US:A MARYLAND woman has been arrested and is being held without bail after allegedly telling sheriff's deputies she had beaten one of her three adopted daughters and kept the remains of the other two in a freezer for at least seven months.
Police on Monday said they found what appeared to be the bodies of two children in a freezer on Saturday in the basement of Renee Bowman's home in Lusby, Maryland. Calvert county sheriff's deputies had been searching the house for evidence in connection with the alleged beating of a third child, aged seven.
They said Ms Bowman (43) told investigators she had adopted three daughters from the district of Columbia. One of the girls was found a short distance from her home on Friday morning after escaping from a locked bedroom by jumping out of the window, Calvert sheriff's office said.
Ms Bowman allegedly told investigators she had beaten that child.
She also allegedly said the bodies found in the freezer were the remains of her other two daughters, and had been in the freezer at least since she moved to Lusby from Rockville, Maryland, in February.
Ms Bowman was charged with child abuse in connection with the seven-year-old child. Investigators said they believed the other two girls died in Rockville, based on information given by Ms Bowman.
Authorities said the two children's remains were encased in a block of ice, and their identities would probably not be confirmed until the ice melted and postmortems could be performed. They said Ms Bowman told them the girls were born in 1999 and 1997, and adopted by her four years ago.
Authorities said Ms Bowman told them the seven-year-old was rarely, if ever, permitted to leave the house. They said there was no evidence the child was enrolled in any Calvert county schools.
- (LA Times-Washington Post service)