TX TX - Tina Louise Bowen, 18, Conroe, 14 July 1997

[JerseyGirl]

Tina Bowen, 18, of Conroe, was last seen July 14, 1997, at home, where she lived with her parents. When her mother checked on her at 9 a.m., she was gone. Foul play is suspected.

http://www.chron.com/neighborhood/w...-baffles-Why-do-so-many-people-go-6584768.php

 

[MagnoliaMountain]

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/b/bowen_tina.html

 

[JerseyGirl]

NamUs: https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/8359/63/

Tina was last seen inside her residence at 517 Silverdale in Conroe, Texas on July 14, 1997. Bowen lived with her parents, her mother last saw her at home in the predawn hours of July 14. Tina's mother had checked on her daughter around 3:30AM while she was sleeping, and when she checked on her again at 9:00AM Tina was gone.

[video=youtube;iVpsO5xV7aQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVpsO5xV7aQ[/video]

 

[sevengirl]

Bumping for Tina. This case is local for me. Where can she be??

 

[Alleykins]

This breaks my heart, no one has posted on Tina's thread in nearly 2 years.
I have nothing hew to add except for the update link to her Charley Project Page:
Tina Louise Bowen – The Charley Project

Here's her FB Missing page:
Tina Bowen Missing

 

[Kyros]

For some reason I’ve been really thinking about this case a lot lately. There hasn’t been a lot of buzz about it on here or anywhere, which is odd to me because it seems like something that would normally have been solved by authorities giving the circumstances.

Assuming foul play, it very likely could have been someone she knew and trusted, but I believe it could have gone the other way as well. If a stranger had been interested in her and watched her behavior they would’ve known that she’d come outside of her room if they knocked on the window. A curious teenager might hear a knock and go check to see if their friends hid around the corner to scare them.

Does anyone have any opinions on the case?

 

[Brotherfudz]

Curious as to why the Mom felt compelled to check on her at 3:30 am...did she have a history of running away so mom wanted to make sure she was still home?

 

[Kyros]

That could certainly be a possibility. It's impossible to narrow down any likely scenario without reading or listening to any interviews of the people involved, but I think it'd be interesting to list the different scenarios. I'm not sure to what extent LE is still investigating the case but I haven't found ANY information on the case besides what's on the Charley Project. I'm not too surprised that the mother would check on her at 3:30 am. If her friends came and knocked on her window often to bring her out, she was probably checking to see if she was still around.

Is anyone here from Conroe or Montgomery County that can tell us what crime is like in the area? I wasn't able to find any consistent information for the year she went missing but I'm looking into similar crimes around the time to see if there isn't anything that can help bring more to the table.

 

[Fuuro]

I'm not from anywhere near Texas, but I'm wondering if Tina could have been a victim of William Reece. Reece is believed to have been responsible for the abductions/murders of several young girls in Texas in or around '97, including Jessica Cain and Laura Smither.

 

[Kyros]

I'm not from anywhere near Texas, but I'm wondering if Tina could have been a victim of William Reece. Reece is believed to have been responsible for the abductions/murders of several young girls in Texas in or around '97, including Jessica Cain and Laura Smither.

Kelly Cox’s disappearance happened on July 15, 1997, just one day after Tina’s. Their locations were roughly 4 hours apart so it technically could’ve been possible but I’m no expert and it’s still making a lot of assumptions. I’m going to read up more on Reece though.

 

[JSolt1210]

This blog adds the following information, and I've bolded a relevant part:

Tina Bowen was last seen in the early morning hours of July 14, 1997 at her family home on the 500 Street of Silverdale in southeast Conroe, TX. She was asleep during this time. One of her friends had stopped by her house sometime that night. In fact, friends had a habit of stopping by her bedroom window and tapping it to get her attention and her family believes the night she disappeared someone came to her window and she went outside to meet them and something happened. Theres a high possibility that whomever it was, it was someone who Tina trusted.

Her mother noticed she wasn’t in her room at 9AM when she went to check on her. So sometime between 3:30AM and 9AM, something happened. She left all of her possessions behind indicating she planned to come back.

Tina’s family don’t believe she would ever leave willingly without contacting them. Many years have passed and they believe someone out there knows something and are asking for any information that will bring them closure.

Police suspect foul play.

If friends had a habit of coming to her window at night, is it possible that a stalker in the area made note of this pattern and used it to his advantage? Of course, these friends are potential suspects too, but I'm sure they would've already been questioned and ruled out by now.

 

[Kyros]

This blog adds the following information, and I've bolded a relevant part:

Tina Bowen was last seen in the early morning hours of July 14, 1997 at her family home on the 500 Street of Silverdale in southeast Conroe, TX. She was asleep during this time. One of her friends had stopped by her house sometime that night. In fact, friends had a habit of stopping by her bedroom window and tapping it to get her attention and her family believes the night she disappeared someone came to her window and she went outside to meet them and something happened. Theres a high possibility that whomever it was, it was someone who Tina trusted.

Her mother noticed she wasn’t in her room at 9AM when she went to check on her. So sometime between 3:30AM and 9AM, something happened. She left all of her possessions behind indicating she planned to come back.

Tina’s family don’t believe she would ever leave willingly without contacting them. Many years have passed and they believe someone out there knows something and are asking for any information that will bring them closure.

Police suspect foul play.

If friends had a habit of coming to her window at night, is it possible that a stalker in the area made note of this pattern and used it to his advantage? Of course, these friends are potential suspects too, but I'm sure they would've already been questioned and ruled out by now.

Assuming they ruled out friends I think it's very possible someone could have made note of the pattern and used it to their advantage. It makes the assumption that someone was following her or at least watching her for sometime prior, but given the fact that there are no other leads I think it could very well be possible. It's tough to say though without knowing which paths LE went down in the investigation.

This seems like such a hard case since there's so little evidence and information known regarding her disappearance. Saying that, the fact that she left her possessions behind could tell us a bit about what she was thinking at the moment. If she had plans she likely would've taken them with her straight away. Meaning it wouldn't be out of the question that a stranger knocked and she went to check who it was.

 

[JSolt1210]

Assuming they ruled out friends I think it's very possible someone could have made note of the pattern and used it to their advantage. It makes the assumption that someone was following her or at least watching her for sometime prior, but given the fact that there are no other leads I think it could very well be possible. It's tough to say though without knowing which paths LE went down in the investigation.

This seems like such a hard case since there's so little evidence and information known regarding her disappearance. Saying that, the fact that she left her possessions behind could tell us a bit about what she was thinking at the moment. If she had plans she likely would've taken them with her straight away. Meaning it wouldn't be out of the question that a stranger knocked and she went to check who it was.

I agree with you on her possessions. The fact that she left everything behind, literally in the middle of the night, suggests that she did not have an intention to run away, or at least be gone long.

The scenario I envision is one in which her friends knock on her window and she hangs out with them for a bit. A stalker, who has already been observing this pattern, waits for the friends to leave, and then he quickly knocks on the window and hides. Tina thinks her friends have returned because they forgot something. She goes to the window, doesn't see them, but doesn't think anything of it since her friends were just at her house. So she exits through the window and into the hands of the stalker who knocks her out, etc.

If her friends weren't involved, this is the only thing I can think of. Who else would be out at that particular area at around 4 a.m. to abduct a girl from her own house? That's really risky if you don't know what you're doing—especially since it would start to get light out at 4:55 a.m., according to records.

 

[Kyros]

I agree with you on her possessions. The fact that she left everything behind, literally in the middle of the night, suggests that she did not have an intention to run away, or at least be gone long.

The scenario I envision is one in which her friends knock on her window and she hangs out with them for a bit. A stalker, who has already been observing this pattern, waits for the friends to leave, and then he quickly knocks on the window and hides. Tina thinks her friends have returned because they forgot something. She goes to the window, doesn't see them, but doesn't think anything of it since her friends were just at her house. So she exits through the window and into the hands of the stalker who knocks her out, etc.

If her friends weren't involved, this is the only thing I can think of. Who else would be out at that particular area at around 4 a.m. to abduct a girl from her own house? That's really risky if you don't know what you're doing—especially since it would start to get light out at 4:55 a.m., according to records.

I didn't even think of that last point. There was a fairly narrow window where she could've been taken or left before the sun would rise. Her mother verified she was in her room sometime between 3:30am and 4:00am, so there wasn't a whole lot of time. Personally I was thinking that her friends weren't around at all that night and that the only person to knock on the window was the one responsible, but your envisioning is just as likely.

All these factors make me think that if foul play is suspected and the abducter wasn't someone she knew, the person really knew what they were doing. It might be easier for us to list all the impossible options to help narrow down the list of what we think happened.

 

[JSolt1210]

Personally I was thinking that her friends weren't around at all that night and that the only person to knock on the window was the one responsible, but your envisioning is just as likely.

All these factors make me think that if foul play is suspected and the abducter wasn't someone she knew, the person really knew what they were doing. It might be easier for us to list all the impossible options to help narrow down the list of what we think happened.

BBM.

You may be right. I note that the blog post I cited says that "one of her friends had stopped by" that night. Is this based on the testimony of that friend or others, or of Tina's mom? Or is this just what Tina said, without anyone actually seeing this person?

Here's what the area looked like in July 2018 and in December 2007. Not much change, so I'm sure it looked similar in 1997. I don't know which house is which, but with all the fences around, and the distance between the houses and street, I can't imagine dragging someone away against their will, an hour before dawn, and no one hearing/seeing anything.

I'm thinking now it was someone she knew, but had met recently—not someone her friends and family would recognize. She went willingly with the intention to return, and whatever happened to her occurred at another location.

 

[Kyros]

BBM.

You may be right. I note that the blog post I cited says that "one of her friends had stopped by" that night. Is this based on the testimony of that friend or others, or of Tina's mom? Or is this just what Tina said, without anyone actually seeing this person?

Here's what the area looked like in July 2018 and in December 2007. Not much change, so I'm sure it looked similar in 1997. I don't know which house is which, but with all the fences around, and the distance between the houses and street, I can't imagine dragging someone away against their will, an hour before dawn, and no one hearing/seeing anything.

I'm thinking now it was someone she knew, but had met recently—not someone her friends and family would recognize. She went willingly with the intention to return, and whatever happened to her occurred at another location.

Different sources use different phrasing for some of the details of the night. I took it to mean that they just speculated that one of her friends knocked on the window since it was a common occurrence. It would be very difficult to drag someone away against their will without anyone noticing. Which means the person either used violent force fairly quickly, or it was someone she trusted.

 

[Viking7]

BBM.

You may be right. I note that the blog post I cited says that "one of her friends had stopped by" that night. Is this based on the testimony of that friend or others, or of Tina's mom? Or is this just what Tina said, without anyone actually seeing this person?

Here's what the area looked like in July 2018 and in December 2007. Not much change, so I'm sure it looked similar in 1997. I don't know which house is which, but with all the fences around, and the distance between the houses and street, I can't imagine dragging someone away against their will, an hour before dawn, and no one hearing/seeing anything.

I'm thinking now it was someone she knew, but had met recently—not someone her friends and family would recognize. She went willingly with the intention to return, and whatever happened to her occurred at another location.

Great to look at pics of the area. When looking I got a funny feeling when seeing all of those cars parked there. It made me think of a few things. Someone could have been parked there with their car pretty much unnoticed and observing her. A neighbor could have been involved. Perhaps if there are any scrap or old cars in the area she could have been hidden/disposed of there. The fences are pretty low around the houses. There is a full 6hrs between when she was last seen by her mother and noticed as missing. Many people can be taken in broad daylight. Maybe even a customer of the tyre place with the cars parked or an employee that came into work early. Very concerning that there is not much info on this case at all. I truely hope that she is found.

 

[wongirl99]

For some reason I’ve been really thinking about this case a lot lately. There hasn’t been a lot of buzz about it on here or anywhere, which is odd to me because it seems like something that would normally have been solved by authorities giving the circumstances.

Assuming foul play, it very likely could have been someone she knew and trusted, but I believe it could have gone the other way as well. If a stranger had been interested in her and watched her behavior they would’ve known that she’d come outside of her room if they knocked on the window. A curious teenager might hear a knock and go check to see if their friends hid around the corner to scare them.

Does anyone have any opinions on the case?

I was 17 years old in 1997 and like Tina my friends would tap my window in the middle of the night to wake me and talk or see if I could get out. I remember one time I had a person do this around 3am that I had recently met and thought to myself that I was uncomfortable with said person whom happened to be a male with tapping on my window because we weren't well acquainted so I slightly raised my window and said I couldn't come out to even talk because my parents had caught me previously with other friends and would no longer allow it. So maybe Tina had an acquaintance stop by and she stepped out to talk and was coerced to leave briefly with the person willingly and it turned out to be to her demise. Maybe this person has never said anything to anyone else and seems to have gotten away with murder thus far. I would definitely be interested in anyone who had access to her circle of friends and who acted suspicious about the time she went missing or who may have skipped town etc... just a thought and possibly something that has already been done by LE?

 

[Luckyzmom]

Good post , makes sense TY MOO

 

[Savemecastiel]

Bump