For one woman who knows Renee Bowman, it was one word that startled her.

"I was like, 'The freezer, oh my God, the freezer,'" said the woman, who did not want to be identified.

It was in that freezer that investigators say they found human remains believed to be that of two of Bowman's adopted children. The children are officially listed as missing for now. Bowman allegedly told investigators the children's bodies were in the freezer.

The medical examiner took possession of the freezer and the remains for identification and autopsies. The results had not been made public as of Friday night.

The family friend said Bowman asked her family several times to carry the freezer when she moved, arousing suspicions in the back of her mind. 

"And that's when the antennas went up. I told my daughter, 'Something wrong here,'" recalled the family friend.

Investigators say there was nothing about the freezer to indicate the horrors it held.

"It was just in the basement corner, nothing around it," said Rosemary King of the Calvert County Investigative Team, who also said the freezer was not locked or duct-taped closed.

The friend said her daughter went to high school with Bowman at Saint Patrick's Academy in Downtown D.C. The two were best friends, she said, hanging out and spending holidays together, including Thanksgiving 2007. But there was one thing missing: the kids.

"I asked her at Thanksgiving. I said, 'Renee, nobody sends their kids away for holidays.' I said, 'It's Thanksgiving, they belong here with us.'"

She says her daughter wonders if she could have prevented it.

"My daughter feels responsible, because, she said, 'Momma, had I called when you told me to, maybe I could have saved those two kids," said the woman. 

The friend said Bowman had not reacted well to questions about her adopted children in the past. Several years ago, the oldest daughter, who was born in 1997, was enrolled in day care at at Douglas Memorial Church in Northeast.

"The daycare lady asked Renee why is she eating so much for a little girl," the family friend recalled.

The friend said Bowman pulled the girl out of day care, and decided to home school her children.

"And that's the last time we believe the kids were in any educational setting," she said.

Bowman admitted to abusing her adopted children, according to court documents, which say Bowman told police she knew what she did was wrong, that she was out of control, needed help and that she was angry about her daughter's mental capacity.

"All she would ever say, 'Does God forgive you for everything?' All she would say," recalled the friend.

Bowman's third adopted daughter escaped from the home, triggering the investigation. She remains at Children's hospital and could be released as early as Thursday, officials said. She will be placed with a foster family, according to Maryland's Department of Human Resources.