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Our episodes deal with serious and often
distressing incidents. If you feel at any
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time you need support, please contact your local
crisis centre. For suggested phone numbers for
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confidential support, please see the show notes
for this episode on your app, or on our website.
00:02:01
Carey Gibson cast a sideways glance at her
16-year-old brother Nicholas Barclay as they sat
00:02:07
in a Spanish airport awaiting their flight home.
He appeared on edge and didn’t make eye contact,
00:02:14
nervously jiggling his leg up and down. Leaning
over, Nicholas whispered to his older sister
00:02:21
that he was anxious about the impending long
flight to their home in San Antonio, Texas.
00:02:28
Carey tried her best to comfort him.
As the loudspeaker advised the waiting passengers that it was time to board, she
playfully elbowed Nicholas in the ribs.
00:02:40
“Are you ready to go home?”
she asked. Nicholas nodded. “Well, let’s get the f**k
out of here,” she replied.
00:02:49
Following a 15 hour flight, the siblings’
plane touched down in Texas on October 18
00:02:55
1997. Carey waited while Nicholas grabbed
a small suitcase - which contained his
00:03:02
only belongings - from the plane’s overhead
compartment. Carey coaxed her younger brother
00:03:08
from the plane, explaining that their whole
family was at the airport to welcome him home.
00:03:15
Nicholas’s mother Beverly Dollarhide waited in
anticipation. She watched from the jet bridge
00:03:22
as passengers disembarked from the plane,
craning her neck to spot Nicholas and Carey.
00:03:28
Other family members stood back, one with a video
camera in hand to capture the momentous occasion.
00:03:36
After nearly three and a half years,
Nicholas Barclay was finally home. More passengers emerged from the jet bridge
and gradually the crowd began to thin.
00:03:49
Carey was amongst the last to disembark when
Beverly spotted her. She pointed and waved,
00:03:56
walking up the jet bridge with Nicholas,
who ambled along with a slight limp. As they approached their waiting family,
Carey’s 14-year-old son, Codey rushed up
00:04:08
to them to help Nicholas with his suitcase while
the rest of the family gathered around in awe.
00:04:16
Beverly studied her son. Nicholas’s
shaggy blonde hair fell around his eyes, which were concealed by sunglasses. His mouth was
covered by a handkerchief wrapped around his face.
00:04:29
He looked older, but his nose was still the
same, just like his Uncle Pat’s. Beverly went
00:04:37
up to her son and embraced him tightly. She
felt him bristle and told herself that given
00:04:43
his suffering over the past few years,
he might be resistant to human touch. “I love you,” she told him. “I love
you too, mum,” Nicholas whispered.
00:05:21
Three years and four months earlier, 13-year-old
Nicholas Barclay left his family’s San Antonio
00:05:27
home in frustration. With a reputation for
being a troubled teen, Nicholas frequently
00:05:34
skipped school and when he did attend, he
was often in trouble for being disruptive.
00:05:40
His home life was equally unstable. Single mother
Beverly Dollarhide was a high functioning heroin
00:05:47
addict who worked seven nights a week at a
local donut store to provide for her family.
00:05:54
Nicholas often lashed out at
Beverly, hitting and cursing at her, and the police had been called out on a
number of occasions to break up arguments.
00:06:04
In an attempt to control Nicholas’s outbursts,
Beverly asked her eldest son, Nicholas’s brother
00:06:10
Jason, to move in. Having Jason there initially
diffused tension between Beverly and Nicholas. But
00:06:18
as time went by, Jason - who was in his early 20s
and also struggling with drug addiction - became
00:06:25
caught up in the family fighting. Their arguments
could be heard from neighbouring properties.
00:06:33
On June 13 1994, Nicholas decided to blow off
some steam after a fight with his mother by
00:06:41
shooting a few hoops at the local park. He had a
lot on his mind. He already had a juvenile record
00:06:49
and was due to face a sentencing hearing the
following day. This was to address a recent event
00:06:55
in which he had broken into a convenience
store and stolen a pair of tennis shoes.
00:07:01
One possible outcome of the hearing was that
Nicholas could be placed in a group home;
00:07:06
a prospect that greatly distressed him. Before
Nicholas left, Beverly pressed a five dollar bill
00:07:14
into his hand. Her only instructions
were for him to be back home for dinner. She then retired to bed to sleep in
preparation for her night shift at work.
00:07:29
Later that afternoon, the phone rang at the house. Jason answered. It was Nicholas, asking if
his mother could pick him up from the park.
00:07:40
Jason told Nicholas that Beverly was still
sleeping and he would have to walk home.
00:07:47
Nicholas Barclay never made
it home for dinner that night. The next morning, following her night shift at the
donut store, Beverly reported Nicholas missing to
00:08:01
local police. Nicholas had a history of running
away from home and the officers were initially
00:08:08
unconcerned by his disappearance. They speculated
that Nicholas was avoiding his sentencing hearing
00:08:15
and reassured Beverly that he would likely show
up after a few days as he had done in the past.
00:08:23
Beverly couldn’t shake the feeling
that something more was amiss. She and Nicholas’s older siblings, Jason and
sister Carey, went about the neighbourhood
00:08:34
putting up fliers and door knocking in the hope
someone had seen the blonde haired, blue eyed,
00:08:40
slim teen. Police interviewed Beverly’s neighbour,
who told of the many arguments she heard coming
00:08:48
from the house, particularly after Jason had
moved back in with Nicholas and his mother.
00:08:56
Weeks passed with no leads. Nicholas’s
disappearance gained little media attention.
00:09:03
His family felt that authorities had minimal
interest in trying to locate the missing teen.
00:09:10
Diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder and
naturally trusting of strangers, Beverly thought
00:09:17
that Nicholas might have accepted a lift home
with an unknown person and met with foul play.
00:09:24
She spoke of her son’s loving
nature to anyone who would listen, hoping to sway the local perception
that he was an unruly teenager.
00:09:34
She remembered how affectionate he could be
and thought about his tight, warm hugs often.
00:09:43
Three and a half months after his
disappearance, a small glimmer of hope that Nicholas Barclay was alive and well
presented itself. Jason was returning home
00:09:54
one afternoon when he saw Nicholas trying to
break into the garage of their low set, modest,
00:10:01
brick family home. When Nicholas caught sight
of Jason, he ran, disappearing down the street.
00:10:10
Jason phoned the local police and an officer was
dispatched to the house. He conducted a search of
00:10:17
the premises and the street blocks surrounding
their home but could find no sign of Nicholas.
00:10:24
Despite this promising lead, there were no
further sightings and the case turned cold.
00:10:31
As the months and years went by, Nicholas’s
family came to the conclusion that he had most
00:10:37
likely died. Had he been alive, they were
certain he would have reached out to them.
00:10:46
Jason’s cocaine addiction spiralled out of control
after his brother’s disappearance and he checked
00:10:51
himself into a rehab facility. Nicholas’s sister
Carey, who was 27 when her little brother went
00:10:59
missing, told the media: “It came to the point
where you know you’re not going to find him alive
00:11:06
but you just want to find what happened to
him.” On October 7 1997, the San Antonio
00:11:17
Police Department in Texas received a
phone call. It was from a police officer in the bustling city of Linares, 300 kilometers
south of the Spanish capital of Madrid.
00:11:31
He introduced himself as Officer Johnathon Dorian
and told the police he had some important news.
00:11:38
Nicholas Barclay had been found alive and
well, wandering the streets of Linares.
00:11:45
Jonathon Dorian advised the police that after
questioning, Nicholas would be transferred to a
00:11:51
local homeless shelter for children outside
of Linares in the Spanish countryside,
00:11:56
while he waited to be reunited with his family.
He gave the San Antonio Police Department the
00:12:03
contact details for the shelter, telling them
that he was overseeing Nicholas’s case there.
00:12:11
An officer from the San Antonio Police
Department phoned the donut shop where Beverly Dollarhide worked to tell her
the news. Beverly wasn’t working at the
00:12:22
time so an employee scribbled down the contact
details of the children’s shelter in Linares.
00:12:29
Comprehending the gravity of the situation,
the employee phoned Beverly immediately
00:12:34
and over the next few days, Beverly tried
desperately to contact Officer Johnathon Dorian.
00:12:41
However, every time she called the
shelter she was met on the end of the line by someone who spoke no english,
causing Beverly to hang up in frustration.
00:12:53
After a few days, Nicholas’s
sister Carey tried calling. The phone was answered by Officer Johnathon
Dorian. He told Carey that he actually had
00:13:04
Nicholas sitting right beside him, however he
was too scared to talk to her on the phone.
00:13:11
In his strong French accent, Officer Dorian
explained to Carey that Nicholas had confided
00:13:18
in him that he had been abducted from his
home town in San Antonio and taken all over
00:13:23
Europe in secrecy. He had been sexually
abused as part of a pedophile sex ring.
00:13:31
Nicholas didn’t recall much of
his life prior to the abduction. Carey began to cry and Officer Dorian
held out the phone to Nicholas so she
00:13:42
could tell him how much she loved him. In
response Nicholas whispered: “Take me home.”
00:13:55
Nicholas’ family wasted no time in
organising to get Nicholas back. Due to Beverly’s fear of flying, Carey volunteered
to go to Spain to be reunited with Nicholas.
00:14:08
Money was tight in the family so Carey’s
workplace paid for her ticket allowing
00:14:14
her to be with Nicholas as soon as possible. It
was the first time Carey had left the country.
00:14:22
One week after the initial phone call
from the San Antonio Police Department, Carey Gibson arrived in Spain. She was met
at the airport by employees of the shelter
00:14:35
and driven out of Linares down the remote and
winding roads into the Spanish countryside.
00:14:42
Carey was nervous to set eyes on Nicholas
after nearly three and a half years. She wondered what he had gone through
to end up so far away from home.
00:14:55
Arriving at the shelter, Carey greeted the
staff and was escorted to a concrete courtyard.
00:15:02
She watched as children ran and
played around her. Surrounding the courtyard were tall stone buildings that
accommodated the children at the shelter.
00:15:14
Looking up, she saw the curtains rustle to one
of the rooms and Nicholas’s face peered out.
00:15:21
She waved to him, calling for him
to come down so she could see him. 10 minutes passed before Nicholas arrived in
the courtyard, wearing baggy clothes, a scarf,
00:15:33
sunglasses and a cap. He walked up to his sister
apprehensively as she studied his face and touched
00:15:42
his nose, commenting that it was just like his
Uncle Pat’s. They hugged and Nicholas whispered
00:15:50
to Carey how much he loved her. The two were
escorted to a quiet visitor’s room where Carey
00:15:58
showed Nicholas photographs of their family that
had been taken in the years he had been absent.
00:16:05
Nicholas declined to reveal how he had
ended up in Spain and Carey didn’t push him,
00:16:11
certain he would open up when he was ready. Carey
held Nicholas’s hand as they sat side by side,
00:16:20
studying the familiar small tattoo of the letter
‘T’ he had between his thumb and forefinger.
00:16:31
Once they had spent some time reacquainting
themselves, Carey Gibson along with the employees
00:16:37
of the shelter organised getting Nicholas home
to U.S soil. Carey phoned San Antonio FBI agent
00:16:45
Nancy Fisher who listened in disbelief as Carey
explained their situation. In all her years
00:16:54
working in the investigation of child abuse,
the Special Agent had never heard of a child
00:16:59
going missing in the USA to turn up wandering
the streets of a European Country years later.
00:17:07
Although a Spanish judge had cleared Nicholas to
return to the USA, immigration wouldn’t allow it
00:17:14
because he didn’t have a U.S passport. Working
with the U.S State Department and the U.S
00:17:21
Embassy in Madrid, an emergency passport
was organised for Nicholas the same day.
00:17:28
In return for her assistance, Special Agent
Nancy Fisher requested that Nicholas be
00:17:34
interviewed promptly after he arrived home, so
his abductors could be investigated by her team.
00:17:43
On November 4 1997, Nancy Fisher stared at
the teenage boy sitting across from her desk
00:17:50
at the National Centre for Missing and Exploited
Children in San Antonio. He appeared very nervous
00:17:57
and uncomfortable as Nancy questioned him about
his ordeal. Little by little Nicholas Barclay
00:18:05
opened up and shared the terrifying details
of his abduction from the very beginning.
00:18:13
On June 13 1994, he had been playing basketball at
the local park when two young men approached him.
00:18:21
They began talking to Nicholas and the next thing
he knew, a cloth was pressed to his face and he
00:18:28
passed out. Through the use of military planes
overseen by high ranking military officers,
00:18:35
Nicholas had been taken to Europe and
constantly moved to various locations. He wasn’t alone. With him were dozens
of other boys who had also been abducted
00:18:48
and like him were being shipped around European
countries to be used in the pedophile sex trade.
00:18:57
Nearly every night Nicholas was drugged with
chloroform and raped. His hands had been broken
00:19:04
with a baseball bat, his left foot had been
broken with a crowbar and he had been tortured
00:19:10
and experimented on. One such experiment involved
his eyes being injected with various needles.
00:19:20
Nicholas detailed the tactics that his captors
used to confuse, disorient, and force him and
00:19:26
the other boys to behave. He was beaten if he
spoke English and was forced to wear headphones
00:19:34
that contained screaming voices saying: “You are
not you,” in different languages over and over.
00:19:43
In order to disguise the boys, Nicholas
Barclay told FBI Agent Nancy Fisher that their hair was coloured and a solution
placed into their eyes to change their colour.
00:19:56
As a result, his had changed
from blue to a deep brown. Nicholas made his escape when someone left a door
slightly ajar to the room in which he was being
00:20:09
held captive. Sensing an opportunity, he ran out
the door and found himself in a long corridor.
00:20:18
Praying he wouldn’t be seen, Nicholas
ran the length of the corridor, finding an exit door at the end that opened
out onto a street. He then ran for his life.
00:20:31
After a few hours, he came to the
realisation that he was in Spain. Nicholas found a phone booth and called
the police station who picked him up.
00:20:44
Nancy Fisher was deeply shaken by Nicholas’s
recount of the events he had been subjected to.
00:20:52
She told him she was very sorry he had been
through such a traumatic ordeal and vowed to him
00:20:58
that they would find Nicholas’s captors and work
to free the other children who had been abducted.
00:21:05
Nancy instructed Nicholas and his family
to refrain from any media interviews, explaining that it could compromise her
team’s investigative efforts if word got out
00:21:16
that they were actively searching for Nicholas’s
captors. Nicholas Barclay and his family agreed.
00:21:28
Following the FBI interview, Nicholas’s family
decided a routine approach would be the best
00:21:33
way to help Nicholas adjust to his previous life.
Because of Beverly’s long work hours, he moved in
00:21:41
with Carey and her husband Bryan in their secluded
trailer park on the outskirts of San Antonio.
00:21:49
Due to a lack of space, Nicholas slept on a
mattress on the floor of Carey’s son Codey’s
00:21:55
bedroom. He enrolled in the local high school,
catching the bus to and from school every weekday.
00:22:04
Popular in his classes, Nicholas quickly
and easily made new friends. After school
00:22:11
he and Codey would hang out at the local skate
park. It wasn’t long before Nicholas had his
00:22:18
first crush - a local girl named Amy, and the
pair talked on the phone for hours. His family
00:22:26
were extremely supportive of Nicholas and did
their best to accommodate his every request.
00:22:33
However, it wasn’t long before Nicholas’s
unruly side began to show again. Two weeks
00:22:41
after returning home, he stole Carey’s car and
went on a road trip, blaring his favourite pop
00:22:47
artist - Michael Jackson - from the car
speakers. He was arrested for speeding by local police in Oklahoma who agreed not to
prosecute Nicholas due to his troubling history.
00:23:01
He also got suspended from school and on
occasion would fight with Carey’s son, Codey.
00:23:09
Nicholas’s family forgave him every time, blaming
the outbursts of behaviour on his harrowing ordeal
00:23:16
while kidnapped. Following his trip to Oklahoma,
Nicholas moved back in with his mother Beverly.
00:23:26
The one family member Nicholas hadn’t
seen in his first few weeks back home was his older brother Jason.
Struggling with drug addiction,
00:23:35
Jason was in a rehabilitation centre but
six weeks after Nicholas arrived home,
00:23:41
he went around to see his little brother at a
barbecue organised by the rest of the family.
00:23:48
Jason regarded Nicholas in a standoffish manner,
looking him up and down and refusing to hug him.
00:23:56
After a few minutes, Jason beckoned Nicholas
to go outside where they could have privacy
00:24:01
from the rest of the family. He gave
Nicholas a gold cross on a necklace and said, “Good luck.” He then walked away,
leaving Nicholas surprised and confused.
00:24:18
Despite Nicholas’s family remaining tight-lipped
about his return, it wasn’t long before local
00:24:24
media got wind of the missing San Antonio teen
who had been found in Spain and reunited with
00:24:30
his family. In November 1997, a producer from
the tabloid television show “Hard Copy,” hired
00:24:39
private investigator Charlie Parker to do
some digging around in the hope he could
00:24:44
identify and meet the teenager for an exclusive
interview. Charlie Parker, a former police officer
00:24:52
with a special interest in tracing missing
children was well and truly up to the task.
00:24:59
Known around the area as “Gumshoe,” the amiable
Charlie Parker phoned FBI Special Agent Nancy
00:25:06
Fisher to enquire about the child. She confirmed
that the story told to him by Hard Copy was
00:25:13
correct, however refused to give out any details
about Nicholas Barclay or his family. Undeterred,
00:25:22
Charlie began looking through missing persons
in the area of San Antonio when he came across
00:25:28
Nicholas. He tracked down Beverly Dollarhide who
confirmed that it was her son who had returned
00:25:35
home. Against the FBI’s wishes, Nicholas
agreed to give a television interview.
00:25:49
Reclined on the lounge in Beverly’s house,
Nicholas sat while camera crews set up around him.
00:25:56
Wearing a tan leather jacket, sunglasses,
and a wide brimmed fedora style hat, Nicholas explained the details of his capture to
the listening reporter. As well as featuring on
00:26:09
Hard Copy, excerpts of the interview were taken
to play on that evening’s local nightly news.
00:26:17
Sitting behind the camera crews, private
investigator Charlie Parker watched on.
00:26:24
Aged in his 50s, the well liked detective watched
as the interviewer asked Nicholas about details
00:26:31
of the rape he had been subjected to. Charlie
spent many hours of his own time working for
00:26:38
a charity that dealt with unsolved children’s
murders and as he observed Nicholas before him,
00:26:45
he knew something wasn’t right. There were
many inconsistencies that struck Charlie as odd
00:26:53
about the teen’s behaviour. He spoke with a
thick French accent, although Nicholas explained
00:27:01
this was because he was not allowed to
speak English while being held captive. Noticing a photograph of Nicholas Barclay
as a child nearby, Charlie picked it up.
00:27:14
As he studied it, he felt the
hairs on the back of his neck stand up. Charlie was immediately struck
by the stark difference in eye colour
00:27:24
between the photograph and Nicholas
sitting on the lounge in front of him. Charlie recalled an article he had read. The
piece was about how Scotland Yard identified
00:27:38
Martin Luther King Junior’s assassinator,
James Earl Ray, at London’s Heathrow Airport by
00:27:44
comparing a photograph of his ears. A person’s
ears are as unique as a set of fingerprints.
00:27:53
Later that night, on his personal computer, Charlie compared a still taken from the day’s
interview with a missing poster depicting Nicholas
00:28:02
at the time of his disappearance. Using Adobe
Photoshop, he aligned the ears for comparison.
00:28:11
They were close but not a match. He had no idea
who the person was who had given the interview
00:28:19
earlier that day, but Charlie Parker was sure
of one thing. It was not Nicholas Barclay.
00:28:32
Charlie phoned Special Agent Nancy Fisher. She
listened to his theory but initially dismissed it,
00:28:39
as Nicholas’s own family had identified him and
were certain that the teen was Nicholas Barclay.
00:28:47
Recalling the FBI interview with Nicholas,
Nancy remembered that she was initially struck
00:28:53
by his appearance. She was expecting a teenager
with light features and was surprised when someone
00:29:00
who seemed much older than a teen with dark eyes
and a five o’clock shadow presented himself.
00:29:08
Although his hair was blonde, he also had
dark roots coming through as regrowth.
00:29:16
Conducting some research, Nancy learned that there
was one drug to treat glaucoma that could alter
00:29:22
eye colour but certainly not to the extreme
where they would change from blue to brown.
00:29:30
Meanwhile, the investigation into Nicholas’s
kidnapping as part of an international sex ring
00:29:36
was going nowhere. Although going into great
detail about the physical and psychological
00:29:42
trauma he endured, Nicholas could not
recall any details that would assist the investigation such as locations
or descriptions of his captors.
00:29:57
In February 1998, four months after Nicholas
returned home, Special Agent Nancy Fisher spoke
00:30:05
with Dr Bruce Perry. She needed advice from
the world renowned forensic psychiatrist who
00:30:11
specialised in children suffering from trauma.
Dr Bruce Perry was the husband of Arlis Perry,
00:30:19
featured in episode 137 of Casefile. Nancy
organised for Dr Perry to interview Nicholas.
00:30:29
The hope was he could extract from him some useful
information that would further the investigation.
00:30:36
Dr Bruce Perry also agreed to assess
whether Nicholas was an American and put to end the speculation
that he was someone else.
00:30:47
Nicholas was flown to the Texas Children's
Hospital and met with Dr Bruce Perry.
00:30:53
As soon as Nicholas introduced himself,
alarm bells rang for Dr Perry. He listened
00:31:01
as Nicholas recounted his ordeal, noticing that
he did not display any of the physiological or
00:31:08
behavioural features commonly associated
with those recounting traumatic events,
00:31:13
such as dilated pupils,
edginess, and an upright posture. Instead, it appeared that Nicholas was retelling
a story. One that had not happened to him.
00:31:29
After interviewing Nicholas for several hours, the
biggest red flag to Dr Perry that Nicholas was not
00:31:35
who he claimed to be was his French accent. Dr
Perry phoned Nancy Fisher, explaining that had
00:31:43
Nicholas spent the years before his abduction in
the USA he should have reverted to an American
00:31:50
accent, not the thick French accent he was unable
to drop. He told Nancy that he could guarantee the
00:31:58
person presenting as Nicholas Barclay was
not raised in an English speaking family.
00:32:06
As Nicholas boarded the flight back to
San Antonio, Nancy Fisher called Carey. She told Carey that the male person who returned
to them could not possibly be Nicholas Barclay
00:32:19
because there was no way that this person was
born an American. In response, Carey screamed
00:32:27
and yelled out “Oh my God!”. Nancy warned Carey
not to meet Nicholas at the San Antonio airport
00:32:35
as she had planned to do, advising that he
could be an extremely dangerous individual.
00:32:42
Instead, Nancy would meet him at the airport and
handle the situation herself. She calmed Carey and
00:32:51
told her that on no uncertain terms would she be
required to take this person back home with her.
00:32:59
As Nancy Fisher organised her plan, she
was left with one major lingering question.
00:33:06
If the teenager wasn’t Nicholas
Barclay, then who was he? Casefile team member Jess has a few guilty
pleasures. 2020 Eurovision band "Little Big"
00:33:30
and watching "Friends" and "Seinfeld" reruns
over and over to name a few, but one thing
00:33:36
she has zero guilt about - how much she loves
playing "Best Fiends". It's an endless source
00:33:43
of fun she can access anytime on her phone. "Best
Fiends" was a life saver on Jess' recent holiday.
00:33:50
With no phone reception, her kids were
crawling the walls wanting something to do on a
00:33:55
particularly long car ride. Because "Best Fiends"
is suitable for the family and can be played with
00:34:02
no internet connection, Jess handed her phone
over to the kids and got some peace and quiet.
00:34:08
They even helped her clear a level or
two. "Best Fiends" is the infamously impossible to put down puzzle game that's free
to download. With over 100 million downloads,
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FBI Special Agent Nancy Fisher waited at the San
Antonio airport for the man posing as Nicholas
00:39:11
Barclay to land following his psychiatric
interview with Dr Bruce Perry. She planned
00:39:18
to detain him for the purpose of obtaining a DNA
sample and fingerprints as a means of identifying
00:39:24
him. To her surprise, she saw Carey Gibson waiting
for him to arrive despite her warning that he
00:39:32
could be extremely dangerous. She approached
them as the imposter and Carey embraced.
00:39:39
Carey showed no signs of being frightened
nor did she question him about his identity.
00:39:46
She seemed excited to see him and
enquired about his trip to Houston. It was as though the whole conversation between
herself and Carey had never taken place.
00:39:59
After seeking advice from
the assistant U.S attorney, Nancy allowed the imposter to return home
to Beverly’s house with Carey Gibson.
00:40:09
Nancy knocked on Beverly
Dollarhide’s door a few days later. The imposter voluntarily agreed to go with her to
get a blood sample for DNA testing. Once inside
00:40:20
the clinic, he became infuriated, stating that the
nurses were staring at him as if he were a freak.
00:40:28
The imposter left the clinic, refusing
to cooperate with Nancy’s request. Beverly was also not cooperating, refusing
to give a blood sample to Nancy so she
00:40:40
could confirm the two were related. Instead,
she threw herself on the floor of her home
00:40:46
telling Nancy that she knew he was her son
and didn’t have to prove it. Openly hostile,
00:40:54
Beverly accused Nancy of trying to take
Nicholas away from her for a second time.
00:41:02
The imposter continued to protest that he was
Nicholas Barclay and, unable to force the family
00:41:08
for DNA testing while she waited for a search
warrant, Nancy decided to employ a different
00:41:14
tactic to prove to Nicholas’s family that he
wasn’t their son. She took photographs of him and
00:41:21
other family members to a forensic artist at the
FBI to compare bone structures of the individuals.
00:41:29
To her surprise, the artist concluded that
the photographs showed more similarities
00:41:35
than differences. In addition, the imposter,
whose case was still being pursued by private
00:41:42
investigator Charlie Parker, agreed to
sit for a polygraph test on television. When asked if his identity was
Nicholas Barclay, he passed.
00:41:56
In early March 1998, Nancy Fisher received
a search warrant enabling her to take blood
00:42:03
samples and fingerprints from the imposter.
With no other option, he angrily obliged
00:42:10
and Nancy sent the results to Interpol
in the hope they would find a match. While waiting on the Interpol results, the
imposter shared some further information with
00:42:26
Nancy Fisher about his abduction. According to The
Age, when he had been abducted he was held for a
00:42:33
time with a teenage boy named Till Kratzsch from
Berlin who had been kidnapped a year after him
00:42:40
in July 1995. When Nancy checked the
records, she found the missing boy. She contacted his mother, who agreed to fly
from Berlin to San Antonio. Till’s mother sat
00:42:55
with the imposter and P.I Charlie Parker. Charlie
drew the outline of a body to test the imposter
00:43:04
and asked him to mark on the outline any
distinctive markings or scars the boy had.
00:43:11
The imposter took the paper and marked
some scars on various parts of the outline.
00:43:17
As soon as Till’s mother looked at what he had
done, she knew he was lying. Till had a prominent
00:43:24
scar on his forehead that would be immediately
noticeable to anyone who had seen her son.
00:43:32
The next day, the imposter met with
Charlie Parker in a local diner. The private investigator was of the opinion
that the imposter was a terrorist or a spy
00:43:43
sent to infiltrate the USA through an American
family. Charlie asked to meet to discuss a phone
00:43:51
call he had received the night before from
Beverly. She had called Charlie in tears,
00:43:58
explaining that a friend had given Nicholas a lift
in her car and driven past a block of flats they
00:44:04
used to live in for years. Nicholas had loved
living there and knew nearly all the residents.
00:44:13
To her surprise, he mentioned
nothing about his life there and Beverly admitted to Charlie that she was
having her doubts that it was Nicholas after all.
00:44:25
They ordered hotcakes and took a seat
at a booth as Charlie explained to the imposter the details of the call,
concluding, “Your mother’s real upset.”
00:44:37
In response, the imposter stared Charlie in the
eyes and said, “My name’s not Nicholas and you
00:44:45
know it.” Charlie felt his heart beat faster as
he asked the person in front of him who he was.
00:44:54
He replied, “I’m Frederic Bourdin
and I’m wanted by Interpol.” Like Nicholas Barclay, Frederic Bourdin also
had a troubled childhood. He was born in
00:45:11
Nantes, France on June 13 1974 to
17-year-old Ghislaine Bourdin and an Algerian father whom Ghislaine met at
the margarine factory where they worked.
00:45:24
When Ghislaine discovered she was pregnant,
she also found out that the father was married
00:45:30
with children so she quit her job and
never told the man about the pregnancy. Frederic suffered a miserable childhood. He
inherited his father’s olive skin, dark hair, and
00:45:43
dark eyes and often dealt with racial insults for
being the son of an Alegerian living in France.
00:45:51
As a young child, Frederic did not receive much
love from his mother and when he was approximately
00:45:58
five-years-old, his mother sent him to live
with his maternal grandparents in Mouchamps,
00:46:03
a region of France 400 kilometres south west
of Paris. He would make up stories to his
00:46:11
classmates as to why he was fatherless, including
that his father was a British secret agent.
00:46:18
At 12-years-old, Frederic Bourdin became difficult
to handle and frequently misbehaved. Unable to
00:46:26
look after him anymore, his grandparents sent
him to live at a private facility for juveniles
00:46:32
in Nantes. Frederic enjoyed his time in
the home and lived there until he was 16 when he was moved to another home for older
children. In this home, Frederic began to rebel,
00:46:47
running away for short stints only to be picked
up and returned to the home by local police.
00:46:54
He began to lie to the police, telling them
tall tales and watching how they would respond.
00:47:02
Dreaming of a life in England, Frederic
hitchhiked to Paris and told officers he
00:47:07
was a British teenager named Jimmy Sale. The
police officer discovered that Frederic spoke
00:47:14
little English and he soon confessed to
the lie and returned to the youth home.
00:47:21
This was the start to years of deception. Once Frederic turned 18, he was released from
the children’s home to build a life for himself.
00:47:32
Frederic missed the comfort and care of
the children’s home so he began to pose
00:47:37
as various children, creating fake aliases and
moving from shelter to shelter around Europe,
00:47:44
leaving before his true identity was
uncovered. He was caught out multiple times and had his fingerprints on record with
Interpol for ease of future identification.
00:47:58
In October 1997, Frederic Bourdin, aged
23, phoned the local police in Linares,
00:48:06
Spain. He remained anonymous, telling
the police that he was a tourist who had come across a frightened teenager in
a phone booth who wouldn’t speak to him.
00:48:18
He estimated that the boy was approximately
14-years-old. Police officers arrived at the
00:48:24
named phone booth to find Frederic Bourdin
posing as the terrified teen inside.
00:48:32
After being coaxed out of the phone booth,
Frederic was taken back to the police station
00:48:38
where he refused to talk to officers
and barely made eye contact. Dressed in baggy clothes with a basketball
cap pulled over his eyes, Frederic eventually
00:48:50
confessed that he had been sexually abused
but refused to elaborate or identify himself.
00:48:57
With no reason to keep him at the station, the police organised for him to be transferred
to a local children’s shelter in Linares.
00:49:07
At the shelter, Frederic Bourdin was
questioned further about his identity. Refusing to name himself, his case was handed
over to a child welfare judge who told Frederic
00:49:21
he had 24 hours to prove he was a teenager or
he would be photographed and fingerprinted.
00:49:29
Given that Frederic’s prints were on record,
he decided he needed to come up with a plan to
00:49:34
prevent this from occurring as he would likely
face jail time. He considered running away but
00:49:42
the staff at the shelter were keeping too
close an eye on him for him to make a break.
00:49:48
Instead Frederic Bourdin felt he only had
one option. He needed to become someone else.
00:50:02
Frederic Bourdin had always dreamed of
going to the United States of America. In the land of the free, he figured he could
reinvent himself and live a life of opportunity.
00:50:15
Frederic told the staff at the children’s home
that he was an American who had run away from
00:50:20
home. He promised them that he would identify
himself but asked if he could phone his family
00:50:27
in the U.S first. The concerned staff agreed and
allowed Frederic to spend the night in the office
00:50:35
so he could use the phone overnight to allow for
the time difference between the two countries.
00:50:42
Frederic thought of where he wanted to
live. Seattle was of interest to him, so when he was alone in the office he phoned
local police stations of Seattle, introducing
00:50:53
himself as police officer Johnathon Dorian. He
explained he was calling from Spain and that he
00:51:01
had found a teenager he was sure was from the USA
but was not cooperating with him. Frederic listed
00:51:09
off his own features. He was careful to keep them
vague enough to match the descriptions of multiple
00:51:16
missing teenagers - short, slim build, prominent
chin, brown hair and a gap between his teeth.
00:51:26
He was put through to the Centre for Missing
and Exploited Children in Arlington, Virginia.
00:51:32
He gave the same story to the woman on the line
and waited while she looked through her records.
00:51:39
After a moment she told Frederic that
she had a missing child who might be the teenager they were looking for. She
read out the details of Nicholas Barclay,
00:51:50
missing from San Antonio,
Texas for 3 years and 4 months. Although not in his dream city of Seattle,
Frederic asked the woman to fax through a
00:52:02
photo of Nicholas and anxiously waited as his
details came through to the office fax machine.
00:52:10
It was of poor quality and as Frederic
studied the photograph, he thought he looked
00:52:15
familiar enough to pass as the teen, later
speaking on the documentary, The Imposter:
00:52:23
“If he’s been missing for 3 or 4 years,
guarantee one thing, there will be a change.
00:52:30
If there is a change there will be doubt.
If there is doubt then I got a chance.”
00:52:39
He told the Centre for Missing and Exploited
Children that the teen he had in front of him
00:52:44
was indeed Nicholas Barclay and he was given
the number of the San Antonio police department,
00:52:50
who in turn contacted Nicholas’s family. He also finally told the staff at the
children’s home his name - Nicholas Barclay.
00:53:03
The next day, Frederic intercepted an
urgent letter sent from the Centre for Missing and Exploited Children
addressed to Jonathon Dorian
00:53:12
at the children's home. It contained a
higher quality image of Nicholas Barclay.
00:53:19
When Frederic Bourdin first laid eyes on the
photograph, his heart sank. With blonde hair,
00:53:27
blue eyes, and fair skin, Frederic did
not come close to resembling Nicholas. He was told by center employees that the U.S
Embassy was on their way to meet with him and
00:53:41
in a panic, Frederic tried to run. He was picked
up trying to hitchhike out of Linares by the U.S
00:53:48
Vice Consulate and a staff member of the shelter
and returned to the home. Not seeing any other
00:53:57
way out of his predicament, Frederic set about
trying to disguise himself to look like Nicholas.
00:54:04
He dyed his hair blonde, and noting Nicholas had
a visible tattoo, met with a teen at the shelter
00:54:11
who did small tattoos. She tattooed the letter T
on his left hand between his thumb and forefinger
00:54:19
with the ink from a pen and a needle. The
final result looked just like Nicholas’s.
00:54:30
Although it remains unclear how, Frederic was
present in the staff office alone when Nicholas’s
00:54:37
sister Carey phoned the shelter looking for him.
He pretended to be Officer Johnathon Dorian.
00:54:45
Because Carey was so desperate to speak with
Nicholas, he pretended to be him, whispering
00:54:52
“Take me home,” to her. Within the next few
days, Frederic was informed by the director
00:55:00
that Carey was on her way to
the shelter to come and get him. Certain that he would be uncovered,
Frederic locked himself in his room.
00:55:10
When Carey arrived, he donned the baggiest clothes
he could find, as well as sunglasses, a scarf,
00:55:18
and a cap to try and disguise his features. To
his utter surprise, Carey Gibson did not balk when
00:55:26
Frederic approached her in the courtyard, instead
accepting he was Nicholas Barclay immediately.
00:55:35
As they sat together looking at family
photos, Frederic made vague comments like,
00:55:41
“Mum looks the same,” to the delight of Carey.
Frederic couldn’t believe he made it this far
00:55:49
but he still had one final hurdle before he
could make it to the USA. The child welfare
00:55:56
judge responsible for sending Nicholas home was
not convinced Frederic was Nicholas Barclay.
00:56:04
He ordered Frederic be shown five photographs from
Carey’s photo album in his presence so he could
00:56:10
watch Frederic identify those in the images. The
judge was unaware that Carey had already shown the
00:56:18
photos to Frederic and so he was able to correctly
identify people in the first four photographs.
00:56:26
In the last photo, Frederic made an error but
by that time, the Judge was already convinced
00:56:33
the 23-year-old French Algerian man before him
was 16-year-old American, Nicholas Barclay.
00:56:42
Carey Gibson was equally as convinced,
believing that his mannerisms including speaking with a French accent and whispering
were due to the trauma he had suffered.
00:56:55
On October 17 1997, Frederic
was photographed and given an emergency U.S passport under the name
Nicholas Barclay. He was free to go.
00:57:09
Arriving in Texas, Frederic was stunned when
the rest of the family accepted him as Nicholas.
00:57:17
Although life on the outskirts of San
Antonio was not the streets of a bustling
00:57:22
city that Frederic had pictured, he felt
like he was living the American dream.
00:57:29
He played the part of Nicholas, rummaging
through drawers when he was alone, studying photos of him dotted around the house and
copying his mannerisms. Once he gave the interview
00:57:41
to FBI Agent Nancy Fisher he was certain he
had got away with the deception. Over time,
00:57:49
Frederic began to relax but was forever concerned
that the real Nicholas Barclay would come home
00:57:56
and he would be found out. He agreed to give the
television interview with the hope that the media
00:58:03
attention would further cement the belief he was
Nicholas Barclay and endear the public to him.
00:58:13
After Frederic Bourdin’s confession at the
diner, Charlie excused himself and phoned
00:58:19
Nancy Fisher who had also received
the same information from Interpol, after his fingerprints were positively identified.
She asked Charlie to keep him talking at the diner
00:58:31
while she arrived with an arrest warrant.
While he waited, Charlie stalled Frederic
00:58:38
by getting him to open up about his life
and the previous identities he had stolen.
00:58:45
Frederic was taken into custody soon after,
four and a half months after coming to America.
00:58:53
He was held in the Wilson
County Jail in Floresville, Texas on counts of perjury and attempting
to steal a passport. While awaiting trial,
00:59:03
Frederic used the phone at the jail to call
hundreds of families of missing children.
00:59:10
By using call collect, he convinced these families
he had information about their lost children,
00:59:17
information that was completely false. When
asked in a television interview why he did this
00:59:24
to such vulnerable families, Frederic didn’t
answer, instead just shrugging his shoulders.
00:59:33
Nicholas Barclay’s family were bereft. In the
documentary, “The Imposter,” Carey Gibson said
00:59:40
her first feeling was complete sadness
because they were back to square one. Her second feeling was how
could she be so f**king stupid?
00:59:55
As Frederic Bourdin sat in his jail cell, he had plenty of time to mull
over his life as Nicholas Barclay.
01:00:04
He was surprised himself that he was accepted so
easily into the family with no questions asked.
01:00:11
He thought back to his first meeting with Carey
at the Spanish children’s home. At the time he
01:00:18
hadn’t thought much about it but looking back, he
remembered how Carey had spoon fed information to
01:00:24
him about his relatives in the photographs,
telling him who they were and important facts
01:00:30
about each person. He also thought back to
the family barbecue where Nicholas’s brother
01:00:36
Jason had wished him good luck and said nothing
further, as if he knew Frederic was an imposter.
01:00:45
Frederic could also never understand why
Nicholas’s mother Beverly was so against having
01:00:51
blood taken to confirm a familial link between
the two. Especially when there was evidence that
01:00:57
the person she called her son was not so. If it
were the other way around, Frederic would have
01:01:05
had the blood test to put the matter to rest once
and for all. After Beverly visited Frederic in the
01:01:13
county jail one day, Frederic picked up the phone
and called the San Antonio Police Department.
01:01:21
He knew that Nicholas was deceased
and he knew who was responsible. The San Antonio Police officer
listened as Frederic explained
01:01:33
Beverly Dollarhide had visited him in his
cell and confessed that she and Jason had
01:01:39
killed Nicholas and disposed of his
body. According to the New Yorker, Bourdin also alleged that one night prior to his
arrest, Beverly got drunk and screamed at him,
01:01:53
“I know that God punished me by sending you
to me. I don’t know who you are. Why the f**k
01:02:00
are you doing this?” That, along with Frederic’s
other recollections of his time with the family
01:02:07
was enough to warrant the opening of a homicide
investigation into the murder of Nicholas Barclay.
01:02:15
Nicholas’s family were outraged that law
enforcement would believe the word of a conman.
01:02:22
Beverly angrily denied telling Frederic
that she or Jason was in any way responsible
01:02:28
for Nicholas’s disappearance or death.
Despite this, Nancy Fisher and private investigator Charlie Parker both believed
his claims warranted further investigation.
01:02:42
They were of the opinion that Jason’s sighting of
Nicholas breaking into the family garage months
01:02:48
after his disappearance was a red herring so
officials would still believe he was alive.
01:02:56
Beverly took a polygraph test. The question
asked was whether she currently knew the
01:03:02
whereabouts of Nicholas Barclay.
Beverly answered “no” and passed. Nancy Fisher wasn’t convinced so had the test
repeated a second time. Beverly passed that one
01:03:17
too. Repeating the test a third time with the
same question, Beverly Dollarhide failed the
01:03:25
test badly. The polygrapher told Beverly that
it appeared she knew what happened to her son,
01:03:33
causing Beverly to run out of the room screaming.
She claimed that if Jason had done anything to
01:03:40
Nicholas, she wasn’t aware of it. Nancy believed
Beverly passed the polygraph the first two times
01:03:48
because she was under the influence of
drugs, while the third time she was clean.
01:03:56
When interviewed, Jason appeared apathetic
towards his brother’s disappearance. According
01:04:02
to the New Yorker, during the interview
Nancy Fisher developed “a very strong suspicion that Jason had participated
in the disappearance of his brother.”
01:04:14
Several weeks later, Jason
died from a cocaine overdose. Having been off drugs for more than a year,
Nancy and Charlie believed it was a suicide.
01:04:27
When Charlie asked Beverly her opinion,
she simply said, “I don’t know.” The homicide investigation was eventually closed
due to lack of evidence. There were no witnesses,
01:04:42
no DNA evidence, or even proof
that Nicholas Barclay was deceased. Prosecutor Jack Stick concluded that
Jason’s death had all but “precluded
01:04:54
the possibility” that Nicholas’s
disappearance would ever be solved. Carey Gibson, who suffered a nervous breakdown
after Frederic Bourdin’s arrest, remained furious
01:05:06
at him. She told the documentary, The Imposter:
“He put us through enough already and then for him
01:05:15
to do this, while he’s in jail for what he’s done
and cause more pain for our family, F**k Him!”
01:05:25
P.I Charlie Parker went down a
different investigative route, under the strict belief that someone in Nicholas’s
family was responsible for his disappearance.
01:05:36
As filmed for the documentary, The Imposter, Charlie arrived on the doorstep of Nicholas’s
former home and spoke to the new resident. The
01:05:47
owner took Charlie out to the backyard, indicating
a spot in the corner against the boundary fence,
01:05:53
explaining that when he first moved in, his
pet dog would constantly dig at the area.
01:06:01
He was mowing the area one day when he uncovered
a piece of tarpaulin material in the ground.
01:06:08
With the owner's help, Charlie
Parker dug up the area himself but failed to reveal any evidence
in Nicholas’s disappearance.
01:06:19
Beverly Dollarhide agreed to speak to The
New Yorker and told them that when Jason
01:06:25
was on cocaine he became, “totally
wacko, a completely different person and it was scary.” Whilst she believes he
falsified the account of seeing Nicholas at
01:06:37
their garage months after his disappearance, she
didn’t believe Jason could have hurt Nicholas.
01:06:51
Frederic Bourdin spent the remainder of his time
in jail phoning local media and offering stories
01:06:57
of how he had been able to dupe the family of
Nicholas Barclay. Coincidentally, also a diehard
01:07:04
fan of Michael Jackson, Frederic passed the time
by copying his famous choreography in his cell.
01:07:13
Charlie Parker explained he had been able
to pass the polygraph test on television
01:07:18
because he was so good at lying that he had
convinced himself he was Nicholas Barclay.
01:07:25
Frederic also confessed he had seen information
about missing Berlin teenager Till Kratzsch
01:07:32
when he had been interviewed by Nancy Fisher at
the Centre for Missing and Exploited Children.
01:07:38
Using the limited information he
constructed the tale of knowing Till in an attempt to solidify his
failing alias as Nicholas Barclay.
01:07:50
On September 9 1998, Frederic Bourdin accepted
a plea bargain claiming responsibility for
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fraudulently obtaining a passport and
perjury for posing as Nicholas Barclay. The sentence of lying to an FBI agent was
dropped. He faced a maximum of 25 years
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imprisonment and 750,000 dollars in fines.
At the hearing, Carey said: “He has lied,
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and lied, and lied again. And to this day
he continues to lie. He bears no remorse.”
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According to the New Yorker, prosecutor Jack Stick
compared Bourdin to a “flesh eating bacteria.”
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On November 30 1998, Frederic Bourdin was
sentenced to six years imprisonment in an
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American jail. Afterwards, he would be deported
to France where he was also wanted by Interpol to
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face a four month jail sentence for insulting
a magistrate. Frederic told the courtroom,:“I
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apologise to all the people in my past for what
I have done. I wish, I wish that you believe me,
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but I know it’s impossible...whether in
jail or not, I am a prisoner of myself.”
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Frederic Bourdin was deported to France in October
2003. After serving his time and living only three
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months as a free man, he was caught trying to
pose as 14- year-old missing child, Leo Balley.
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On May 3 2005, 30-year-old Bourdin approached
a child welfare office in France claiming
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to be 14-year-old Spanish born
Francisco Hernandez Fernandez. He was sent to a St Vincent De Paul shelter where
he became most popular with the young children
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housed there. Frederic was uncovered five weeks
later after a staff member working at the shelter
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recognised him from a television show she had
watched the night before about the imposter.
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According to the New Yorker, one of the
police captains assigned to the case said:
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“When he talked in Spanish, he became a Spaniard.
When he talked in English, he was an Englishman.
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Of course, he lied, but what an actor!” Authorities were unsure what crime Frederic had
committed, as it was not done for any criminal
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purpose but due to Frederic wanting
attention and affection from others. He ended up receiving a 6
month suspended sentence.
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Frederic had over 18 child
aliases known to Interpol, impersonating children in Europe from all over
the world, including Mexico and Australia.
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His ability to speak five different languages
greatly aided him in deceiving others.
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Frederic himself claims to have created over
five hundred different aliases in his lifetime.
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On his right forearm Frederic bears a tattoo
- caméléon nantais”—“Chameleon from Nantes.”
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When asked why he stole identities, Frederic told
The Age: “I never really accepted to be an adult.
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I am not a criminal. I am just a boy who will
do anything that his brain knows how to do,
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to get attention and love. My work is to get
love. This is my work. I don’t do drugs, don’t
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kill people, rape children. I tell stories that
will get people to care for me. This is my job.”
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On August 8 2007, Frederic married a
Frenchwoman named Isabella. She was studying to be a lawyer and tracked Bourdin
down after seeing him on television in France,
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where he has since acquired a
somewhat celebrity-like status. According to the New Yorker, he invited his
mother and grandfather to the wedding ceremony,
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however both declined to attend thinking
that it was another one of his lies. Frederic and Isabella moved to a small
town in France. He became a father and
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now has five children. Videos on his
Youtube channel show him and his children dancing happily to Michael Jackson’s music.
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The whereabouts of Nicholas
Barclay remain unknown.