Skeletal Remains Found in Va. Woods ID'd as Those of Boy Missing Since 2003, Charges Expected

Logan Nathaniel Bowman went missing in January 2003

Skeletal remains found in Virginia last year have been identified as those of a 5-year-old boy who went missing in 2003, authorities said.

In a collaboration with Othram, Inc., Texas-based company that specializes in forensic genome sequencing, the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office announced that the remains were determined to be those of Logan Nathaniel Bowman.

Bowman went missing in Grayson County in January 2003. His biological mother, Cynthia Davis, and her then-boyfriend Dennis Schermerhorn, were charged in connection with the disappearance of Logan. David was sentenced to 15 years after being convicted of secondary murder, but the charges against Schermerhorn were dismissed in 2004 due to lack of evidence, WSLS reports.

The Carroll County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release that new charges are anticipated in the ongoing investigation.

The sheriff’s office responded to a wooded area in Galax, Va., on Sept. 6, 2022 after human remains were discovered in the area.

A man who had bought the property alerted authorities after he found the remains in a trash bag, NBC affiliate WSLS-TV reported.

The turn of events was something county Sheriff Kevin Kemp told the news station he'd never seen before.

“These are very rare circumstances that do not happen very often, so we understand the importance and the rarity of this circumstance,” Kemp said. “So to say I’m not in shock with the outcome I think would be understating it a little bit.”

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Kemp added, “It was a day where I first thought, ‘What if these could be the remains of Logan Bowman?’”

The remains had been at the location for an extended period of time, the sheriff’s office said.

Othram Inc., which specializes in forensic-grade genome sequencing and forensic genetic genealogy, was able to develop a full DNA profile which allowed the company to use forensic genetic genealogy and two direct DNA comparisons of family members to identify the remains as being Bowman, the sheriff’s office said.

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