Lee Bowman: Daughters say man found dead was ‘incredibly discriminated against’ by South Yorkshire Police

Lee Bowman was found dead on January 4 in the Turncroft area of Rotherham, where the 44-year-old was last seen alive on October 31, 2021.

His daughter say the circumstances surrounding their father's death raised more questions than answers.

Since his body was discovered, his grieving family expressed their anger at South Yorkshire Police over the way the search was conducted, believing that the dad-of-two was discriminated against due to his troubled background.

They also believe Lee died shortly after going missing and that if police had done more to search for him, his body would have been discovered sooner and been easily identified.

Lee's daughters, Corrina, 21, and Jodi, 16, are now seeking to make changes to policy through an online petition they hope will garner enough support to be brought to Parliament.

Corrina said: "My dad wasn't treated as a human being because of the choices he made in life, because of the substance issues and he drank quite a lot. That's what made the police believe he would be fine and would be able to fend for himself.

"The whole nine weeks that he was missing, the police actually closed the case three times because of public sightings."

She said that in November she was informed that Lee was found, but further checks revealed that the police had allegedly made a false report.

A ‘devoted’ dad

Corrina added that Lee had never fallen out with the family and was a 'devoted' dad who would not leave home for a long period of time.

She added: "It took them nine weeks to search for him. He was found one street away from where he was reported missing in someone's back garden.

"The first place you'd look is where he was last seen, not some random areas where he's never been because people rang them.

"We were also accused of hiding my dad which made an absolute mockery. It was beyond belief. I would've said the police did whatever they could but that wasn't the case. (My dad) was incredibly discriminated against."

Corrina said she wouldn't want her dad to be forgotten anymore as he was when he went missing for more than two months.

"For 64 days, my dad was completely forgotten about by people who were actually meant to be out looking for him,” she said.

"When his body was found, we had nothing physical of my dad because of the stage of decomposition he was in.

"We couldn't get a handprint or fingerprint or hair - there was nothing. We couldn't even see him to say goodbye.”

Corrina said an inquest will be held in June.

NEWS: Sheffield thug is jailed after subjecting his ex-partner to physical and mental abuse

Police awaiting coroner’s file

South Yorkshire Police, when contacted for a response to the allegations, said the matter has been referred to the force's Professional Standards Department and the investigation is currently ongoing.

A spokesperson said: "We are currently awaiting the coroner’s file. When this file has been received then an investigation will begin into its findings. We cannot make any further comment at this time until that has happened."

To sign the petition, please go here.