Remains found in 2022 identified as 5-year-old boy who went missing in 2003

CARROLL COUNTY, Va. — Remains found last year near Galax, Virginia, were identified as a young boy who went missing in 2003, officials say.

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The Carroll County Sheriff’s Office said that on Sept. 6, 2022, deputies were called out to the area of Iron Ridge Road in Galax for possible human remains that were located in a wooded area.

Investigators determined that the remains were in that area for a long amount of time, the sheriff’s office said.

The sheriff’s office got help from Othram Inc., which is a private company in Texas that specializes in forensic-grade genome sequencing and forensic genetic genealogy. The company was able to get a full DNA profile and compare them to family members.

The remains were then identified as Logan Bowman, 5, WDBJ reported.

Bowman was reported missing in January 2003, the news outlet reported. His biological mother, Cynthia Davis. and her then-boyfriend, Dennis Schermerhorn, were charged in connection with his disappearance in 2003 by Grayson County officials.

Schermerhorn’s charge of felony murder was dismissed in 2004 because of a lack of evidence, WSLS-TV reported. Davis was sentenced to 15 years for second-degree murder, according to the television station.

The sheriff’s office said that new charges are expected since the boy’s remains have been located and identified.

The sheriff’s office thanked Othram Inc., Grayson County Sheriff’s Office-Virginia, Virginia State Police, Galax Police Department, Virginia Medical Examiner’s Office, National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NEMEC), Team Adam, National Missing and Unidentified Persons System - NamUs, United States Secret Service, Virginia Probation and Parole and U.S. Customs and Border Protection for their assistance in the case.

“I want people to know that we don’t give up,” Carroll County Sheriff Kevin Kemp told WSLS. “And you may not know every little thing going on, it may be quiet for a little while, but this is proof that just because you don’t hear something every single week, it doesn’t mean there’s not work being done.”