Cold cases are often ignored in the true crime world. With documentaries coming out of already solved cases it can easily take away from cases that have been left unsolved for decades. In Netflix's most recent documentary mini-series, Into The Fire: The Lost Daughter, director Ryan White tackles a thirty-year-old missing persons case where a mother is searching for the daughter she was forced to give up.
The Story Behind Into The Fire: The Lost Daughter
Into The Fire follows Cathy Terkanian, who, at the young age of sixteen, gave birth to a daughter that she was later forced to give up for adoption. It wasn't until almost 30 years later that Cathy discovered the daughter she put up for adoption was a missing person, Aundria Bowman, from Hamilton, Michigan.
In March of 1989, Audrina was reported as a missing person. At the time, her adopted father, Dennis Bowman, reported to the police that Audrina had probably run away as her jacket and some money was missing from the home. Since then, the case remained cold until 2010, when Cathy received a letter from social services asking to reach out. Cathay was hopeful she would be meeting the child she gave up all those years ago but tragically learns her daughter is a missing person.
It was then she would spend the next almost ten years pressuring the local government and police to look more into the case and into Audrina's adopted parents, Dennis and Brenda Bowman. After investigating, Dennis soon confessed in 2019 to killing Audrina after she threatened to go to the police and tell them he had been physically and sexually abusing her. Before he confessed, Dennis was convicted of the 1980 rape and murder of 25-year-old Kathleen Doyle after his DNA had been found at the crime scene. While in prison, he told Brenda where she could find the remains of Audrina.
Directed by Ryan White, Into the Fire follows Cathy and her husband, Edward, as they put the pieces together and fight to solve Audrina's case. Through their research, Cathy tragically discovers the hard life Audrina had before her murder and how it strayed far from the perfect life she was promised when Cathy put her up for adoption.
Into the Fire presents a raw look at a mother's love for their child even if they were forced to give them up. Throughout the documentary, they showcase all the work and time Cathy has put into solving the case and how her drive helped push the investigation to look more into Dennis. Into the Fire is split into two episodes ranging slightly over an hour. Ryan White, who also directed other Netflix true crime documentaries, The Keepers and State of Alabama vs. Brittany Smith, takes on this tragic cold case by viewing the struggle of finding answers through a mother's eyes looking for the child she never got to know.
Final Thoughts
Into the Fire makes a great addition to Netflix's collection of true crime documentaries. Taking the time to cover a cold case and putting it on such a big streaming platform is vital for other cold cases waiting to be solved. As more tune in to this riveting documentary series, more cold cases will hopefully get their chance to be covered in other documentaries like Into the Fire. Both episodes of Into the Fire are available on Netflix.
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this is so heartbreaking. the sad side of adoption and thinking the bio mom was trying to do right by giving her child away to be raised by a good family. I pray the bio mom finds peace.
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