0:02

Jennifer vanished sometime in the overnight hours. Right

0:04

now there is no trace. Investigators say

0:06

evidence leads them to believe that

0:08

she's dead. Stick my nose back in

0:10

the trail. That's all I can do. This

0:14

is already gone. Already gone.

0:17

Already gone. It

0:24

all started with a dinner. In

0:27

September of 2006, an off-duty

0:29

police officer, Mike McGee, attended

0:32

a dinner with his in-laws. Among

0:35

the guests was an elderly man,

0:37

Larry Adams. Adams

0:39

had been invited alongside other residents of

0:42

a local nursing home. The

0:45

unlikely pair sat together and chatted amongst

0:47

themselves for a while, before

0:49

Larry turned to the officer and said, I

0:52

have a case I want you to look at. After

0:56

hearing the details, Mike made a

0:58

promise to Larry, and

1:01

in the following days, he would

1:03

follow up on the harrowing story. Come

1:06

with me to Toledo, Ohio, where

1:09

a chance encounter between two

1:11

strangers would lead to the

1:13

unraveling of a 39-year-old mystery. A

1:16

mystery that destroyed the lives of

1:18

those closest forever. The

1:22

Mystery of the

1:25

Larry Adams Case

1:33

Eileen Marie Adams was born in Sylvania,

1:36

Ohio, on September 19, 1953. She

1:41

was the fourth child born to her parents,

1:43

Mary and Lawrence, and the

1:45

couple would eventually go on to have four

1:47

more children before completing the

1:50

family. Eileen

1:52

grew up sharing a room with her

1:54

two sisters, Ruth and Maggie. Eileen

1:57

was described as a beautiful person who was

1:59

full of love. of life. The

2:02

family of ten looked out for each

2:04

other and they were described as close,

2:06

loving, and a good

2:08

Catholic family. However, everything

2:10

would change on an unsuspecting day during

2:13

the busy holiday period of 1967. 14-year-old

2:15

Eileen was a freshman

2:20

at Central Catholic High School

2:22

in Toledo. Her typical routine

2:24

would consist of her finishing school

2:26

in the mid-afternoon and making her

2:29

way by bus to her older

2:31

sister Marianne's house in West Toledo.

2:33

Here she would wait for her father to collect

2:35

her and take her home. On December

2:39

18, 1967, Eileen began her day

2:42

as usual. It was

2:44

a brisk morning so she left home

2:46

wearing a white blouse under a two-piece

2:48

blue suit, topped off with

2:50

a dark green corduroy coat. She

2:53

carried her school supplies with her

2:55

in a brown shoulder bag. That

2:58

day she attended school and,

3:00

afterwards, caught the bus to

3:02

Marianne's house with a group

3:04

of friends. Eileen chatted with her

3:06

friends as they made the journey together, with

3:09

one friend reporting that Eileen had hoped she

3:11

could go Christmas shopping with her father that

3:14

evening. Her friends

3:16

left the bus a few stops before Eileen

3:18

and the girls said goodbye as they began

3:20

making their way home. Initial

3:24

reports suggest that Eileen left the bus

3:26

at her usual stop and

3:28

began making her way to her sister's

3:30

house on Sylvania Avenue. Her

3:33

father arrived to collect her at

3:36

3.45 but Eileen was not there.

3:38

He drove to the bus stop and waited

3:40

hoping that she had gotten caught up with school

3:42

or with friends. When he

3:45

couldn't find her he began to worry. Marianne

3:49

said that by five o'clock her father

3:51

was becoming panicked and jumpy. His

3:54

demeanor was making Marianne nervous but

3:56

she also shared his concern. She

3:59

knew that Eileen was reliable and

4:01

never late home. As

4:04

the evening went on, the temperature dropped

4:06

significantly and it began to rain. Mary

4:09

Ann waited by the door for hours,

4:11

praying her sister would burst through, unaware

4:14

of the panic she'd caused. By

4:18

six o'clock, a missing persons report was

4:20

filed with the Toledo Police Department. Authorities

4:24

started searching for Eileen, but with the

4:26

last official sighting of her being on

4:28

the school bus and no

4:30

surveillance cameras at the time, investigators

4:32

had limited information to go off

4:35

of. Eileen's

4:37

younger sister, Maggie, describes her

4:39

disappearance as the day real

4:41

life stopped. She

4:44

said their close-knit family of

4:46

10 became nine broken individuals,

4:49

each unsure of how to cope

4:51

with the devastating situation they found

4:53

themselves in. With

4:58

just a week to go until Christmas, Eileen's

5:01

gift sat under the tree in the living room,

5:03

waiting for her to return home. Over

5:08

the following weeks, Eileen's father and

5:10

brothers would spend each evening traveling

5:12

around Toledo, driving the route she

5:15

would have taken that day. They

5:17

would stop periodically along their journey, asking

5:20

passers-by if they'd seen her or

5:22

knew anything about her disappearance. Her

5:26

younger sibling stayed home with their mother,

5:28

so someone would always be there if

5:30

Eileen returned. Maggie

5:33

says that during this period, the only

5:35

game the children played was the waiting

5:37

game, waiting for Eileen

5:39

to return home. The

5:44

family continued in limbo before they finally

5:46

received the news they'd been dreading. On

5:50

January 30, 1968,

5:52

Eileen's frozen body was discovered by

5:54

a hunter in a rural field

5:57

in Monroe County, Michigan, 20 miles north of

6:00

where she was last seen. She

6:02

was found wrapped in a sheet, concealed with

6:04

a brown braided rug, and was

6:07

wearing the white blouse and two-piece blue suit

6:09

she'd worn the day she'd vanished. Her

6:12

shoes, coat, and bag were missing.

6:16

Upon further inspection, authorities realized that

6:18

Eileen's wrists were tied at the

6:20

front of her body. She

6:24

had also been bound with an electrical cord

6:26

that was wound tightly around her neck and

6:29

secured at both ankles. Authorities

6:32

referred to this as a death tie

6:34

and believed it was done purposefully so

6:36

that Eileen wouldn't have been able to

6:38

straighten her legs without cutting off her

6:40

airway. Her

6:43

body was covered in white animal hair,

6:45

and roofing nails were scattered in the

6:47

rug that concealed her body. Following

6:51

the discovery, Monroe, Michigan

6:53

detectives and the Toledo Police

6:55

Department began a homicide investigation.

6:58

They were also tasked

7:00

with delivering the devastating news to

7:02

Eileen's family. Eileen's

7:05

sister, Maggie, discusses the evening in

7:07

detail, describing how she instantly

7:10

knew something was wrong when she

7:12

realized that the door to the family room was

7:14

closed. She

7:17

walked into the kitchen and discovered her

7:19

siblings and grandmother crying. Her brother told

7:21

her that Eileen was dead and Maggie couldn't

7:24

believe it. She was warned

7:26

not to enter the family room where her parents

7:28

were. Maggie

7:30

admits that she wasn't a brave child,

7:33

but that evening she decided to see

7:35

what was happening for herself. As

7:38

she opened the door she encountered a scene

7:40

that she has never been able to forget.

7:42

She said, quote, My

7:44

mom was crying, face all rad and

7:47

blotchy, but silent, no sounds. My

7:50

dad was crying harder than I had

7:52

ever seen anyone cry. I had seen

7:54

him cry in the days of Eileen's disappearance

7:56

and that had unnerved me, but it

7:59

was nothing like this. This was

8:01

so raw. This was so

8:03

deep. He didn't feel

8:05

Mom's hand. He didn't hear the door when I

8:07

opened it. He knew nothing

8:09

but his daughter was dead, and now so

8:12

did I. And

8:14

I also knew that

8:16

Moms and Dads couldn't

8:18

always protect their children.

8:21

Eileen's autopsy was carried out the

8:23

following day on January 31st. The

8:26

pathologist concluded that Eileen's cause of

8:28

death was probable strangulation. However,

8:31

Eileen had also suffered numerous blows

8:33

from a hammer or similar-shaped weapon

8:36

that had caused numerous skull fractures. During

8:40

autopsy, the pathologist discovered that a

8:42

3-inch nail had been driven into

8:44

the back of Eileen's skull at

8:46

the base of her neck. She

8:49

confirmed that the 14-year-old had been sexually

8:51

assaulted prior to her murder. Following

8:56

the pathologist's report, police offered a

8:59

reward of $2,500 for any information

9:01

that could lead to the arrest

9:03

of Eileen's killer. Investigators

9:05

also requested more information from anyone

9:07

who had seen Eileen on the

9:10

day she had vanished. They

9:12

were hoping to discover more about a young man

9:14

she was believed to have been speaking to on

9:16

the bus. The

9:19

horrifying news of Eileen's gruesome death

9:22

caused even more devastation for her

9:24

family. They were struggling

9:26

to process the reality of what

9:28

had happened. Eileen's sister, Maggie, said

9:30

that at this point, the children

9:32

just hadn't lost their sister, but

9:34

their parents as well. Their

9:38

mother turned to God for answers

9:40

and would spend her days praying repeatedly

9:42

for Eileen's soul. She

9:45

would insist that the children line up in

9:47

a row, get down on their knees, and

9:49

pray for strength, understanding, and

9:51

forgiveness. They were

9:53

instructed to do this again and again. Maggie

9:57

commented that it seemed praying was the only time she

9:59

had been their mother remember that she had

10:01

other children who needed her, as she

10:04

was too consumed by her grief to

10:06

focus on anything else. Their

10:09

father, on the other hand, he refused

10:11

to pray. He turned

10:13

his back on religion and instead became

10:15

reliant on alcohol to take his pain

10:17

away. Larry Adams

10:20

began carrying a gun everywhere and is

10:22

described as flying in to rages,

10:24

where he would smash up items in

10:26

the home and talk in detail

10:29

about what he would like to do to the

10:31

man who had taken his daughter away. During

10:34

these rages, Maggie and Ruth would hide together

10:36

under the bed, struggling to cope

10:38

with the loss of their sister, but

10:41

not truly understanding what had happened

10:43

or why their father was acting this way.

10:47

The pair would comfort each other while being

10:49

terrified for the safety of their mother and

10:51

their other siblings. And

10:54

while these details are not pretty, Maggie

10:57

felt it was important to demonstrate the

10:59

impact that Eileen's death had on the

11:01

entire family. As the

11:05

years went by, the police investigation

11:08

continued. However, the case quickly went

11:10

cold. Despite a generous

11:12

reward and numerous tips that came in,

11:15

nobody could offer any valuable information

11:18

that would lead to any viable

11:20

suspects. The

11:22

family quickly became paranoid about the

11:24

killer returning. They

11:26

had no idea why Eileen was

11:28

chosen, if she was targeted specifically

11:30

or if one of her siblings could be

11:33

next. As a result, the

11:35

children were unable to go anywhere but to

11:37

school. They were not

11:39

allowed to attend sleepovers with their friends or

11:42

go to birthday parties alone. They

11:44

couldn't visit their sister, Mary Ann, as that

11:46

was where Eileen was traveling the day she

11:49

was taken. Their

11:51

torment continued for another 15 years

11:54

before the first big break in the

11:56

case finally came. In

11:58

December of an intoxicated

12:01

woman entered the Toledo Police

12:03

Department. She claimed to

12:06

have information about an unsolved murder. The

12:09

woman, Margaret Bowman, had

12:11

left her abusive husband in previous years

12:14

and after telling her new partner

12:16

about something she had witnessed in

12:18

1967, he had driven her to

12:20

the police station to file a report. At

12:24

the time of Eileen's disappearance, Margaret

12:26

had been living in Toledo with her

12:29

ex-husband, Robert Bowman. She

12:31

told the police that in the days following the birth

12:33

of their child in December of 1967, she began hearing

12:38

noises coming from the fruit cellar

12:40

of their home. The pair had

12:42

only been living there a short while, so

12:44

Margaret thought nothing of the noises and assumed

12:46

it was rats. In

12:49

the following days, she descended the stairs to

12:52

the laundry room to hang up some clothes

12:54

and began hearing the muffled noises again, but

12:57

this time she thought she could hear crying

12:59

and moaning. She decided to

13:01

open the cellar door to see what it was.

13:05

When she opened the door, she discovered a

13:07

naked young girl bound and

13:09

hanging like Jesus with tape

13:12

covering her mouth. Margaret

13:14

knew the girl was still alive as the girl

13:16

looked her in the eyes as she entered the

13:18

room. Margaret,

13:21

in disbelief at what she was

13:23

seeing, screamed and ran back upstairs.

13:26

She was immediately confronted by her

13:28

husband, who told her she was

13:31

messing with his business and had

13:33

now left him with no choice but to kill

13:35

the girl. Robert

13:38

quickly ran down the stairs and into

13:40

the basement, turning the radio up loud

13:42

so Margaret couldn't hear what was happening.

13:45

After a short while, he came back up the

13:48

stairs and forced Margaret to get in the car

13:50

while he removed the young girl's body from the

13:52

home. He then forced

13:54

Margaret to drive across state lines into

13:57

Michigan, where he dragged the girl into

13:59

a wooded area. area. When

14:01

he returned to the car, he told

14:03

Margaret that if she told anybody about

14:05

what she had seen, he would kill

14:07

her and their baby. He also

14:10

made her believe that she was now an

14:12

accessory to murder. In

14:17

the following days, as Margaret was cleaning the

14:19

kitchen, she discovered numerous school

14:21

books that had been concealed. When

14:24

she opened the cover of one of the

14:26

books, she found Eileen's name written inside. As

14:30

she finished her story, the police became

14:32

skeptical of the details and

14:34

wondered if Margaret was simply a

14:36

scorned ex-lover. They

14:38

questioned why it had taken so

14:41

many years for Margaret to come

14:43

forward with such crucial information. They

14:45

were also aware of her history of alcoholism,

14:47

which had caused her to have a few

14:50

run-ins with law enforcement over the years.

14:55

They continued to interview Margaret and

14:57

pressed her for more information, conducting

14:59

a lie detector test and even

15:02

placing her under hypnosis, looking to

15:04

find discrepancies in her story. During

15:08

questioning, they were intrigued to learn that

15:10

Margaret and Robert had a white dog

15:12

at the time of Eileen's disappearance, which

15:15

would account for the white animal hairs found on

15:17

her body, a detail that had

15:19

never been shared with the public. When

15:22

asked what happened to the animal, Margaret said

15:24

Robert had killed it. The

15:28

investigators decided, after many weeks of

15:30

interview, that Margaret's story was consistent

15:32

and worth investigating, and they began

15:35

their search for Robert Bowman, who was

15:37

now in his mid-40s. They

15:40

were aware that Robert had ties

15:42

to numerous areas such as Miami,

15:44

Florida, Las Vegas, Nevada, and the

15:46

state of Arizona. Toledo

15:49

police contacted each department, asking officers

15:51

to be on the lookout for

15:53

him. When a

15:55

letter from the Miami Police Department arrived in

15:58

January 1982, Detective

16:00

Bob Lynch immediately recognized the

16:02

wanted man. Robert

16:05

Bowman stood out. He was unkempt with

16:07

a long beard and wore dirty white

16:10

clothing that was torn and hanging from

16:12

his thin body. Officers

16:14

recognized him as a man who often walked

16:17

along the southern coast of Florida, pushing

16:19

a shopping cart filled with trash that

16:21

he'd found and planned to upcycle. His

16:24

strange demeanor made people feel uneasy.

16:28

But despite appearances, life

16:30

hadn't always been this way for Robert

16:32

Bowman. While

16:34

married to Margaret, he'd been a successful

16:36

businessman, owning a prominent

16:39

construction company and manufacturing luxury

16:41

purses that were sold in

16:43

high-end fashion stores. As

16:46

his marriage failed, so did his

16:48

businesses. On a

16:50

whim, he decided to sell everything he owned

16:52

and spent the remainder of his money becoming

16:55

homeless by choice. Prior

16:58

to his divorce, he decided he wanted to

17:00

live off the grid and tried to force

17:02

Margaret to do the same, but she declined.

17:08

Miami detectives began the hunt for

17:10

Robert soon after receiving the letter

17:12

and eventually located him living within

17:14

an abandoned burned-out restaurant known as

17:16

the Painted Horse. It

17:19

was on the Miami shoreline. Bowman

17:22

admitted he was paid $10 a month

17:25

to look after the place and, despite

17:27

the damp and dilapidated conditions, he

17:29

decided it was a great place to live. Robert

17:34

was taken to the police station

17:37

for questioning and his bizarre behavior

17:39

caused officers to become increasingly frustrated.

17:43

Bowman was initially described as being

17:45

calm and cooperative. However,

17:47

soon after detectives mentioned Eileen

17:50

Adams, his behavior began to

17:52

change. He

17:54

confessed that he had been on Earth numerous

17:57

times and used to be Jesus. He'd

17:59

fought in the war. and kept discussing

18:01

his newfound religion, where he was

18:03

not allowed to own any possessions. While

18:07

listening to him rambling on, Detective

18:09

Bob Lynch noticed that Robert had

18:11

begun shaking uncontrollably. Eventually,

18:14

officers cut him off and asked him

18:16

point blank, Did you kill

18:18

Eileen Adams? Robert

18:21

responded, Maybe I did, maybe I

18:23

didn't. You're the detective, you figure

18:25

it out. Following

18:30

this interview, Robert was returned to

18:32

the abandoned restaurant, and Toledo police

18:34

were notified of Robert's whereabouts. Armed

18:37

with the information that Eileen Adams was

18:39

last seen in Robert Bowman's home, a

18:42

group of detectives from both Toledo and

18:44

Monroe County decided to travel to Florida

18:46

to conduct their own interview. There,

18:51

they entered the abandoned restaurant and introduced

18:53

themselves to the strange man. While

18:56

walking through the premises, they noticed the

18:58

Spider-Man doll, suspended from the doorway and

19:01

bound in the same manner as Eileen

19:03

Adams had been. The

19:05

doll also had a nail protruding from

19:07

its head. Robert's

19:11

bizarre behavior continued. He

19:14

showed detectives his friends, seven rats living

19:16

amongst the rubble who he had named.

19:19

He claimed they would sit and share dinner with him

19:21

and would curl up with him at night. When

19:25

asked about Eileen, he would change the

19:27

subject or give cryptic

19:29

responses, teasing the detectives, but

19:32

being careful to avoid incriminating

19:34

himself. During

19:36

this encounter, Robert also pointed out the

19:39

Spider-Man doll and asked detectives to pay

19:41

particular attention to the way it was

19:43

bound at the wrists and the ankles.

19:47

He eventually admitted that Eileen had been in

19:49

his home and that he did own

19:51

a white dog at the time. However,

19:53

he claimed that this didn't mean he

19:55

had killed Eileen and again, he

19:57

told the detectives it was their job to prove.

20:00

he did. This

20:02

back and forth continued for days

20:04

until detectives admitted they were wasting

20:07

their time. Having

20:10

been unsuccessful at acquiring a confession,

20:13

the detectives traveled back to their

20:15

respective departments feeling confident that they'd

20:17

found Eileen's killer but disappointed

20:19

that he was able to walk

20:22

free. They believed he was intentionally

20:24

trying to confuse the investigation with

20:26

his meaningless rambles, trying

20:28

to present himself as insane so

20:31

detectives didn't take him seriously. The

20:35

group returned to Florida in April of 1982 to question Robert

20:37

one more

20:39

time. Robert was asked

20:42

to leave the restaurant where he'd been living

20:44

and detectives feared he would soon become untraceable.

20:48

They tried to speak to Robert again but

20:50

he became angry and defensive and expressed his

20:52

belief that the police were trying to set

20:54

him up, ruining his opportunity

20:56

to pursue a new business venture.

21:01

When the interview ended, Robert told

21:03

detectives they would never see him again.

21:09

At this stage, detectives began building

21:11

a case against Bowman based on

21:13

the eyewitness report from Margaret, evidence

21:16

found on Eileen's body and the

21:18

countless hours of interviews they'd conducted

21:20

with Robert. By late

21:22

1982, Robert Bowman was officially

21:24

named as the main suspect in the

21:26

case. Unfortunately, as

21:29

DNA testing was not available at

21:31

the time, the circumstantial evidence they

21:33

had gathered was not enough for

21:35

detectives to secure a conviction and

21:38

they were unable to proceed with charges.

21:41

Once again, the case went cold and

21:43

listeners will be right back after a word

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out of the ordinary. Eileen's

23:05

family were notified of the new development in

23:07

the case and became hopeful that an arrest

23:09

would be imminent. Maggie

23:11

describes the first time she heard Robert

23:13

Bowman's name and how it was

23:15

like somebody came along and ripped open an old

23:18

wound. The family had

23:20

learned to cope with Eileen's death by ignoring

23:22

it and the children, who were now adults,

23:25

were careful to never bring her up

23:27

in fear of upsetting their parents. When

23:30

they learned there wasn't enough evidence

23:33

to charge Bowman, the family was

23:35

devastated. They felt as though Eileen

23:37

had been lost in technicalities and

23:40

despite now knowing who had taken her life,

23:43

there was nothing they could do about it. After

23:47

decades passed and due to

23:49

advancements in DNA technology, detectives

23:52

decided to reopen the case

23:54

in 1995. They tested

23:56

the clothing found on Eileen's body and

23:58

ran samples through the police. database hoping

24:01

to find a match but the

24:03

results were inconclusive. By

24:07

the late 1990s, both of Eileen's parents seemed

24:09

to have come to terms with the fact

24:11

that there would never be a trial but

24:13

they were deeply disappointed by the lack

24:15

of justice. In

24:18

March of 2002, Mary Adams,

24:20

Eileen's mother, passed away. As

24:23

the two sisters, Maggie and Mary Ann,

24:25

began clearing away her possessions, they

24:28

discovered a box at the bottom of her dresser.

24:32

Maggie describes this moment and how they

24:34

were taken back to the evening Eileen

24:36

disappeared. Their mother

24:38

had come into the bedroom collecting Eileen's

24:40

pajamas from the evening before. She

24:43

said she was going to wash them so they would be

24:45

fresh for her when she finally came home. When

24:49

Maggie and Mary Ann opened the box

24:51

at the bottom of the dresser, they

24:53

discovered Eileen's pajamas wrapped in tissue paper,

24:55

still unwashed. She

24:57

had kept them for almost 35 years. It

25:02

wasn't until September of 2006 that

25:04

the case would be reopened again

25:06

and progress could finally be made.

25:10

This is when Lawrence, Eileen's father, would

25:12

have a chance encounter with Mike McGee,

25:15

an off-duty officer of

25:17

the Toledo Police. During

25:20

the dinner at Mike's in-laws house,

25:22

Lawrence, who went by Larry, told

25:24

Mike what had happened to his daughter and apologized

25:26

for his inability to recall

25:28

specific details. At

25:30

this point, Larry had been diagnosed

25:32

with Alzheimer's disease, but

25:35

he was determined that Eileen's case would

25:37

have one last push. Now

25:41

Mike McGee had never heard of Eileen

25:43

Adams and for a moment

25:45

he wondered if Larry had heard about the

25:48

case elsewhere. When he

25:50

returned to the station he brought up

25:52

Eileen's name and cold case detectives began

25:54

combing through her file. They

25:56

realized that Robert Bowman had been a suspect

25:59

for years. and

26:01

they knew they were likely to get a positive

26:04

DNA match this time. Detectives

26:07

requested DNA from Margaret Bowman and

26:09

the child she and Robert shared

26:11

together. Once they obtained

26:13

the samples, they conducted a reverse

26:15

paternity test, comparing

26:17

the DNA from Robert's child to

26:19

the DNA found on Eileen's underwear.

26:22

The results showed a familial match.

26:27

A press release published in December 2006 named

26:30

Robert Bowman as a wanted man and

26:32

the search for him began. Forgotten

26:35

details of Eileen's case were shared along

26:37

with a photograph of Bowman and

26:39

police requested any information from the public

26:42

that would lead to his whereabouts. At

26:45

this point, investigators feared that Robert may

26:47

be dead, but they did not give

26:49

up hope. The

26:52

case was detailed on America's Most

26:54

Wanted and both the press release

26:56

and TV feature led to dozens

26:58

of tips from throughout the United

27:00

States. Most

27:03

notably, one woman believed she had

27:05

encountered Robert at a casino in

27:07

Las Vegas and another thought

27:09

she had seen him attending a medical center

27:11

in San Diego. Investigators

27:15

set their sights on California knowing Robert

27:17

had previous ties there and asked officers

27:19

to be on the lookout for a

27:21

second time. On

27:25

October 2, 2008, almost 41 years after Eileen was

27:28

brutally murdered, Robert

27:32

was finally located in Southern California

27:34

near Palm Springs. Patrolling

27:37

officers had spotted him riding a bicycle

27:39

and believed there was a warrant out

27:41

for his arrest, later discovering

27:43

that he was wanted for murder in

27:45

Ohio. At the

27:47

time of his capture, he was living under

27:50

a tarp in the California desert. Robert

27:54

was then extradited back to Ohio and

27:56

officers conducted a new DNA test for

27:59

a direct match between Robert and

28:02

the seminal fluid found on Eileen's clothing.

28:05

Following positive results on October 31st of

28:07

that month, he was indicted on one

28:10

count of murder in the first degree. Bowman

28:13

also underwent a psychiatric evaluation and

28:15

was deemed fit to stand trial.

28:19

Eileen's siblings were thrilled with the news and

28:21

they told their father what had happened. At

28:24

this point, Larry's Alzheimer's had

28:27

progressed significantly, but Maggie says

28:29

she likes to believe he understood what they

28:31

were telling him. Larry

28:33

Adams passed away just three weeks later.

28:37

News of the arrest spread rapidly among

28:40

the small community and many found themselves

28:42

thinking back to those days when Eileen

28:44

had first vanished. Linda

28:47

Boxell was lying in bed one evening when

28:49

she saw Robert Bowman's picture on the news.

28:52

She recognized him immediately. In

28:56

late November 1967, 19-year-old

28:58

Linda was walking home from work in

29:00

Toledo when a man pulled up beside

29:02

her and offered her a ride. Linda

29:05

refused, but the man persisted. She

29:08

believed him to be a businessman due to

29:10

his smooth-talking abilities and the suit he wore.

29:14

She told him she wasn't interested and

29:16

she had a bad feeling about him.

29:20

The man continued to follow her and eventually

29:22

Linda walked into a drugstore to ask for

29:24

help. There she waited

29:26

with the pharmacist for ten minutes, but

29:28

when she left, he was still waiting

29:30

outside. She walked further up

29:33

the road and entered a bar, but the

29:35

man soon appeared behind her. He

29:37

wrote down a number on a napkin and when

29:40

she asked him what it was, he told her it was

29:42

how many girls he'd had. Linda

29:45

got up and left again, feeling

29:47

extremely uneasy. She

29:49

entered multiple establishments to escape him, but

29:51

he'd always catch up. Eventually,

29:54

she ran into a dry cleaners

29:56

on Hawthorne Street and told

29:58

the cashier Patty Jardin. what

30:00

was happening. Patty instructed Linda

30:02

to wait with her and she called the

30:04

police. When officers arrived

30:07

they wrote down the details to file

30:09

a report and drove Linda home. Linda

30:12

was so afraid of this man finding her

30:14

that she moved out of her apartment where

30:16

she lived and returned to her parents house.

30:21

She hadn't seen him again until that evening

30:23

when his face popped up on the news.

30:26

Linda described the horror of realizing that

30:28

her experience with Robert was in the

30:30

same area of Toledo that Eileen had

30:32

been taken from and it occurred

30:35

just a few weeks prior to the young

30:37

girl's disappearance. She

30:39

contacted investigators but they didn't take her

30:41

story any further. In

30:46

2009, a year after Robert Bowman's

30:49

arrest, the body of Eileen Adams

30:51

was exhumed for further forensic analysis.

30:54

The pathologist who had conducted the original

30:56

autopsy had passed away and would no

30:58

longer be able to give evidence or

31:01

be cross-examined at trial. The

31:04

prosecution team believed a second

31:07

autopsy conducted by a forensic

31:09

anthropologist was more likely to

31:11

result in a successful conviction. Bowman's

31:14

trial was pushed back as these tests

31:16

were carried out. Sadly,

31:19

the exhumation of Eileen's body only

31:21

brought more heartache to her remaining

31:23

family members as they

31:26

discovered that Eileen had originally been buried

31:28

naked inside of a body bag. The

31:31

pajamas her mother had picked out had

31:33

been laid on top of her as

31:35

opposed to being placed on her body.

31:37

Eileen's sister, Maggie, admits

31:40

that she was grateful that both parents were

31:42

no longer alive to know this detail as

31:44

it likely would have killed them both. Robert

31:48

Bowman's trial eventually began at Lucas County

31:50

Common Pleas Court in Ohio on August

31:53

8, 2011 and it

31:56

was presided over by Judge Jean Zamuda.

34:00

The defense then called a single witness

34:02

to cast doubt on the DNA evidence

34:05

presented in the case. Assistant

34:07

laboratory director Julie Heinegg testified that

34:09

her private lab had conducted tests

34:11

of both the seminal fluid found

34:14

in Eileen's underwear and swabs of

34:16

the nail found in Eileen's skull.

34:19

Julie confirms that neither swab returned

34:21

results matching Robert Wilman or any

34:24

other male DNA profile. During

34:26

cross-examination she admitted she had reviewed the results

34:28

of the prior DNA test which was done

34:31

in 2006 and found the

34:34

results to be reliable returning a

34:36

1 and 4.1 million statistical

34:38

match to Bowman. She

34:40

agreed with the prosecution that the remaining

34:43

DNA would likely be degraded given

34:45

that it was obtained 40 years ago and

34:47

had been exposed to the elements for over

34:49

a month while Eileen was waiting to be

34:51

found. The

34:55

trial of Robert Bowman lasted approximately seven

34:57

days and the jury of nine women

34:59

and three men was sent to deliberate

35:02

in a nearby motel on

35:04

August 22nd 2011. However

35:07

after days of deliberation the jury were

35:09

stuck on a vote of 10 to

35:11

2 in favor of conviction. Despite

35:15

continuing to review the evidence the two

35:17

jurors in favor of a not guilty

35:19

verdict were unable to alter their view

35:22

and a mistrial was declared by Judge

35:24

Jean Zamoda. A

35:28

retrial date was set for later that year and

35:31

following a new jury selection Robert

35:33

Bowman appeared in court for the second time

35:36

on October 17th 2011. The

35:40

second trial began with jurors being led

35:42

to the most prominent sites associated with

35:45

the case. First they

35:47

were taken to the Central Catholic High

35:49

School in Toledo and were driven along the

35:51

bus route that Eileen would have taken on the

35:53

day of her disappearance making note

35:55

of the bus stops along the journey. Then

35:58

jurors were taken to the previous home

36:00

of Robert and Margaret Bowman on West

36:02

Sylvania Avenue, where Eileen was

36:04

alleged to have been held captive for days.

36:07

Finally, they were taken to the location

36:10

in Monroe County, Michigan, where Eileen's body

36:12

was found. The

36:15

judge warned the jurors that the landscape

36:18

had likely changed in the time since

36:20

Eileen's disappearance. However, he believed

36:22

seeing the relevant locations could lead to

36:25

a deeper understanding of the evidence they

36:27

were about to hear in court. Jurors

36:30

then heard the opening statements from both

36:33

the prosecution and defense and all witnesses

36:35

from the first trial returned to give

36:37

evidence again. Margaret

36:40

Bowman took the stand and described the moment

36:42

she found Eileen in the fruit cellar. She

36:45

described the room with mattresses lined up along

36:48

the walls and Eileen suspended

36:50

naked from the ceiling with tape covering

36:52

her mouth. She

36:54

tells jurors how she screamed in horror

36:56

and ran upstairs to her husband who

36:58

was furious with her for making the

37:00

discovery. He ranted and raved

37:03

at her and made her feel as

37:05

though it was her fault that Eileen had to die.

37:08

She believed that Eileen had been held in

37:10

the cellar for days. Margaret

37:14

also testified to owning a white dog at the

37:16

time of the murder and told

37:18

jurors about how she later found Eileen's school

37:20

books in her home. The

37:23

dissents again tried to cast out on her

37:25

story asking why she had stayed

37:28

with Robert for years insinuating that

37:30

she had only left once his businesses

37:32

had begun to fail. Margaret

37:34

responded that she had stayed because he would

37:37

often threaten the life of her and their

37:39

child. Once she had

37:41

finally saved enough money to leave she left

37:43

and she filed for divorce. Detective

37:48

Pete Navarre then gave evidence describing

37:50

the moment he and Detective Dan

37:52

Brimmer interviewed Robert Bowman in Florida.

37:55

He expressed his belief that Bowman was

37:57

playing with the detectives and mentioned the

37:59

strange triangulation,

40:01

however, Diane determined Eileen's death to

40:03

be the result of homicidal violence.

40:08

In the final days of the trial, Robert Bowman

40:10

decided to take the stand for the first time.

40:13

In his testimony, he continued to express

40:15

his view that the police and his

40:17

ex-wife had set him up. He

40:20

claimed police had tried to bully him into

40:22

giving a confession and would

40:24

begin rambling about his religious beliefs. The

40:27

judge interrupted him numerous times while he

40:29

was giving evidence and asked him to

40:31

stay on topic. During

40:34

questioning from his own attorney, he agreed

40:36

that he couldn't have brought Eileen into

40:38

his home undetected because he was always

40:41

working late and his wife was

40:43

always home with their newborn baby. When

40:46

asked to account for his DNA

40:48

on Eileen's underwear, Robert replied, "...anything

40:51

is possible." The

40:55

second trial came to an end on October 26

40:58

and the jury was asked to begin deliberation.

41:01

They were instructed to carefully consider

41:03

the evidence and to not

41:05

allow the outcome of the first trial

41:07

to influence their decision. After

41:11

two days of deliberation, a unanimous verdict

41:13

was reached and the jury returned to

41:15

the court. On

41:17

October 28, 2011,

41:20

75-year-old Robert Bowman was found guilty of

41:22

the murder of Eileen Adams. Following

41:26

the verdict, a letter written by Eileen's

41:28

sister, Maggie, was read out to the

41:30

court. The final paragraph in

41:32

which she discusses sentencing for Robert

41:34

Bowman read, "...Eileen

41:37

had been missing 43 days when

41:39

her body was found and now, 43 years

41:41

later, Robert

41:43

Bowman stands before you, Your Honor, waiting

41:46

to hear what his sentence will be. He

41:49

has had over 40 years after murdering

41:51

our sister to live his life as

41:53

he wished. Eileen

41:55

was just a little girl with her whole life

41:57

before her. She was a beautiful person."

42:00

and not one of us doubt that she would have

42:02

grown up to be an amazing woman. And

42:05

we all miss her. Robert

42:07

Bowman is the reason why Eileen

42:09

is not with us today. Robert

42:12

Bowman chose to abduct our sister Eileen.

42:15

Robert Bowman chose to molest and rape

42:17

her. Robert Bowman chose to

42:19

kill Eileen and throw her body away like

42:21

she was nothing more than trash. My

42:25

family sincerely pleads with this court

42:27

to punish Robert Bowman to the

42:29

fullest extent possible for his choices.

42:32

We hope that the next time we hear

42:34

the name Robert Bowman, it will be after

42:37

he has died in prison. A

42:39

pathetic, toothless old man who was all

42:41

alone, without even his pet rats for

42:43

company. Before

42:48

Judge Jean Zamuda passed down his sentence,

42:50

he asked Robert Bowman if he would

42:52

like to make a comment. Robert Bowman

42:54

replied, I recognize

42:56

the pain and suffering I have just

42:59

heard. I'm not responsible for that. I

43:01

feel no remorse. I have

43:03

no reason to feel remorse. Finally,

43:07

Robert Bowman was sentenced to life in

43:10

prison without the possibility of parole. During

43:13

sentencing remarks, Judge Zamuda commented that

43:15

it was time for Bowman to

43:17

finally be held accountable for his devastating

43:20

actions. Bowman was then led

43:22

away in handcuffs. In

43:25

September of 2014, Robert

43:27

Bowman filed an appeal listing numerous reasons

43:29

why his conviction should be vacated, such

43:32

as ineffective assistance of counsel, his

43:34

lack of competency to stand trial,

43:37

and prosecutorial misconduct in court.

43:40

He believed the prosecution had swayed the

43:43

verdict using emotive language during their closing

43:45

argument, encouraging the jury to find

43:47

him guilty prior to the 44th

43:49

anniversary of Eileen's disappearance. This

43:52

appeal was later denied. Robert

43:57

Bowman continued serving his sentence at

43:59

Pickaway. Correctional Institute in Orient,

44:01

Ohio, where he eventually died

44:03

in custody. Details

44:06

about his death are unknown. I'm

44:10

Nina Instead, the producer and voice

44:12

behind the Already Gone Podcast. I

44:15

appreciate you listening, and please, be

44:18

safe. Thanks

44:34

for watching.