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For the most part, the beginning of the month of February in 2001 was just like any other for the residents of Chesterfield, New Hampshire. The occupants of the small town were huddled together for the winter, continuing to face temperatures below freezing and roads covered in the sparkling crystals of the region's annual snowfall. But the calm in Chesterfield was soon disrupted by an investigation carried out by the New Hampshire state troopers.
The whirring sound of helicopter blades above the small town drew eyes to the sky, while foot searches on the ground and of the nearby Connecticut River and Vernon Dam hoped to turn up any small clue of the mother and daughter gone missing. Tina and Bethany Sinclair were nowhere to be found. Though the two missing Sinclairs were the focus of the small community that year, over time, updates became fewer and farther between.
Eventually, the signature cold weather of New England struck again, making the searches of the waterways surrounding the town next to impossible. The searches paused. The investigation stalled out. But Tina and Bethany Sinclair are far from forgotten. Although Tina and Bethany have not been seen for more than 20 years, the case is not closed. Answers are out there.
I'm Kylie Lowe, and this is the case of Tina and Bethany Sinclair on Dark Down East. Chesterfield, New Hampshire is a small family-oriented town of just 3,500 people. It lies at the southeasternmost point of New Hampshire, bordering both Vermont and Massachusetts, on the ancestral lands of the Pinnacook people. According to census records, the majority of the square mileage of the town is just water.
The layout of the town leaves just a few square miles for the citizens of Chesterfield to make their homes, and the few thousand people live in close proximity to one another. Like much of New England, Chesterfield is the kind of place where everyone knows everyone. Not only that, but they know the residents of neighboring communities too. Many of the students from Chesterfield attend school in the neighboring town of Keene, effectively expanding the community beyond the town limits.
Census records also indicate that those 3,500 residents of Chesterfield are not solely Chesterfield. This number also includes the unincorporated communities of Spofford and West Chesterfield, New Hampshire. The tiny village of West Chesterfield was the home of Tina and Bethany Sinclair.
In February of 2001, 34-year-old Tina Marie Sinclair, who was known to her friends as "T," lived with her daughter, 15-year-old Bethany Ann Sinclair, often called Beth. The mother and daughter duo had just moved back to her home state of Vermont from Florida after Tina divorced Bethany's father in the early 2000s. The end of her marriage was simply a new beginning for Tina.
After moving back home to New England, she worked hard to build a life that she was proud of for herself and her daughter. Around 2001, Tina was working as a home nurse. She had just finished cosmetology school at Keene Beauty Academy and was getting closer to her dream of becoming a hairdresser. Tina's friends and family recall that she just wanted to help other people. Her mother and sister remember that Tina was a good person.
Soon after moving home, Tina began dating a man named Eugene Van Bowman Jr., but more commonly called Van. Sharon remembers believing that the two had been very happy together, especially at the beginning of their relationship. She was happy for her sister and supportive when Tina decided to move herself and Beth into Van's home in West Chesterfield just a few months into the relationship.
The three of them lived together in a home on the edge of the river, in a town made up of mostly water. According to an interview with the Sentinel Source in 2013, Tina and her sister Sharon had always been close. The two women had grown up around Brattleboro, Vermont, with their parents, another sister, and a brother. Brattleboro was just a 15-minute drive away from Chesterfield, and the short distance made Tina feel comfortable.
She was close to home, where she and her sister had always been social when they were younger. Tina was very well-liked and was a caring mother to her only daughter, Beth. Bethany Ann Sinclair was just 15 years old in 2001. She was a freshman at Keene High School, where she had an active social life.
Despite only recently moving to New England from the home she knew in Florida, she was able to make many friends at her high school of over a thousand students in the town next door. Only a few months into her first academic year at the high school, Bethany already had a boyfriend who cared about her deeply. Beth's family and friends described her as carefree, happy, and fun. She loved music and was an excellent student.
In so many ways, Beth was a typical teenager. Tina and Bethany had been through a lot together. The mother and daughter were very close. They were also close with their extended family. Mary Lewis, Tina's mother, shared with the Sentinel source that although she eventually moved further away from Battleboro to Massachusetts, Tina and Beth continued to visit her for afternoons spent catching up over coffee and tea.
Despite her closeness with family throughout most of her life, in late 2000 and early 2001, Tina was not in frequent contact with her sister. In October of 2000, Sharon had expressed concern to Tina about her relationship with Van Bowman. The argument spiraled into a much larger disagreement, and the two had drifted apart, not speaking.
This argument, and the silence between Tina and Sharon, may have been one of the reasons why the seven days between February 3rd and February 10th, 2001 were so quiet. Sharon cared deeply about her sister, but because the two had not spoken in months, she did not immediately notice when her sister and niece disappeared.
On Friday, February 2nd, both Tina and Beth had reported to work and school as usual. To the public eye, and to those who interacted with each of them that day, it seemed that nothing was amiss. The following day, Saturday, February 3rd, Beth went to dinner and a movie on a date with her boyfriend. According to reports, after she arrived home, she stayed on the phone with him. You know how those long teenage lovesick phone calls can go.
They continued talking until around 11:30 that night, making plans for Valentine's Day less than two weeks away. Beth's boyfriend later shared that he was looking forward to their first Valentine's Day together. He had already purchased a ring for her as a gift. While teenage love blossomed through telephone wires, Tina was allegedly caught up in an argument with her boyfriend, Eugene Van Bowman Jr.,
Reports indicate that their argument took place on or around either the evening of Saturday, February 3rd, or sometime during the day on Sunday, February 4th. According to Bowman, immediately after their argument, he stormed out of the house. The two argued frequently, and leaving was part of his routine. He wanted to allow his girlfriend to "cool off."
Bowman stated that when he returned later that day, both Tina and Bethany were gone. It appeared that they had taken most of their clothing with them. However, the two had left behind some personal possessions: Tina's car, a white Dodge Neon, and her 15-year-old cat named Climber remained at the house they all shared. Despite their absence, Bowman did not report Tina and Bethany missing.
Bowman later claimed that, at the time, he had assumed that they had just left for a few days. He believed that they would return once Tina was no longer angry with him and that there was therefore no reason to report their disappearance. She'd left her cat behind, after all. The following day, Monday, February 5th, someone did allegedly provide some information as to the whereabouts of the Sinclairs.
Reports state that that morning, an unidentified woman called Kean High School. The woman said that Beth would not be at school that day. She wasn't feeling well. Some members told WMUR in 2011 that they know who made that call. However, this information has never been made publicly available due to the ongoing investigation. The unidentified woman did not call again.
For a full week, administration at the high school heard nothing else about their student Bethany Sinclair. By Saturday, February 10th, a full week from the last time anyone spoke with Tina or Bethany, administrators at Keene High School contacted the authorities. Tina and Bethany Sinclair were finally, officially declared missing.
New Hampshire police opened an investigation into the missing mother and daughter. According to a February 26, 2001 edition of the Concord Monitor, police initially began by treating this as a missing persons case, but foul play was suspected from the very start. The police began by interviewing the last person to see Tina and Bethany, Eugene Van Bowman Jr.,
Eugene Bowman has never been listed as a suspect in the case of Tina and Bethany Sinclair, let me make that clear. However, since the beginning, and to this day, he has been a person of interest. Bowman lived with Tina and Bethany and was the last person to see the both of them, and the majority of information known about this case is based on what he has been willing to share.
Some claim that all the details that Bowman shares should therefore be taken with a grain of salt. Multiple sources state that after making his initial statement, Bowman refused to cooperate with the investigation throughout the last 20 years. Because of this, there are very few hard facts or known details.
Between the end of Bethany's phone call with her boyfriend on Saturday night and the moment when Tina and Bethany did not show up to work or school on the morning of February 5th, very little is known. It's noted as odd or suspicious that Bowman did not report the disappearance of Tina and Bethany, either when he returned home from allowing Tina to cool off, as he said, or when they did not come home for a full week.
However, he continues to claim that he had no clue that they were missing. He believed that Tina had taken her daughter to visit their family and thought that they would be back soon. Searches of the West Chesterfield home that the three shared, as well as extensive searches of the area and the water around the home, were conducted. However, investigators were unable to locate any leads or clues.
Officially, the investigation is still ongoing to this day, due to the nature of the investigation and, despite appeals to unseal records beginning in July of 2001, many of the files pertaining to the investigation are still sealed. Despite the lack of evidence, suspicions around Bowman continue.
According to some sources, including the Charlie Project, Bowman was seen on the Connecticut River in his scat hovercraft at or around 4:30 a.m. on February 4th, 2001. This trip out on the water at an early hour has led some to speculate about Bowman's possible involvement in the disappearance of Tina and Bethany.
However, despite the ongoing searches in 2001 and since, investigators have found nothing pertaining to the Sinclair case in the Connecticut River. Two bodies were found in the Connecticut River in July of that summer, but police stated that they were not connected. If Tina and Bethany are still alive, then they have disappeared without a trace.
Since February of 2001, there has been no activity on their credit cards, bank statements, or social security numbers of either Tina or Bethany. Despite being extremely close to Tina's family members, neither of the two of them have reached out to Tina's mother or her sister Sharon since they've disappeared. They've simply vanished.
Throughout 2001 and the following years, searches for Tina and Bethany in the Chesterfield, New Hampshire area continued. According to the Valley News, the active investigation eventually ended with the onset of cold weather in 2003. However, this was not the final update in the case. Three years later, in 2006, Mary and Sharon, Tina's mother and sister, hired private investigators.
The men from Boston, though well-known and reputable, were unable to find any further evidence of the Sinclairs. The search was resuscitated once more in 2014 due to developments in technology. This time, they included the New Hampshire State Police Cold Case and Marine Patrol units, the New Hampshire Fish and Game Dive Team, the Massachusetts State Police Underwater Recovery Team, and the Vermont State Police SCUBA Team.
However, as far as the public knows, nothing was found. For the better part of the last 20 years, Tina and Bethany's family have stayed strong and supportive. And more importantly, they have also remained involved.
From hiring private investigator Gil Alba, who was known for working on missing persons cases, to being continually and publicly vocal, Mary Lewis and Sharon Gary played an indispensable role in keeping Tina and Bethany Sinclair's story alive. Sharon was publicly suspicious of Bowman.
At first, she had supported the relationship between Tina and Eugene. She believed that her sister had finally found someone who would make her happy, but it did not last long. Public records indicate the nature of the relationship between the two, which was turbulent at best.
Over their three years together, both Tina and Eugene called the police on one another more than once. Records show that in 2000, Bowman took steps to accuse Tina of domestic abuse. However, the charges were later dropped. The volatility of the relationship and the arguments between the two increased in late 2000. That's when Sharon began to express concern for her niece Bethany's safety.
Sharon discovered that Bowman had been accused of sexually abusing his daughter when she was 8 years old. Sharon urgently encouraged Tina to leave Bowman. In the October 2000 argument that caused a rift in the sisters' relationship, Tina told Sharon that she would take care of herself and her daughter. Sharon believed this meant that Tina was preparing to leave. Just a few months later was when Tina and Bethany disappeared.
Sharon believes that Tina attempted to leave Bowman that day in February of 2001 and that it may have cost her her life. Not long after their disappearance, Eugene Van Bowman Jr. was sentenced to 2 to 15 years in prison for abusing his daughter. He was released in 2003 after serving just two years.
In the following years, Bowman violated his parole, trespassing on private property, continually adding to his criminal record. Bowman maintains that he does not know anything about the disappearance of Tina and Bethany Sinclair.
Against all odds, neither Sharon Gary nor Mary Lewis gave up on Tina and Bethany. Mary told WMUR that her heart has been aching since her daughter and granddaughter disappeared in February 2001. Mary Lewis just wanted to know what happened to her daughter and granddaughter within her lifetime. For her part, Sharon has tried in every way to remain connected to her sister.
She shared with the Sentinel source that, after the disappearance of her sister and niece, she worked to take care of anything that was meaningful to them. Sharon was able to take in some of the personal possessions that Tina and Bethany left behind. She took in their cat, Clymer, but he too disappeared not long after Tina and Bethany. Sharon believes that the cat left to find Tina.
However, she did keep a birdhouse that had belonged to her sister, a cherished piece that reminds her of Tina. The impact of the Sinclair story sent ripples across their family. It reached across the town of Chesterfield, the state of New Hampshire, and even the United States. Tina and Bethany Sinclair have remained in the news for over 20 years. Despite the investigation and the publicity, their family still does not have answers.
Sharon spoke with the Sentinel Source in 2013 about the wide-reaching repercussions of the disappearance of Tina and Bethany. She told them that it's destroyed their family. Quote,
The way I look at it, if I were missing, my sister would do everything she could to find me too. I miss her every day." The town of Chesterfield misses Tina and Bethany too. Throughout 2001, neighbors in the small town joined the search. According to the Valley News, community members held a candlelight vigil for the missing mother and daughter in August of 2001.
Even years later, police officers in the Chesterfield area who knew the pair are still haunted by the case. They say that for them, it's not about what they know, it's about what they can prove. And for the last 20 years, they have not been able to prove anything.
In 2013, Russell B. Lamson, the state police's lead investigator on the case, told the Sentinel source, quote, It's something that will never leave my mind. All members of law enforcement will tell you that they have that case that just stays with them, and that's one for me, end quote. Investigations are ongoing. However extensive, the disappearance of Tina and Bethany Sinclair remains unsolved.
Some say that where there is no body, there is no crime. Thus, despite the presence of deep suspicion and a significant amount of focus on one particular person of interest, there are still no official suspects to this day.
Sharon Gary told WMUR her sister Tina had a great heart. Quote, End quote.
Of Bethany, Sharon said, quote, End quote.
There's a Facebook group created in honor of the mother and daughter called Justice for Tina and Bethany Sinclair. On July 20th, 2021, the Page administrator posted a link to an obituary. Mary Lewis, Tina's mother and Bethany's grandmother, passed away at 80 years old. In Mary's obituary, Sharon Gary is listed as pre-deceased.
Sharon, too, passed away five years earlier after a battle with breast cancer. Two of the most dedicated advocates for Tina and Bethany died without knowing what happened or seeing justice served. A post in the Facebook group reads, "'Two amazingly strong women passed away still searching for the truth, still looking for answers.'"
Just because Sharon and her mom are gone does not mean we stop searching for the truth, that we stop demanding justice. Tina and Bethany will have their justice. It may not be today, it may not be tomorrow, but they will be brought home to be laid to rest. Continue to talk about Tina and Bethany in your everyday lives.
Everyone thinks it will never happen to them or one of their loved ones. I'm sure Tina, Bethany, Mary or Sharon thought the same thing. Remember, see something, say something. Hear something, say something. Even the littlest tip could lead to something. Tina Sinclair is described as 120 pounds and stood at 5'2".
Tina's former married name is Mayotte.
Bethany Sinclair is described as 15 years old, between 120 and 135 pounds, and around 5 foot 2 to 5 foot 7 inches tall, with brown hair, green eyes, and a U-shaped scar on her forehead. She may use the last name Dusso.
Please report any information to the New Hampshire State Police at 603-223-3856 or the agency's cold case unit at 603-223-8570. Thank you for listening to Dark Down East. This episode was researched and written by Natalie Jones with additional writing, production, and editing by me, Kylie Lowe.
Sources for this episode include The Valley News, Concord Monitor, WMUR, and more. Additional sources cited and referenced are listed and linked at darkdowneast.com so you can do some digging of your own. Thank you for supporting this show and allowing me to do what I do. I'm honored to use this platform for the families and friends who have lost their loved ones and for those who are still searching for answers in cold missing persons and homicide cases.
I'm not about to let those names or their stories get lost with time. I'm Kylie Lowe, and this is Dark Down East.
