement that they made the grim discovery that none of them would ever forget.  They found what appeared to be the bodies of two children, later determined to be young girls, frozen solid in a block of ice inside a large freezer.  Later, when detectives confronted Bowman with what they had found in the freezer, Bowman told them that they were the bodies of two other adopted daughters.  She said that she had kept their bodies stored in the freezer from the time of her relocation from Rockville to Lusby in February 2008.

Investigators soon learned that Bowman had adopted the three girls in Washington, D.C., and that two of them were biological sisters.  Bowman's relationship with the first two girls, those found inside the freezer, apparently began when she first took them in as a foster mother prior to adopting them.  The unemployed woman, who was receiving state assistance for the three girls, had adopted the oldest girl, who was 10 at the time of her death, in July 2001.  Bowman adopted the other two girls, the biological sisters, in 2004.  One of those girls was 9 at the time of her death, and the surviving girl is 7.

The state medical examiner's office had delayed autopsies for the two girls until Tuesday, September 30, because of the frozen condition of the bodies.  Afterward, the medical examiner's office reported that the autopsies had failed to determine a cause of death for the two girls, identified by a family friend as Jasmine Nicole Bowman, 9, and Minnet C. Bowman, who was nearing her 11th birthday at the time of her death.

"It's a tragedy," Moore told reporters.  "Children don't get to vote on where they come in this life.  You would pray and hope the system would have helped them.  All we can do is hope the system doesn't let down this little girl (who survived).  She's a 7-year-old and has been brutally victimized.  She has been put through hell."

Amazingly, state Department of Human Resources social workers said that they had not found anything out of the ordinary when they visited Bowman's home earlier in the year.  The social workers had gone there to investigate an anonymous complaint regarding the welfare of one of the children, but found nothing unusual.  The girl seemed to be in good health, but the Department of Human Resources released few other details about their visit to Bowman's home.  Nothing was mentioned about the welfare of the other two girls who, police now believe, were killed sometime in the autumn of 2007.

Bowman, it was revealed, had adopted all three of the girls despite the fact that each of them had been identified as "special needs" children.  A former friend of Bowman's claimed that Bowman had said that one of her daughters had been held back twice in school, and that all three of the girls had reading difficulties.  However, investigators had not found any records by the time of this report that the children had been enrolled in any schools in any of the locations where they had previously lived.

The former friend also said that Bowman had claimed that she was verbally abused as a child by her mother, who had also become homeless at one point in Bowman's childhood.  The former friend said that Bowman had been troubled by the fact that her mother had become homeless.

At the time of this report, Bowman was being held without bail on child abuse charges while police continue to investigate the case.  They are hopeful that additional tests from the autopsies, which could take several weeks, will shed more light on how the two girls had been killed.  The police were also conducting investigations at Bowman's prior residences, and were attempting to put together a timeline of events as they pieced the case together.  Additional charges against Bowman are expected.

In the meantime, donations of money, clothes, and other items are being accepted by Calvert County on behalf of the surviving child.  Donations may be sent to:  Calvert County Department of Social Services, c/o:  Calvert's Child, 200 Duke Street, Prince Frederick, MD  20678.

Investigation Discovery will provide updates on this tragic story as they become available.

Photo credits: Calvert County Sheriff’s Department

Comments

[Kimmy]

What a strange case. So sad.

[daisy]

she has no heart she should rott in jail.

[Sophie]

You think if she was abused as a child then she would treat these kids kindly. She better go to jail forever and never be allowed to have kids

[richelle]

she should go to jail. that's not nice

[Stacey]

I hope she rots in prison! There are so many families who truly want children and cannot have them, so this is really disgusting that she had the chance and abused her privilege.

[Michelle]

This is so sad. I hope that this woman pays for what she has done and I hope that this little girl gets the help she needs and a loving home.
I am truly disgusted. Being abused herself this woman should have known how awful it is and sgould never have done this.

[QueenMola]

So sad.... That woman needs to burn. I also blame the system. If they didn't give these kids to her, she would not of been able to do what she did. The system failed these kids.

[Concerned Mother]

How could any mother that has any form of compassion cause a child to endure such brutality. Those girls are so precious and did not deserve to come to such a tragic end. I want to know why Bowman is not being charge with murder, it is apparent that she had something to do with their deaths. I would also like to know why the social worker did not see the signs of neglect a filthy home is reason enough to remove them from her care. How can she expect them to learn anything when they were never in school. I do feel that the state is some what responsible for the death of those girls becaise if they were "special needs children" then there should have been frequent visits to the home to ensure that the girls were getting the best care to help them develop as normally as possible. This case boils my blood because I myself am a mother and i would never harm my daughter. This women deserves to sit in a prison for the rest of her life, death would be a sweet escape for her. My prayers are with ALL of those girls GOD BLESS THEM!

[pman]

I believe she should get the death penalty for hurting those kids.All kids should get justice no matter what color are backround disadvantage they come from remember they are innocent children.

[BiBi]

this is not right!

[sass]

let me guess,she gets extra assistance from the gov for each child,
more children=more money
lets add a crack habit
all this and crack absence rage=murder

[Julie]

Too bad thee tragedies occur. I believe no mater what that justice will be served one way or another. Read your Bibles to see this life is only for a time then there will be a just Lord for eternity. Gotta have faith and know that justice triumpths over evil...

[SV]

Why didn't anyone MISS the two little girls? How can former friends watch a family dwindle from four to two and not question WHERE the kids are!? Someone obviously knew something was wrong in that home DIDN'T DO THEIR JOB! This is negligent homicide by the state Department of Human Resources social workers who probably never even asked the 7 year old anything about her home life OR EVER BOTHER TO ASK where Jasmine and Minnet were to talk to them about abuse allegations! POOR POOR GIRL!

[TBMc]

She's too big to have a crack habit. She's probably just a selfish, lazy, abusive woman whose past has deadened her feelings for others. She probably saw the move as her opportunity to go to a new area where people did not know she was supposed to have 3 kids. Sad, disgusting, inhuman.

[Reta Krukowski]

Our government treats children as they are trash and can just be done away with or beaten.
My sister-in-law's daughter adopted 4 kids, 3 of them were her brothers. She gets around 1,300 a month. The money you start recieving as a foster mother doesn't stop when you adopt them. You also get medical, food stamps and housing.
Her daughter is scum and has used the money for meth. Two winters ago, they had no electricity, water or heat and it was a horrible winter. I called the welfare on them but they moved out of town. The children were taken away for awhile but once the parents took a course, they got the kids back. A course doesn't make you a good parent!

[Roya]

Oh my god, this is really disgusting! It makes me sick!

[Vigilante]

normally I would say Death Penalty, but prison is exactly where this one belongs to spend the rest of her life, guaranteed she will experience some true abuse at the hands of women who might be in prison for protecting their own children, and live to dole out justice to people like her. If she lives through her sentence it will be worse that death.

[Carissa]

Everyday when I look at my child my heart swells with love. I could never do anything to my child to inflict any kind of pain!!! Every parent gets frustrated but that's no reason to beat them or let them starve!!! My heart goes out to this little girl!!

[Gary C. King]

It is sometimes difficult to accept, even for a seasoned crime writer, that there is such cruelty in the world. Unfortunately, however, there is--we usually do not have to look very far, usually no farther than a newspaper, television, or Internet site, to see these kinds of atrocities. Children are supposed to be our most sacred assets.

[Monica]

She should rot in jail for killing them two little girls and then abusing a seven year old little girl. i thought adults suppose to love their children but i see that she dont care about children and for that she should have fun in jail were she belongs. You crazy sico womenn they did not deserve that and u should rot in tell u fell sorry for wat u did. you should have been a better mom. you disgustses me.

[Lenora clowdus]

I would like to see an update about this story.Last known was October of "08". I'm very sad that those precious children endured thier fate at the hands of sadistic person. What is wrong with our judicial system. I want to know why this is not an open and shut case? The 7 year old survivor is all you need to solve any answers . Where is she today? May God give the justice those children need to rest in peace.

[Gary C. King]

Thank you, Lenora, for the request for an update on this very sad and tragic case. I will provide an update soon.

[AZFred]

Why were the children in the care of this woman and where are the parents and relatives of these children?