Tanner Eugene Dowler
August 10, 2002 - October 12, 2002
Tanner Dowler was born on August 10, 2002, he would
only live for
a little over two months. On October 3, 2002, Tanner
was flown by
helicopter to the Denver Health Medical Center
were it was found that
he was suffering from 11 broken ribs, two broken
arms, two broken
legs, burns to his feet and brain damage.
In late June of 2002, Lea Dowler sent a fax to the
Platte Valley
Medical Center saying she was concerned for her
unborn grandchild's
well being. She said that there were anger management
issuers as
well as unemployment and instability issues going
on. At that time,
she didn't mention any concern for the physical
safety of the unborn
child. On August 10, 2002 Tanner Dowler was born
and the medical
records show that everything was normal with the
delivery and that
his mother had been receiving regular prenatal
care during her
pregnancy.
On August 13, 2002 Lea Dowler sent another fax,
this time to the
Weld Country Department Of Human Services. Once
again she was worried about the situation in the home of her son, Joseph
Dowler, his wife, Audra Dowler and their baby boy, Tanner Dowler. She was
concerned for several reasons, homelessness, financial problem, anger management
problems, unemployment and immaturity. Again, she did not express any concerns
for the physical well being of the baby.
The letter was faxed to the Boulder Counter Department
Of Social
Services since the letter indicated that the family
lived in Boulder. An
internal records check was done and they requested
that local law
enforcement do a check as well. Due to the inability
to find an address for the family, the report was not assigned to anyone
and was not looked into any further.
Medical records show that Tanner received a well
baby check up at the Salud Clinic where his mother had received her prenatal
care. The records show that Tanner was growing properly and there were
no
signs of abuse or neglect. A note in the records
said that Tanner's
father was very involved with the visit while his
mother seemed to be
distracted and didn't want to answer any questions.
On August 22, Joseph and Audra went to an appointment
to get on the WIC program and after presenting Tanner's medical records
it was determined that he was the right height and weight for his age.
On
August 28, Tanner received his second well baby
check up and there
were no signs of abuse or neglect noted.
On August 30, Joseph went to the Louisville office
of the Boulder
County Department Of Social Services. Joseph was
exhibiting some
volatile and angry behavior. The Child Protection
Unit caseworker
watched Joseph with Tanner and decided that there
was nothing that
needed to be reported to the intake casework staff
for a follow up.
On October 3, 2002, Tanner was brought into the
Community
Medical Center in Lafayette. While there, Tanner
went into respiratory arrest. Doctors were unable to resuscitate him. Tanner
was transported by helicopter to the Denver Health Medical Center where
his injuries were discovered by the doctors.
A few days before he would have been nine weeks
old, Tanner was
baptized and the decision was made, by his grandparents,
to take him
off of life support. Tanner died on October 12,
2002.
After his arrest, Joseph told the police that he
had an anger problem
and he needed help. He said that he was afraid
he had hurt his son
and was afraid his anger would some day cause him
to hurt his wife.
Joseph stated that, in the past, he had gotten
rid of his pets because
he had hurt them. Joseph Dowler was charged with
first degree
murder in the death of his son. Joseph was convicted
of child abuse
resulting in a death and was sentenced to 60 years
in prison.
Audra Dowler plead guilty in June of 2003, to charges
of abuse and
negligence for her role in Tanner's death. Audra
was sentenced to ten
years in prison. Audra would serve about three
years of her sentence
before she is let out of prison. Upon her release,
Audra was in an intensive supervised program in which she is required to
wear an ankle bracelet that monitored her movements. She was required to
check in with a case worker and submit to random
drug and alcohol
testing. She was also required to be home by curfew.
Tanner was buried on October 21, 2002. His casket
was white and on
top was a bouquet of rose and a teddy bear. Around
the casket were
other bouquets of flowers, a cast of his hands
and pictures of Tanner
sleeping when he was just born.
About 50 family and friends attended the service
for Tanner at the
Tabor Funeral Home. Pastor David DeBord spoke to
them:
"All your hopes and dreams for him are gone.
The grandparents
feel like they should have done more, but knowing
that they
can't is what we're left to deal with."
David Debord added that he thought maybe some good
might come
out of the death of Tanner:
"It's too early to tell what good might come
from this.
Maybe his death might expose a hole in the
safety
net that needs repairing.
There are those people who believe Tanner's death
DID
expose a
weakness in Colorado's child welfare system. Tanner's
grandparents
said that they were afraid for him, that they had
called authorities and
told them that Joseph and Audra needed parenting
classes. The help
didn't get to them because of a mixup when Audra's
maiden name
was used by the Colorado child welfare system.
If they had used her
married name of Dowler, they would have seen that
Joseph and
Audra had applied for assistance and their address
was on the papers.
Boulder County Social Services was cleared of any
wrong doing in the
case of Tanner's death.
.
.
Sealed in a plastic bag to protect it from the
rain, a card was placed
at Tanners grave on what would have been his fifth
birthday:
Angel,
You're 5. How big you'd be now.
Love,
Grandma and Grandpa
.
Dowler timeline
August 10, 2002: Tanner
Dowler is born
October 3, 2002: Joseph and Audra
Dowler take Tanner to a Lafayette clinic, saying he is unresponsive and
lethargic. Suffering brain damage, broken bones and second-degree burns,
the baby is airlifted to Denver Health Medical Center. Both parents are
arrested.
October 12, 2002: Tanner is removed
from life support and dies.
June 3, 2003: Audra Dowler is sentenced
to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to child abuse and negligence.
November. 24, 2003: Joseph Dowler
is convicted of child abuse resulting in death. He is later sentenced to
60 years in prison.
July 14, 2004: Audra Dowler is granted
a divorce and goes back to using her maiden name, Riley.
2006: Audra Riley is released from
prison into an intensive, supervised program.
August 2032: Joseph Dowler is eligible
for his first parole hearing.
For information about preventing child abuse in the
state of Colorado, click the links below. If they can't help you, ask for
someone who can. NEVER give up looking for help for an abused child!
Colorado
Children's Trust Fund
Child
Abuse And Neglect Prevention
Call this number to report
child abuse ANY WHERE in the United States!
1-800-4-A-Child
1-800-422-4453
  
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