Starvation, Injury Cited as Causes of Girls' Deaths

The Calvert County woman who is being investigated in the death of her two adopted daughters found frozen in her home told police that one child died of starvation and the other died after apparently falling backward, two law enforcement sources said today.

Maryland's chief medical examiner said yesterday that an initial autopsy of the bodies of the two children failed to reveal how they were killed or even to confirm their identities.

David Fowler said that his office has completed physical examinations of the bodies but that further laboratory tests and detailed studies of tissue samples were necessary to help determine how the children died. Medical examiners interviewed by The Washington Post said the "pending" ruling on the cause of death probably means there were no obvious wounds or other trauma to the bodies.

Renee D. Bowman, 43, is being held in a cell by herself at the Calvert County Detention Center and seems to be unaware that she is under investigation in the deaths of two of her adopted children, according to a lawyer who said he has visited the 43-year-old mother in the jail.

"She appeared confused," said Jude Iweanuge, a District lawyer who represented Bowman during a personal injury case several years ago following a car accident. "What she needs now is some help. She is not the same person that I knew."

Iweanuge said that Bowman had "appeared normal and stable" when he represented her between 2003 and 2005. But during a 25-minute meeting with her last night, he said, her demeanor was totally different.

Bowman is currently being represented by a public defender, not Iweanuge. He said he met with Bowman in a room reserved for lawyer-client consultations in the facility.

Iweanuge said he considers Bowman to be "well protected." He said he does not know whether she has any relatives.

"I don't know what family she has," he said. "She was in the foster system as a child, and she is not married."

Calvert police have said Bowman told investigators that the bodies in the freezer are those of two of her three adopted daughters.

Although the victims in the freezer have not been formally identified, Calvert officers said they have no reason to doubt Bowman's statement. She is suspected of having killed the girls last year, when she lived in Montgomery County.

"We know there are two bodies in there, and it's the only logical explanation right now. But we have not confirmed that definitely," said Detective Sgt. Michael Moore of the Calvert sheriff's office.