Cheryl Bowman

Cheryl Bowman
Name	Cheryl Bowman
Sex	Female
Age	32
Discovered	November 26, 1989
Location	Houston, Texas
Identified	July 2005
Span	16 years
Cause of death	Gunshot (homicide)

Cheryl Bowman was a woman who was found murdered in a remote area of Houston, Texas, on November 26, 1989.

She was identified in July 2005.

Case

Bowman's decomposed and partially mummified body was discovered by people searching for aluminum cans at about 7 AM in far west Houston. Her body was found face down in the 11200 block of Clay Road near Addicks Reservoir. Her cause of death was not known at the time of her discovery, but the Houston Police Department believed she was killed in a separate location and then dumped in the area. It was later discovered that she had been shot once in the head.

Another unidentified woman was also found murdered in Houston on the same day. There is no indication whether the cases are related or not.

When the Harris County Medical Examiner's Department asked forensic artist Lois Gibson to create a reconstruction from the victim's head, they ignored her request to debride the remaining mummified flesh so she could more easily see the victim's skull. To compensate for the portion of the upper face she could not see clearly, Gibson drew a hand over this area, both to display Bowman's unique jewelery and to conceal the fact that this area could not be properly rendered using the photographs she was given.

The body was identified via fingerprints in July of 2005 after detectives working on the case noticed a visual resemblance between the reconstruction and a missing person's report for Cheryl Bowman. Since her identification, no further information on the investigation into her murder has been made available.

Characteristics

• Brown hair.
• Red-painted fingernails.

Clothing and accessories

• Long-sleeved blue blouse with a white lace yoke.
• Black bikini panties.
• Faded jeans.
• White sandals.
• Four gold chains.
• Gold heart-shaped pendant with a clear stone.
• Four gold rings.
• Six silver bracelets.
• Plain gold bracelet.
• Gold bracelet with 35 clear stones.
• Gold earring with a clear stone.
• Watch.

Gallery

Reconstruction created by Lois Gibson

Reconstruction of blouse created by Lois Gibson

Reconstruction of sandals by Lois Gibson.

Blouse

Sandals

Watch and jewelry

Sources

• The Doe Network
  • Case file (archived)
  • Identified index
• "Decomposed Body Found." Houston Chronicle. (November 27 1989).
• TXDPS (archived)
• Forensic Art Essentials: A Manual for Law Enforcement Artists^{POSTMORTEM WARNING}