Olympic ice skater found dead in hotel
Pastor Dale Morgan
*Olympic ice skater found dead in hotel
*
From correspondents in Hollywood
January 11, 2008 07:28pm
Article from: AAP
TWO-time US national figure skating champion Christopher Bowman has been
found dead inside a Los Angeles motel.
Bowman, who was known as "Bowman the Showman", was discovered face down
on the floor at the Budget Inn motel on Sepulveda Ave today, Los Angeles
police spokesman Paul McLaughlin said.
The 40-year-old Bowman died of unknown causes, but the Detroit Free
Press reported that the death might be the result of a drug overdose.
Bowman was born in Hollywood and had done some work in the movie
industry as a child. He returned to acting since retiring from skating.
He appeared in the American television series Little House on the
Prairie as a youngster and had a role in an upcoming movie starring Gary
Busey called Down and Distance.
Police said they were alerted to the scene by a man who said he was a
friend of Bowman's and they had been drinking together the night before.
The man told police he had been friends with the figure skater for the
past three months.
He said "he was with Bowman at midnight and he (Bowman) had been sitting
at the edge of his bed drinking," McLaughlin said.
"When he went into his room this morning he found Bowman face down on
the floor. That's when he called us."
Bowman won US national championships in 1989 and 1992, was second in the
1989 world championships and third in 1990.
Bowman competed in two Olympics, finishing fourth in the 1992 Olympics.
It is not known if Bowman's death was accidental or suicide, but an
autopsy is expected to be performed this weekend.
Bowman, who spent time in the Betty Ford Clinic after admitting to a
cocaine habit, coached skating for 10 years in Detroit.
Bowman's ex-wife, Annette, and his daughter live in Michigan.