BALTIMORE (Oct. 3, 2008)—Renee Bowman was investigated once in Jan. 2008 after the State received an anonymous allegation of child neglect, according to a statement released Friday by Brenda Donald, Secretary of the Maryland Department of Human Resources (DHR). Donald said on Tuesday that they were unable to find any record of child abuse or neglect complaints about the Bowman family.
Bowman was arrested last Friday after her adopted daughter escaped the home and told police a story of abuse. Police subsequently discovered the frozen remains of Bowman's two other adopted children in a freezer in the home's basement.
After learning Thursday that Bowman may have used a fictitious name while she resided in Charles County, DHR conducted an additional search of their records, according to today's statement. The new search revealed that DHR received a single, anonymous call from a person reporting an allegation of child neglect.
This call resulted in a caseworker visiting Bowman’s home in January of 2008. During the visit, the caseworker observed the home to be clean and appropriately furnished but did notice a smell of mildew in the home, according to DHR.
The DHR caseworker reported that dogs and cats were also in the home. Bowman told the caseworker the smell in the home was caused by a water leak in her basement.
DHR says the child was observed to be of appropriate weight and good health and conditions in the home were adequate to meet the needs of the child. DHR subsequently concluded there was no case for neglect.
RELATED INFORMATION:
State To Take Custody of Surviving Adopted Child of Renee Bowman, Sept. 30, 2008
http://somd.com/news/headlines/2008/8416.shtml
Escape of Abused Child In Lusby Leads to Discovery of Human Remains in Freezer , Sept. 29, 2008
http://somd.com/news/headlines/2008/8404.shtml