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The Disappearance of Bobby Dunbar | Morbid | Podcast

February 13, 2025 / 01:05:33

This episode covers the disappearance of Bobby Dunbar, the media frenzy surrounding it, and the complex identity issues that arose from the case. Hosts Elena and Ash discuss the events leading up to Bobby's disappearance in 1912, the subsequent search efforts, and the various theories that emerged, including kidnapping and drowning.

The episode highlights the emotional turmoil faced by Bobby's parents, Percy and Lessie Dunbar, as they searched for their son in the dangerous swamps of Louisiana. The hosts mention the role of the press in sensationalizing the story, leading to conflicting narratives and public speculation.

As the story unfolds, the hosts detail the eventual discovery of a boy claimed to be Bobby, who was found with William Walters. They discuss the conflicting claims of identity and the impact on both the Dunbar family and the boy's supposed mother, Julia Anderson.

In a twist, the episode reveals that decades later, DNA testing would show that the boy believed to be Bobby Dunbar was actually Bruce Anderson, leaving the fate of Bobby Dunbar a haunting mystery.

The hosts conclude with reflections on the tragic outcomes for all parties involved, including the emotional scars left on both families and the unresolved questions surrounding Bobby's disappearance.

TLDR

The episode discusses the mysterious disappearance of Bobby Dunbar and the identity crisis that followed, revealing shocking truths decades later.

Episode

1:05:33
00:00:06
Hey weirdos, I'm Elena. I'm Ash. And this is Morbid. [Music] Morbid morbid morbid morbid
00:00:27
Morbid and the world is falling apart around It's got everywhere. Everywhere. Yeah.
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All of it. Um and I I assume when this comes out that the world will still be falling apart around us, so this is
00:00:39
pretty relevant. Um yeah, everything sucks, but you know what? We're going to be just fine cuz
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we're all going to pull together. community as a community. Yeah. You know? And um Support local businesses.
00:00:51
Support local businesses and remember you do not have to open your door to ice unless they serve you a warrant. Hey.
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So just know that. Uh anything else fun that's happening at the top of the show. No, nothing fun
00:01:04
is happening. Anything fun I should say anything else fun anything fun at all. Something fun is happening. We got
00:01:09
invited to go to the premiere of Heart Eyes. Yeah, we did. really excited to see that movie. It
00:01:14
looks really [ __ ] good. Guys, sometimes I'm all for a cerebral horror movie or cerebral thriller. I
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love like Donnie Darko a deep one like you know that like a moody one, but sometimes you
00:01:26
just want a [ __ ] gimmicky serial killer um that only kills people on certain holidays. Hell yeah.
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You know, sometimes you just want that and it looks like Heart Eyes it looks chef's kiss. Like I need it. It's from
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the producers that did Scream, so you know it's going to be good and the same people that did um Happy Death Day.
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Oh, yeah. We love that. And Mason Gooding is in it and he is a snack. And I'm excited to see him back on our
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screens. go. I said It just looks like a lot of fun. I'm really excited about it. This is not an
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ad, by the way. Oh, it's literally not an ad at all. They They just invited us to go see it and we're [ __ ] stoked.
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We're just excited about it. want to invite us to go see a movie Invite us to go see a movie. Let's go.
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You know, I feel like a producer or something. No, you guys. If you want That'd be fun just a big movie with
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everyone. I mean Hell yeah, let's go. Let's figure it out. Let's figure it out, man. We'll
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work on it. Yeah, so that's a fun thing. You know, we can look for the we can look for the bright spots.
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Yeah, in fact, I started a notes app on my phone and I think you should too and listener, hello, I think you should Dear
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listener Dear listener, Dear Abby, I made a note note a note in my phone. Oh, Ash broke.
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Hold on, I'm just rebooting Ash real quick. I made a note on my phone and it says
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good things are always happening to me and each day I'm going to write one good thing that happened to me. I love that.
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Yeah, it's manifesting more good things. we talked about it on a recent episode that we were just saying like you know
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like one of our uh resolutions I almost said revolution, funny. Um one of our resolutions is to be kinder to ourselves
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and we wanted you guys to make sure you are also practicing that cuz it's important. And I think that's another
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good one to add to the list is like try and I think honestly with the bombardment of [ __ ] and news that is
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happening right now and how overwhelmed everyone feels cuz I feel very overwhelmed. insanely
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Um in fact, I think both of us have kind of like pulled back from social media a lot
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just because it's like I'm and I'm pulling off really cuz I'm just like it's too much all at once.
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Like I can't keep I can't keep intaking it all. Uh And you know what? We're not [ __ ] meant to.
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No, we're not. There's a there's a there's a very good balance that everybody needs to strike between being
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informed and being inundated. Mhm. And it's a hard balance to get, so like you're doing fine.
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If you're listening, you're doing fine. Killing it. But I think it's like thinking like changing your mindset to
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be like okay, what is one good thing that happened to me today or one good one thing that I'm grateful or can
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celebrate today will at least give you a little bright spot in all the the darkness that it feels like it's
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everywhere. Yeah, even on like a bad day. Like I had a day last week where I was just in a
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[ __ ] mode. You know, you were here. Poor Mikey was here. I was in No, I was in [ __ ] mode. Like it was
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bad. entitled to those days. But you get so wrapped up in a day like that and it's like at the end of that
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day hadn't started my note yet. But at the end of that if another [ __ ] mode day
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comes, I can look back and be like all right, but what's one good thing that happened that day instead of like
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focusing on all the shitty things that happened or the negativity wrapped up in all of it. Sometimes you just got to and
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you know what? Like I don't know why this is turning into this, but I think whatever. Are we a self-help podcast?
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Suddenly we've turned Guess what, guys? Uh sometimes it's just like go if you can like take a walk, walk
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your dog, walk your kids Oh, yeah. Just get air. and just kind of like take a little
00:05:03
walk, look around, look at the trees. Sometimes it sounds silly. passion project
00:05:08
those things Exactly. Sometimes those are the things that all of a sudden make you go like, you know what?
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I'm lucky to be here. Yeah. Let me think of all the things that I have that I can make myself feel
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better about, you know, everything. Yeah, it's a grounding exercise. It is and we're here with you. We're here.
00:05:26
So, you know? Oh, and one more thing since we're a self-help podcast, I learned about love
00:05:31
and kindness meditation the other day. I'm taking this really cool Wiccan class cuz I'm going to become a [ __ ] Wiccan
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and Wiccan woman and hex the patriarchy. I'm going to become a Wiccan woman. I am. I'm going to become a I love that.
00:05:43
Hell yeah. Um but I I learned about love and kindness meditation. So if you're interested
00:05:49
in meditation at all, look into that. It's very cool and I I liked the experience. Yeah, you know, we all need
00:05:55
more of that. I I'm really I'm going to I'm a hippie. Best time to do it Yeah. now. Get into the love, get into the
00:06:02
kindness. Yeah. Everybody be cool, man. Just don't be all like uncool. Just be cool. Just
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be cool. Don't be all like uncool. And you know, um this story that I have for you today
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Is it uncool? pretty uncool But at the end of it it does have um No, it's still a little it's there's a lot
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of like unknowns in this. Yeah. Some of them become more known, but then there's
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still a mystery at the end. So I am I am sorry to say that I'm going to leave you
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slightly slightly open to some things, but there's going to be a couple of things
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that you're like, well, This is an interesting story. I remember hearing this when I like first got on my like
00:06:42
interest into crime and MFM covered it way back in the day. Yeah, they did. You're right.
00:06:46
Shout out to Karen and Georgia. Shout out to Karen and Georgia. Uh this is the disappearance of Bobby Dunbar.
00:06:53
Ooh. Now again, normally I don't love to do children's cases because it bumps me out
00:06:58
a lot. This one's bumped me out for sure, but there was so much like shenanigans in this case that it felt
00:07:04
like an important story to tell for sure. Um so this goes all the way back to 1912.
00:07:10
Whoa. Yeah, we're really we're really back there. Whoa. On August 23rd, 1912, Percy and Lessie Dunbar traveled with
00:07:18
their two sons, Alonzo and Bobby. Uh they had lived in um Opelousas. I looked it up how to say it. I hope I said it
00:07:25
correctly. Opelousas, Louisiana. Um they were traveling to a near to nearby Swayze Lake.
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Ooh, that's gorgeous. Right, there you go. They had planned to spend the day there, do some fishing, some camping,
00:07:37
just a nice little family outing. Cute. That night, the family was sleeping in their tent and their 4-year-old Bobby
00:07:44
apparently woke up and left the tent. Okay. for some unknown reason. Uh apparently he wandered away from the
00:07:52
campsite, but nobody saw him do this. Uh this is just assuming because he wasn't
00:07:56
there. Yeah. Um the next morning when Lessie and Percy woke up, they found Bobby missing, which I literally can't
00:08:03
imagine what they felt in that moment, but Waking up to find your kid missing must
00:08:07
be the wilderness? Yeah, [ __ ] that. So they of course they panicked and started
00:08:12
frantically searching the area around the tent for him. Now at the time, Swayze Lake was really more of an
00:08:19
undeveloped swamp than an actual recreation area. Oh, okay. Uh it was according to author
00:08:24
Tal McThenia. I hope I'm saying that name right. It was apparently quote teeming with
00:08:30
alligators and surrounded by dark thick woods. So not great. Whoa. Uh so their search was going to be very
00:08:38
dangerous and very slow and very difficult. All of the above. And when they weren't
00:08:42
able to find Bobby very quickly, Percy went into town to get help and with that within hours, there were dozens of men
00:08:49
that had arrived at the lake to help search for Bobby. By that night, about 150 men had joined
00:08:56
the search party Damn. including a group of divers who searched the lake. Wow, which again was more of a swamp.
00:09:02
more of a swamp. With [ __ ] alligators, oh my god. Yeah. And this these are divers that
00:09:06
they got in here in 1912. That's crazy. Now unfortunately because the terrain was so hard to maneuver and it was so
00:09:13
dense, so thickly settled, it was super super slow this process of looking for him. According to one account, quote,
00:09:20
"The cane brakes and undergrowth at Swayze Lake are so thick that it's impossible to see 10 feet from the
00:09:25
trail." Wow. And many of the searchers really quickly began speculating like, "We're not going to find this kid."
00:09:33
They were like out loud being like, "I don't think we're going to find him." Yeah. Which must have been horrifying to
00:09:37
hear. Um nearby, a smaller group of men actually dynamited the stream for more than a mile in order to bring
00:09:45
anything to the surface that was under the water. I like dynamited as a verb. Yeah, right. It really is. But nothing
00:09:52
worked. Nothing found There was no sign of Bobby. His poor parents. They had searched the area for 18 hours
00:09:58
and they found no sign of him. And Percy and Lessie reluctantly returned to Opelousas while the what remained of the
00:10:06
search party continued to comb the area. But they had to bring their other son home. Can you imagine you just like go
00:10:12
out for a cute family outing? With two children and you come back with one. Like that is beyond
00:10:17
unthinkable. Yeah. Unthinkable. That's so [ __ ] Now, in the days after this a smaller
00:10:21
group continued to search the area. So the people weren't giving up on this. Uh several divers did their best to search
00:10:27
through the murky waters but they never found even the slightest bit of evidence
00:10:31
that Bobby had even been there. By the third day many of them had given him up for dead. Basically reasoning
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there was very little chance that a four-year-old could survive the elements alone
00:10:43
for that long. Yeah. Much less in an area where there were gators, there were all so much wildlife
00:10:49
there. That was not going to be good. The main theory at the time was that Bobby had wandered away from the camp in
00:10:55
the night and fallen into the lake and drowned. Oh. And but some were holding out hope that he
00:11:01
was still alive saying that maybe you know, maybe he's still alive because if he had drowned then we probably would
00:11:07
have found some evidence like a scrap of clothing, something which like I don't know with gators.
00:11:13
Yeah, exactly. Now within a week news of Bobby's disappearance had reached the wider
00:11:18
public and it quickly became a big fascination with the press. One reporter wrote, "Never in the history of this
00:11:25
parish has an incident created such profound interest and such profound sorrow." I mean yeah, I can imagine.
00:11:31
is a really great way of saying it. Yeah. Um the idea that a child could simply disappear without a trace.
00:11:37
Into thin air. That was enough of a mystery and enough of like a horrifying situation to think about that was enough
00:11:44
to grab the attention of the public very quickly. Um but there was also this really like
00:11:50
macabre angle that the press couldn't ignore. Mhm. Um one reporter asked, "Is little Robert at the bottom of Sweazy
00:11:57
Lake?" And then this is like the way that he wrote this I'm like, "Okay." With Jesus. Immediately like
00:12:03
that's already jarring. worse. "Is little Robert at the bottom of the Sweazy Lake? Is his little body
00:12:10
the victim of the rapacious appetite of alligators, loggerhead turtles, garfish,
00:12:15
or has the little fellow been gnawed to death by mosquitoes, gnats in the jungles of the Atchafalaya swamp?"
00:12:23
So I feel like that writer probably should have gotten into like horror. Yeah, novels, fiction, you know?
00:12:29
Nothing nothing true. Use that prose elsewhere. We don't need to we don't need you using that flowery prose for
00:12:36
someone's four-year-old that they are holding out hope that they're alive. Jesus.
00:12:41
like reading that I hope his family never read that. No. Cuz what the [ __ ] Oh god.
00:12:48
Yeah. Now this was the moment that it became clear that the press was going to be a massive
00:12:56
figure in this case. Okay. And they are. Yeah. figure in that probably the biggest to
00:13:02
be quite honest. so so helpful and so so hurtful. in this case. Yeah. Bobby's disappearance coincided with a
00:13:10
strange period in American journalism actually. It was guided way more by like how much
00:13:17
you could sell and how much readership you could gain than any kind of like journalistic ethics code or anything
00:13:24
like that. Any kind of integrity. Any kind of like seeking out the truth kind of
00:13:29
situation. It was That's big business. That is big business. Numbers numbers numbers.
00:13:34
Exactly. It's never like can I actually give you the truth or dig something up. It's like this is the most salacious
00:13:42
version of the story. Who gives a [ __ ] if it's real? Let's make money. get people to pick it up.
00:13:46
Yep. So as a result newspapers frequently contradicted one another, embellished stories, and in some cases
00:13:53
just flat out lied in articles they published cuz it sold. That's insane. They were tabloids
00:13:57
essentially. Yeah. That never that never ceases to amaze me that they could just straight
00:14:04
up lie. Mhm. Be like, "Yeah, this is what I think happened." And you're seeing all these newspapers
00:14:08
contradicting themselves because this one's saying it's just who which story the different newspaper grabbed onto and
00:14:15
said, "I think that our readers will grab this one more." Yeah, exactly. like should we check the sources? Nah.
00:14:20
Like let's just go let's just go with this one. That's good. Now for example in early reports Bobby had disappeared
00:14:26
from the camp in the middle of the night while Percy and Lessie were asleep which
00:14:30
is what happened. Days later though a new story appeared in several of the papers and in this story Bobby had
00:14:37
attempted to follow his father down to the lake but Percy had turned around and told him to return to camp which was a
00:14:43
mile away. And he was last seen wandering alone back to the campsite. It's like why make that up? Well, this
00:14:50
distinction like to some people at first might seem like kind of trivial and just
00:14:55
like, "Okay, that's stupid." But the latter account of this story it opens the door to many more scary
00:15:01
possibilities first of all but it also kind of attempted to place some of the blame on the dad.
00:15:07
Even vaguely on Percy for sending his four-year-old a mile back to the campsite by himself.
00:15:12
And it's like that's [ __ ] up. It is [ __ ] up. Cuz it's like these people are going
00:15:17
through a hell that you can't even comprehend. Right. Like what the [ __ ] Now while
00:15:24
many among the search party and in the press had given up Bobby for dead at this point, there were still those that
00:15:29
hung onto hope that he could still be alive somewhere. In Opelousas a small group of residents actually fundraised a
00:15:36
thousand dollars as a reward to anyone who returned Bobby alive and unharmed to his family. And think that's 1912.
00:15:43
That's a lot of money. And that's like the community doing that. That's not just the family. Aw.
00:15:48
And in response to the community support Percy and Lessie published a letter of thanks in the local papers. They said,
00:15:54
"We are well aware that all has been done which human effort can accomplish and it is a comfort to know that our
00:15:59
country is with one of the kindest hearted peoples on Earth." Which like wow. Hits different.
00:16:06
Hearing that you're just like [ __ ] Yeah. Now within a few weeks of Bobby's disappearance a new theory had started
00:16:12
circulating and it was alleging that the boy hadn't simply just wandered off but
00:16:17
was kidnapped from the campsite. According to some press accounts um quote the local police hold to the
00:16:24
belief that the child was brought to New Orleans during the early part of the week by the woman who was seen to alight
00:16:30
from the train station at Port Allen with a child answering the little fellow's description. That was in the
00:16:36
Times-Democrat in 1912. Um according to this account a passenger on a train from Baton Rouge, Louisiana
00:16:43
had spotted a boy he believed to be Bobby Dunbar traveling in the company of a young black woman. Okay. The woman was
00:16:50
reportedly very well dressed but the police in New Orleans still just with no basis associated this woman with a group
00:16:59
of men living on the outskirts of a nearby logging camp. And they quickly developed a theory that the group had
00:17:05
kidnapped Bobby Dunbar to hold him for ransom. Very confused how they put one and one together there. Very confused
00:17:11
about that. Hello? It's like wow, okay. Uh so it's like I I hope they stretched before they
00:17:17
made that leap. Yeah. Now soon after the reports of Bobby being seen in the company of this
00:17:22
young woman investigators began receiving other reports of sightings which is this happens a lot.
00:17:28
Yep. And they were as far away as California. Uh the St. Landry Clarion alleged, "It
00:17:33
is now believed by many that little Robert Dunbar who disappeared from the fishing camp at Sweazy Lake has been
00:17:39
kidnapped." Mhm. There was no basis for this. They just said, "You know what? We
00:17:43
decided." "You know what? He's kidnapped now." Just a week after Bobby was supposedly
00:17:48
spotted in the company of that young woman another report came in of his being seen with an Italian woman who was
00:17:55
clearly not his mother. Mhm. The kidnapping narrative just kept on going into the fall just different
00:18:01
people kidnapping this kid for different reasons. Which is giving his family hope.
00:18:06
Yeah and making them probably terrified. Yeah. You know? So so many emotions mixed up in that.
00:18:12
Yeah and by November the reward amount had increased to six thousand dollars. And again this is 1912.
00:18:18
Um the reward notice which had been circulated to every state in the country said quote "Bobby is presumed to have
00:18:25
been taken away by a woman about 30 years old and the boy might have been carried away for the purposes of
00:18:30
securing a ransom for his return although no demands have been received from any source." So why would you think
00:18:37
that? So you have literally no reason to think that. You know like we have not received any ransom demands.
00:18:42
like a month. But is it we are of the mind that they are asking for ransom. Like don't you think they would have
00:18:48
asked for ransom if they wanted ransom? Like what is it how is it helping them to not ask?
00:18:54
how ransom works is you request it. So despite not having any evidence to support the belief and citing only a
00:19:00
handful of possible random sightings several months earlier the press managed to keep the kidnap story alive and
00:19:06
continued to promote the idea that Bobby had been kidnapped for ransom. But interest in the story had started to
00:19:13
actually kind of wane as the months went on. Um you know, they weren't getting any new information so there was not a
00:19:19
lot of new stuff to print. Yeah, different things start to happen just the way it is.
00:19:23
And the story though got a burst of energy the next month when a new story started circulating that Bobby had been
00:19:29
killed by his captors. Oh. And now the press is printing this like it happened. Okay. According to one of the detectives
00:19:37
on the case Joseph and Robert Marshall two men who had been arrested for the kidnapping now they're saying told
00:19:44
investigators quote "The boy had been put out of the way because it was difficult to conceal him any longer."
00:19:50
But they never asked for a ransom. No idea why this happened. It is unclear why this story was given any it's kind
00:20:00
of unclear why it was given any credence by journalists. It was to sell newspapers.
00:20:04
Yeah. There was no physical evidence that the Marshall brothers or anyone else for that matter had Bobby in their
00:20:10
possession, let alone had killed him. Like what? No evidence whatsoever. Yeah. But for the press who had started to
00:20:18
honestly keep you know, run out of ways to keep the story alive, the murder narrative was a convenient way to kind
00:20:25
of wind it up again and captivate the nation for another few months. Yeah. Unfortunately for journalists or
00:20:31
fortunately depending how you look at it, I guess, reports of Bobby's death were about to be seriously undermined
00:20:37
reviving the story in a way that I don't think anybody was ready to hear it revived.
00:20:42
say so. Now, after it was reported that Bobby was killed, the story kind of silently
00:20:48
pulled back out of the public's view again for a little while cuz that was kind of the end. Right, and it got
00:20:53
wrapped up. We have a wrap-up, but a few months later in early April 1913, the last of the men arrested for the
00:21:01
supposed kidnapping were set free by a court order after the district attorney's quote informed the court that
00:21:08
there was absolutely no evidence for prosecution. Huh. Their release again seemed to single signal kind of
00:21:16
the end of the Dunbar story because now I guess he's been murdered, but they have no evidence to prove anything that
00:21:24
he's been murdered. So now it's like these little things keep happening that they're really just end points. They're
00:21:29
like periods on the story. Yeah. But then a twist came because a few weeks later Bobby Dunbar or at least
00:21:35
someone resembling Bobby Dunbar was found in the company of a man named William Walters who was a peddler in
00:21:42
Columbia, Mississippi. Mhm. Now Walters was arrested on a charge of kidnapping and the boy with him was
00:21:48
taken into custody. But from the moment of Walter's arrest, the story was anything but simple. This was not just a
00:21:54
simple like here he is. Walter's According to Walters, this boy was not Bobby Dunbar. This was Bruce Anderson
00:22:01
and he had been given to Walters by his mother, Julia Anderson. Okay. At the time Anderson was working as a field
00:22:09
hand and caretaker to Walter's elderly parents. Hopefully you guys can follow that.
00:22:14
Yeah. Um but she lacked the resources to care for her son and left him in the Walter's
00:22:20
care. Yeah. And he said, so um he wrote in a statement after he was arrested, "I got
00:22:26
this child at the residence of J.P. Walters, Burnsville, North Carolina between November and Christmas 1911.
00:22:33
That's such a wild statement. I got this child. Yeah. I got this kid. this kid. Around this time. Julia Anderson claimed
00:22:40
to be the mother of the child. "I don't know the father. The child was about 3 years old when I got him." Mhm. Now
00:22:46
according to Walters, there were at least 100 people who had seen him and this boy, Bruce, together before and
00:22:53
after Bobby Dunbar went missing. Okay. Which he said that's proof that this is not Bobby Dunbar. I mean, yeah. The
00:22:59
following day, April 21st, Percy and Lessie Dunbar traveled 175 miles to Columbia eager thinking that this is
00:23:07
their son. Of course. But when they arrived, they were kind of surprised. Um apparently it was dark when they got
00:23:14
there and the child was asleep. Yeah. Lessie said he quote looks more like her son than any child she has ever
00:23:21
seen, but she couldn't be certain that it was him. Mhm. With only oil lamp for light cuz
00:23:26
remember we're in 1912. 1912. She examined him and after looking him over, one journalist reported that
00:23:34
she gasped and said, "I do not know. I'm not quite sure." Okay. Another report published the next day said that the
00:23:41
what that Lessie recognized him instantly and it said quote, "Mrs. Dunbar made a careful examination of the
00:23:48
lad without awakening him." And was standing over the bed a few hours later when the child opened his eyes. The boy
00:23:54
recognized his mother instantly and stretched out his arms to her. Now, is that what actually happened?
00:24:00
And that's the thing like so you see that and this is why it's so dangerous when people lie do that. But
00:24:09
it's like cuz you're you're going to see that story be like, "Oh my that's so great. They're reunited." Like and oh,
00:24:14
he knew her. So that's that's it. Proof. Right. But it's like they're just writing
00:24:19
whatever the [ __ ] they want. To sell the papers. So the first of those two reports is probably the truer of the
00:24:25
two. Yeah, she wasn't sure. According to Tal McThenia, quote, "Percy and Lessie both
00:24:31
told the papers the boy didn't look like their son." Mhm. Among other things, his eyes were
00:24:37
apparently much smaller than Bobby's and he was missing a scar on his foot that Bobby was known to have had. Yeah, and
00:24:43
you don't really get rid of scars. Exactly. Making things even more complicated was
00:24:48
the fact that the boy seemed confused and didn't really seem to have any knowledge and familiarity that one would
00:24:55
expect Bobby Dunbar to have with his family, with what was going on. what How much uh time had passed? About
00:25:02
a year. About a year. So he would still remember stuff. like it's like 10 years down the road or
00:25:06
something. Um despite that, Percy and Lessie returned the following day and Lessie
00:25:10
gave the boy a bath examining him more closely now that it was daylight. Yeah. Uh it was So she was bathing him
00:25:18
to kind of look and see if there was marks, moles that she knows her son to have.
00:25:21
Sure. And when she did this, she enthusiastically announced that this was her son. But she might have just tricked
00:25:27
herself into thinking. Exactly. Like I can't look. I feel like this was just I want this to
00:25:33
be my son. Yeah. So And not even in a way of like I want this to be my son so I'm going to pretend it's my son.
00:25:39
her mind tricked her. Might have literally been like this is your son. We're going to go with this. But then
00:25:43
again, maybe it was. Who's to say? I will at the end of this. Um in early accounts of this reunion,
00:25:50
many among the press noted that Lessie had a lot of anxiety over her uncertainty and the boy's unfamiliarity
00:25:57
I mean, yeah. with them. One journalist wrote quote, "Bobby at first meeting turns upon
00:26:03
Alonzo with a scowl of anger." That's his brother. Mhm. They there appeared to be no
00:26:07
recognition of his little brother. But after Lessie and Percy formally claimed this boy,
00:26:14
uh most journalists reversed course and celebrated the reunion with you know, as
00:26:18
like this heartwarming thing. According to one paper, uh quote, "The instant they met, Robert said, 'There's my
00:26:25
bubba, Alonzo' and reached over and kissed him." Aw. Some papers went even further
00:26:30
reporting that Bobby had quote asked frequently about his brother while he was in New Orleans and was very eager to
00:26:35
see him. Okay. This is really [ __ ] up of these papers. Of course it is. is really [ __ ] up because none of this
00:26:43
is confirmed. writing fantasy. And Bobby returned home to Opelousas with Percy and Lessie in
00:26:48
late April to much fanfare and excitement. Uh the town who again had fundraised to find this boy, had rallied
00:26:57
around this family, they threw a huge parade with a big band to celebrate his return. Um William Walters was in
00:27:05
custody now so everyone was like, "Wow, this terrible story has a happy ending. This kidnapper being brought to justice
00:27:12
and we have Bobby back." they thought it was over, it wasn't, but now it was. it was except it wasn't because one
00:27:18
woman is going to come into the picture and put a little bit of a doubt in everyone's mind.
00:27:24
All right. Now in her statement to the authorities, Julia Andrews who's supposedly Bruce's
00:27:31
mom confirmed some of the details of Walter's story. Okay. While strongly refuting several of his claims. So it's
00:27:39
getting weirder and weirder because now we have someone coming in and saying, "Oh he's telling the truth a little
00:27:43
bit." But there's also parts of this that he's lying out of his [ __ ] face. Okay. So now it's like Jesus Christ
00:27:48
everybody. telling the truth? Yeah. So she said to the and this is in the Times-Democrat,
00:27:54
1913, "William Walters left Burnsville, North Carolina with my son, Charles Bruce, in February 1912
00:28:02
saying that he only wanted to take the child with him for a few days on a visit to the home of his sister.
00:28:09
I have not seen the child from that day to this. I did not give him the child. I
00:28:14
merely consented for him to take my son for a few days." Okay. Now according to Julia, she had known
00:28:20
him. Like this isn't some random guy that came and was just like, "Hey, can I take your son for a few days?" And she
00:28:25
was like, "Absolutely can." she worked for his parents, right? knew him. Yeah. And according to Julia,
00:28:31
Bruce had taken a very strong liking to Walters. Her son had liked this man. Yeah, she's comfortable.
00:28:37
Followed him everywhere. So she didn't see any harm with a short trip. Yeah, like just was like this is going to be
00:28:43
fine. So when the when Walters failed to return with Bruce, Julia became very concerned, but she didn't really know
00:28:52
where he had gone or how to get in touch with him because it's 1912 and she can't
00:28:55
just like location track him or something. Like she's like, "I don't know." She requests his location.
00:29:00
like, "I can't. What do I do?" She's like, "Hey, send me a ping." Yeah, so she just waited hoping that he was
00:29:05
going to come back. Yeah. She said, "I'm willing to go anywhere to identify him on condition that my expenses be paid
00:29:12
and that I be allowed to take my child away from Walters. I do not want him to have my child." Aw, that's really sad.
00:29:18
Now the problem, at least for Julia, was that this child in question had just been claimed as Bobby Dunbar by the
00:29:25
Dunbars. But Walters is still saying this is Bruce Anderson. It's not. Now sensing a big story, the
00:29:33
press in Louisiana just jumped on this opportunity and they paid to have Julia brought to the city to examine this boy.
00:29:41
Okay. So she went on an overnight train ride to get there and was brought to the
00:29:46
Dunbar home. Oh my god. Also, can we just Oh, whoever the [ __ ] this kid is? This poor
00:29:51
This poor child. Like this is truly traumatic. And this poor family, like the the Dunbar family.
00:29:58
snip snap next level. And poor Julia, like nobody knows whose kid it is. The Dunbars. And it's like everybody's
00:30:03
affected here. Nobody wins in this situation. But especially the kid. He's like 5 years old.
00:30:09
awful for this kid. like, "Who am I? Who am I and who are any of you Like what is going on?" Now,
00:30:15
five different boys were presented to her for inspection. Okay. Including to do it that way.
00:30:20
Exactly. Including the boy the Dunbars had claimed was Bobby. Yeah. Julia didn't recognize most of the boys,
00:30:26
but when Bobby Dunbar, who they claimed was Bobby Dunbar, was presented to her, he had tears in his eyes and seemed
00:30:33
upset. Aw. He refused to say whether he recognized Julia. Huh. Which is strange. And Julia, who was
00:30:42
exhausted and very stressed out from travel, couldn't say whether that was Bruce.
00:30:49
Okay. I've never been in this situation. I can't imagine not recognizing my child, but again,
00:30:56
who knows? Who knows? Maybe it was dark. Once again, I have never been under this kind
00:31:01
of stress. the thing. I have never been under this kind of situation. I am not in 1912. I don't
00:31:07
know what the lighting is even like there. I don't know what any of this is. she's probably sitting there thinking,
00:31:11
"I don't want to [ __ ] this kid up if it's not my kid. Like I got to be totally sure."
00:31:15
I can't imagine, but I also can't imagine the circumstances that all this is happening under. So, I'm going to
00:31:21
keep my own opinion out of this because there's nothing for me to say. I don't I've never been in this position, so my
00:31:29
my opinion on this would be kind of moot at this point. Speaking from 2025 over here with great lighting and all the
00:31:37
running water I could hope for. No. So, there's that. But she did ask whether this was the boy found traveling
00:31:46
with Walters, but the lawyers in the room wouldn't answer her questions. Now, because she wasn't unable to identify
00:31:53
this boy confidently or any of the children, really, everyone concluded that the entire test had been a failure
00:31:59
and that was it. Yeah. According to Tal McThenia, quote, "Julia begged for a second chance and
00:32:04
the next day she was allowed to see the boy again and to look him over." Like actually, which again, like these this
00:32:10
boy just keeps getting examined. Like that's really [ __ ] up. This time she felt more certain that it
00:32:14
was her son. But her failure the night before was already national news and none none of
00:32:20
the press wanted to correct any of the countless articles that had already been published celebrating Bobby's return to
00:32:27
the Dunbars. Yeah. They wanted to stay with that story because that was a fun, heartwarming story. This is like a big
00:32:33
old bummer. Yeah. Now, just as they did as they had since Bobby disappeared 9 months
00:32:38
earlier, the press controlled the narrative around the Dunbar story and they had decided the outcome for
00:32:44
themselves. They didn't want to hear anything else. They set about dismissing Julia's claims and they decided they
00:32:50
were just going to portray her as an unfit mother. Aw. Uh in one article titled "Julia Has Forgotten", Oh god.
00:32:56
journalist Jerome G. Batey described Julia's examination of of the boy they were saying was Bobby Dunbar. Um and it
00:33:04
Wow. It's a I'm going to give you a little I'm going to give you a little uh snippet from it.
00:33:11
It's harsh. It's harsh as [ __ ] It says, "Her long journey had been in vain. She had not seen her son since
00:33:17
February of 1912 and she had forgotten him. Animals don't forget, but this big, coarse country woman, several times a
00:33:24
mother, she forgot. She cared little for her young. Children were only regrettable incidents in her life. She
00:33:30
hopes her son isn't dead just as she hopes that the cotton crop will be good this year. Of true mother love, she has
00:33:36
none." Um How do you know that? well, first of all, shut the [ __ ] up cuz you're not a mom.
00:33:43
mean. And secondly, obviously she gives somewhat of a [ __ ] She made the journey
00:33:47
out here to determine if this is her kid or not. So, that doesn't even really make any sense.
00:33:52
It's just You know what it is? Like regardless of what you think about, you know, Julia or whatever the hell like in
00:33:57
the story of the situation, that's just like a really nasty judgment to throw on
00:34:02
someone that you don't know. Yeah, it's just And it's adding insult to injury. That's the thing. There's a lot of
00:34:08
emotions and emotional turmoil happening in every [ __ ] part of this story. The
00:34:13
Dunbars, Julia's, like I don't know what's going on with Walter but like or William Walters, but like some shit's
00:34:20
going on over there, too. And it's like saying is true? Her child was [ __ ] kidnapped.
00:34:25
Yeah, that's the thing. And it's like And then the Dunbars have lost their child and have no idea what happened to
00:34:31
him and are thinking this is There's so much emotion here and the press was just
00:34:36
not willing to look at it from a human level and say there's a lot of emotions and a lot of stress, anxiety,
00:34:42
trauma here. grief, trauma, just hope, hope dashed, hope brought back. You know what I mean?
00:34:48
Like these all these people have been snip snapped around like Thank you. Hope, hope dashed, hope brought back.
00:34:55
you guys had seen her deliver that. The arms were flailing. Yeah. It just it's such It's such a
00:35:00
situation that like none of us can conceive of. fathom that. And in such a time where like [ __ ] was
00:35:06
real dark, so it's like literally livelier livelier and it's like I couldn't even say that word. So, it's
00:35:12
like a flu. For the press to be such dicks. It's like they were literally like trolls. Like the press were trolls
00:35:19
just like trying to make people upset. It's like damn. That's really mean. So, the truth was
00:35:26
Julia Anderson was very distressed and very heartbroken about not knowing where her son was and whether this was her
00:35:34
son. And that same year, what they were failing to say in any of these articles saying she's been a mother several times
00:35:39
over and she doesn't give a [ __ ] That same year she had given up one baby for adoption.
00:35:45
And another child of hers had died. And nobody knows the circumstances under which like that adoption happened. You
00:35:52
don't know if she There was a death of a child and she just couldn't couldn't do
00:35:57
it. was trying to do the right thing for too much child. And it's like you just don't
00:36:01
know. Like in the there's no backstory here. was so stigmatized back then and I mean
00:36:06
still is today, but And the press strongly implied that that the death of one of her children was her
00:36:11
fault. Of course. That's awful. Yeah. In a single year, she had lost all her children.
00:36:17
And lacking the resources or social status of people, you know, like the Dunbars because they were of a higher
00:36:23
status, like social status, it was unlikely she was going to be able to regain custody of Bruce or convince
00:36:28
anyone that this was her child. That's so sad. She told reporters in May 1913, "I
00:36:33
believe this is my son Bruce, but I can't swear to it and I won't try to take him away from the Dunbars. I have
00:36:39
suffered so much myself that I don't want to make anyone else suffer, but I just can't help it. I believe that is my
00:36:45
boy." Aw. And it's like that's Rip your heart out. heartbreaking. Yeah, truly. And it's
00:36:51
just like whoa. I just my brain won't wrap around this. No, and you have to sit there and think
00:36:57
one, like if this if this is Bruce Anderson and he is getting claimed by the Dunbars as Bobby Dunbar, obviously
00:37:05
he's living a different life now. So, that might have been why he was a little hesitant to say like, "Yeah, that's my
00:37:10
mom." You Cuz maybe he's just like and it's like I don't know it's like I don't know. He's been away from her
00:37:18
possibly since he was three. Yeah, so he might not even know. than that. So, it's like he might have
00:37:25
very fuzzy memories. That might be why he was upset cuz he was like, "I'm trying to place why I know this lady,
00:37:32
but I don't have the like full cognizance to say this is my mom." And a baby 5-year-old should not be put
00:37:39
in that position. gone since three and now he's five. That's like and he's been through Who
00:37:44
knows what he's been through. I know. And it's like I don't know. It just it it's a lot. It's a lot.
00:37:50
It is. Percy and Lessie Dunbar had decided that this was Bobby Dunbar and that's how
00:37:55
they were living. They they were not going to question their decision. Uh Percy told reporters after the second
00:38:02
examination that Julia had of the boys, he said, "This is the last time my child
00:38:06
is going to be examined. I'm tired of this foolishness. The woman could not identify the boy yesterday. Besides, the
00:38:12
child does not know her and never did. He has identified himself in a thousand ways and he is my child. I'll never give
00:38:19
him up, court order or not." Totally. I don't blame anybody here. get it. Cuz also child to begin with and
00:38:25
then I I don't remember, honestly, if it's if it ends up being Bobby Dunbar, but it's like gaining him back, you
00:38:30
would never let go again. No, that's the thing. Never. That's why when he says, "I will never give him up,
00:38:36
court order or not", you can you feel the desperation there. Like you're never taking him from me again.
00:38:46
Yeah, oh, but like it's traumatizing. You can't blame anybody for this and you also can't blame Julia for being like,
00:38:52
"I'm pretty sure that's my son, but I don't know what to do here." Aw. It's There's so much like
00:38:58
Is this tragic? It's very tragic. And as it turned out, they would never have to. The Dunbars
00:39:04
were never going to have to give up Bobby. Okay. Um Julia was unable to fight the Dunbars
00:39:11
for custody. Uh she returned to North Carolina without her who she believed was her son and from that point on, he
00:39:18
was Bobby Dunbar. What a tragic loss for her. Like a series of tragic losses for
00:39:23
her. So, right after this, attention turned to William Walters and his upcoming kidnapping trial.
00:39:29
Now, what's his deal? Yeah. It's worth keeping in mind that from the moment he was arrested, his
00:39:34
story hadn't changed. He insisted the boy in his company was Bruce Anderson, who had been given to him by Julia
00:39:40
Anderson, who was the boy's mother. And Julia more or less confirmed that story, but with some slightly different
00:39:47
details, obviously. And there were several other witnesses in North Carolina, Mississippi, and Louisiana who
00:39:53
had seen Walters and Bruce Anderson together before the day Bobby Dunbar went missing, and they came forward to
00:39:59
corroborate Walter's story. Oh, [ __ ] But the story had grown so large and so complicated since Bobby disappeared,
00:40:08
mostly entirely because of the press that someone they needed someone to be held accountable for this.
00:40:13
Yeah. They would the public was not going to allow this just to be blown blown into the wind. Regardless of
00:40:19
whether crime had actually been committed or not. Oh, yay, yay. Because now Wil- William
00:40:24
Walters is saying, "I didn't kidnap him. She told me to take him." Yeah. Like he's
00:40:30
which I'm like, "What?" Like I'm just so confused. he said that she told him he was just
00:40:34
going for a little bit. exactly. And it's like This is a a rigmarole of he said,
00:40:40
she said. It's wild. So, as they'd done all along, the press latched onto the kidnapping
00:40:44
narrative and spun it into an even larger story involving a larger conspiracy to harm Percy Dunbar.
00:40:53
Apparently, Percy Dunbar held a large amount of power in and around Opelousas. Percy's brother Wallace told a reporter,
00:41:01
"I make no accusations, but I feel confident that Walters was merely a tool in the hands of enemies of Percy
00:41:07
Dunbar." Okay. According to the press, Percy was in charge of distributing government
00:41:13
rations in and around Opelousas following the Great Flood of 1912. Okay. He was apparently known,
00:41:19
allegedly, to have cut rations for men refusing to work. Wallace Dunbar, his brother, said, "I
00:41:25
know on several occasions that men left the distributing offices saying they would get even." Ooh. The popular theory
00:41:32
was that a group of these men conspired to kidnap Bobby and hold him for ransom,
00:41:37
but after several weeks when the interest of the press and local law enforcement became, you know,
00:41:43
kind of like faded out, they gave up on their plan and they passed the boy off to William Walters. So, they're saying
00:41:49
he's a tool but from these guys. I don't think so. This is a very intense theory.
00:41:53
never asked for ransom. That's the biggest plot of that plot That's the problem here.
00:41:58
is that you never asked for ransom. ever ransom demand. Like I'm like, "You guys
00:42:02
are talking a lot about ransom for never having received a ransom letter." Yep. So,
00:42:08
there's no evidence that this theory was any more realistic or even plausible Yeah. than the other theories
00:42:14
surrounding Bobby's kidnapping. It supported the kidnapping narrative that had been built up around the case
00:42:20
and justified everyone's actions following Walter's arrest like basically. And it seemed that several
00:42:25
people were willing to play along with investigators in order to support that belief. In late May, investigators
00:42:31
started collecting affidavits from locals who were willing to testify against Walters, Oh, [ __ ]
00:42:37
including Harvey Burke, who was a man from Picayune, who claimed, quote, "Walters told him that the Dunbar boy
00:42:43
was not stolen for money, but for revenge as Dunbar had given evidence against an old crippled man and caused
00:42:50
him to be compelled to work on the streets as a convict." Okay. It really didn't matter that statements like this
00:42:56
one contradicted the prevailing theory of a conspiracy. It really only mattered that it supported the belief that the
00:43:03
boy was Bobby Dunbar and had been taken by William Walters. Yeah. Didn't really matter the details
00:43:09
surrounding it. They were just like, "Oop, see? Yep. He did it. And it's like, "But none of these stories are
00:43:13
adding up. People are telling 14 different stories of what how he got with William Walters."
00:43:18
Y'all are going everywhere. In response to the growing number of just bonkers affidavits collected by the prosecution,
00:43:25
Walter's lawyers, Dale and Rawls, started collecting their own affidavits that established a timeline of events
00:43:32
and traced Walter's movements at the time of Bobby's disappearance. Okay. Um They wrote in a statement to
00:43:38
the press, "We have sat silently by and seen so many false statements published in the columns of the public press that
00:43:44
we feel that the public is entitled to know the real facts on these dates." Among those statements was sworn
00:43:50
testimony from J.S. Thigpen of Pearl River County, Mississippi. He swore under oath that William Walters had been
00:43:58
at his home on August 23rd and 24th, the day Bobby went missing, and spent the entire day working on the man's sewing
00:44:06
machine. Okay. Whole day that Bobby was missing. So, boom, alibi. This statement confirms
00:44:11
Walter's own story in which he told police on the day of the boy's disappearance, quote, "I worked on a
00:44:17
machine for young man Thigpen and went from there by old man Thigpen's, by Holdens, worked on a machine for Holden
00:44:25
and doubled back and spent that night at old man Thigpen's." What sounds like a country song. I want
00:44:32
to be known as old woman Ashkel. Old man Thigpen. Well, yeah. I honestly forgot that. Just call me old man Thigpen.
00:44:39
Obsessed. I'm going to be that for the next listener tales. Old man Thigpen. Old man Thigpen.
00:44:45
That's so iconic. So, this guy, like they are all like he's saying, "Yes, he was at my home working
00:44:53
on my sewing machine." he was. on those two days. Like stayed at my home that night.
00:44:59
And then Walters is saying, "I was at his home and I stayed there those two days working on that machine."
00:45:06
It's all adding up. By the time Walters was extradited to Louisiana to stand trial, he was at a
00:45:13
huge disadvantage. Like Julia Anderson, William Walters was poor. He was uneducated. He lacked the resources or
00:45:20
knowledge to mount any kind of proper defense against his accusers, who were honestly like part of a wealthier,
00:45:27
higher social status than he is. More importantly, the majority of Walters' witnesses lived in Mississippi,
00:45:35
and while it wasn't a too crazy of a distance to travel, the majority of them lacked the funds to travel to Louisiana
00:45:41
and testify on his behalf. Yeah. So, a lot of people could see that this was a disadvantage that a lot of
00:45:46
the people that could come and testify on his behalf couldn't get there. Yeah. Um so, the residents of St. Landry
00:45:53
Parish, particularly the ones who weren't convinced of Walter's guilt, many of them offered to pay to have
00:46:00
Walter's witnesses put up in Opelousas during the trial. They were that convinced. Yeah.
00:46:06
William Walter's trial for the kidnapping of Bobby Dunbar started in mid-April 1914 in Opelousas and was
00:46:12
heavily attended by spectators from all over who had been following this case since Bobby disappeared.
00:46:18
Mhm. For Walters, the trial could mean life in prison or the death penalty Damn. if he was found guilty, but for
00:46:24
the Dunbars and Julia Anderson, it meant the opportunity to to definitively prove
00:46:29
the boy's identity and put any custody claims to rest. Now, the first witness called in the
00:46:35
case was Percy Dunbar. Mhm. He detailed the 8-month search for his son and testified that, quote, "He
00:46:41
recognized the child when he found him at Columbia." But he did acknowledge that, quote, "He recognized some of the
00:46:46
mark on the boy, but not all." Now, following his testimony were a number of witnesses for the prosecution
00:46:53
including Wallace Dunbar, his brother. Uh they all testified that the boy discovered in the company of William
00:46:59
Walters was indeed Bobby Dunbar, but none appeared to have offered any proof beyond just like, "I recognize him. He's
00:47:06
Bobby Dunbar." Right. Which I I understand that like It's really all you have. As predicted, Walter's case
00:47:13
was hampered by a lack of witnesses and a jury that was almost certainly biased against him
00:47:18
Yeah. from all the press that was covering the story. Um in an open letter to the people of
00:47:23
Louisiana, one Walter supporter wrote, "You have promised to give W.C. Walters a fair trial. The man is now on trial in
00:47:30
a hostile community without money and without friends. While it is late, it is not too late to render the justice
00:47:37
promised for this man, whether he be guilty or innocent." So, they're just saying he deserves a fair trial, whether
00:47:42
he's guilty or innocent. Yeah. For his part, William Walters remained very hopeful that the jury was going to
00:47:48
see the truth. Um he couldn't rely on many of his witnesses to travel to Opelousas to
00:47:52
testify on his behalf, but his lawyers had found several of the town's, quote, unquote, prominent citizens who were
00:47:59
willing to testify that the boy in question was not Bobby Dunbar. Oh, man. Among those who did travel to Louisiana
00:48:06
for the trial were W.H. Murray, a mail carrier from Barnsville, North Carolina, who testified that the boy found with
00:48:13
Walters was Bruce Anderson. Mhm. Likewise, E.M. Stevens, who was a merchant from Barnsville, also testified
00:48:20
and told the jury he was confident the boy was Bruce Anderson. Oh, wow. Both proved strong witnesses for the defense,
00:48:26
but in their cross-examination, the prosecution treated both men as hostile and according to one reporter,
00:48:32
quote, "Succeeded in rattling Murray to some extent." Basically undermining his credibility.
00:48:38
Which is shitty cuz you're essentially just like frauding your witness. Yeah, it's like just let the facts come
00:48:42
out, man. Right. Let the facts fall where they may and figure it out that way. On April 22nd,
00:48:47
Julia Anderson, who had been ill for most of the trial, testified from a cot set up in the the courthouse.
00:48:56
She gave a thorough history of her difficult life and again said how her child had come to be in the company of
00:49:03
William Walters. She also continued to insist that the boy was her son Bruce Anderson. And she said, "If that ain't
00:49:09
my child, he's never been born on this earth." Aw. Despite the intense scrutiny and
00:49:15
negative press Julia had received in the years leading up to the trial, um even the very obviously biased press
00:49:21
couldn't ignore the fact that unlike the prosecution's flimsy case, Julia's story
00:49:26
seemed to support everything Walters had said since his arrest. It did. It did. It did. It did. I'm
00:49:32
saying it did and it does. It did. Honestly, it did. They both they're the same story.
00:49:38
Yeah. Just with like little minor things that like I think they both are going to
00:49:41
squabble over. It's It's always like What do they say? Like yours, mine, and the truth.
00:49:45
Exactly. Um one reporter wrote in the Times-Picayune, "The strong point of the defense is that every bit of its
00:49:51
testimony grooves perfectly." You love saying Picayune, don't you? saying Picayune.
00:49:56
It's a certain twinkle in your eye when Yeah, the Times-Picayune. I love it. You've said it a couple times and every
00:50:03
time it's like the way you say it and the little twinkle in your It makes me so happy.
00:50:08
I love it. We got I got to say it a lot in the Axeman of New Orleans. Um and it just it stuck. It felt It felt right.
00:50:17
Times-Picayune. But the trial came to an end after 2 weeks and on April 25th, the jury
00:50:23
retired for deliberation. That must have been tough. Yeah. So through this whole trial, the jury had
00:50:29
heard from a lot of witnesses who supported Walter's claims and offered details that offered more than a little
00:50:35
reasonable doubt as to his guilt. Yeah. And by extension they had to think about the identity of
00:50:41
the boy who had been found in his company. They had made it reasonably sound to think that this might not be
00:50:48
Bobby Dunbar. Yep. Regardless of that strong support that was very clear, on April 27th, the jury found William
00:50:54
Walters guilty without capital punishment. Damn, I wasn't expecting that. He was sentenced to life in prison
00:51:00
for kidnapping. Wow. Now his lawyers quickly filed an appeal arguing among other things that the
00:51:06
statute under which he'd been convicted, which is Louisiana Act number 271, was unconstitutional
00:51:12
and that the prosecution had far exceeded the limitations of the right to cross-examine defense witnesses.
00:51:18
Mhm. The Louisiana Supreme Court agreed Okay. and ordered that the verdict and sentence against Walters be set aside
00:51:25
and that he be released from prison and quote discharged from further prosecution under that statute.
00:51:32
So following this decision, the prosecution had the opportunity to try Walters again under an amended statute.
00:51:39
But they said it would be too expensive to do a second trial and it would be a poor use of resources, so they dropped
00:51:46
the charges and William Walters was free to go. That's suspicious. That should tell you
00:51:53
a little bit. That's weird. That should tell you a little bit. That's giving like West Memphis 3 that
00:51:57
they were like, "Yeah, we'll release three." You know. Yeah. Quote unquote child
00:52:01
yeah. Like that's totally fine. Why not? No. We'll just We'll take I'm paper that
00:52:05
you did. Okay, get out of here. okay. That makes sense. That poor man, all he went through. And then they're just
00:52:11
like, "Yeah." Yeah, get out of here. Now and who know That's the thing, too. It's
00:52:16
like what was up with William Walters? Why did he have this child? Is Julia telling the truth that like she
00:52:23
never told him he could have this child? Did he kidnap this child? This Who is this child? Like what is going on? Like
00:52:30
what That's the thing like I don't know what the real story is cuz he's saying No, I didn't kidnap kidnap this child.
00:52:36
She said I could have this child. Yeah. But why though? One. And then two For why though? Why though? And then but
00:52:45
Julia's like, "No, I didn't tell him he could have my child and I don't want him
00:52:48
to have my child." So that gives me pause. I mean, yeah. And then the Dunbars are
00:52:52
like, "This is Bobby Dunbar." And we're like, "What?" Oh man, this is a This is a wreck. Now
00:52:57
with the trial having come to the to an end and Walters freed by technicality one question still remained. Who is this
00:53:04
child? to Bruce Anderson now? Oh yeah. Cuz now okay, sure this is Bobby Dunbar. Who the [ __ ] is Bruce Anderson? What
00:53:11
happened? Yeah. What do you Like the press and the Dunbars maintained that the boy discovered with
00:53:17
Walters was Bobby Dunbar. So the majority they were just kind of like, "Okay, uh
00:53:23
but Julia lost a child, everybody." Like is every Like are we really just forgetting that? Like she Where's her
00:53:30
child? Yeah. Where's Bruce? Unfortunately, the fate of anybody would really be kind of left up in the air for
00:53:38
decades after this. What? It just ended that way where the Dunbars were like, "This is Bobby."
00:53:45
And then they were like, "I don't know what happened to Bruce." What about Julia? So following the
00:53:49
trial, Julia Anderson decided to relocate to Polarville, Mississippi. And she spent time there She had spent time
00:53:55
there before the trial and she found a lot of supporters there. There were a lot of people who had her back among
00:54:00
those residents. That's good. She needed that. Years later, she married James Rawls. Um I could not figure out if
00:54:06
there was um a connection between the lawyer, Rawls. And the couple had They had seven children
00:54:12
They had seven children together. Julia never got over the loss of her son, Bruce, and talked about him often
00:54:18
until her death in 1940 at the age of 55. She was young. I mean, she had a lot of trauma in her life.
00:54:25
Yeah, well this is where it would have ended. Like this is where that would have been the end. Like wow, what a
00:54:30
story, what a tale. That's crazy. But in 1999 I'm sorry. Margaret Dunbar Cartwright
00:54:38
one of Bobby's granddaughters Bobby Dunbar's granddaughters Uh-huh. received a large scrapbook that had
00:54:45
hundreds of articles about the case. And so she started digging into the family history.
00:54:51
Margaret knew the story. She had had years of hearing it told by her parents and grandparents. She knew the story
00:54:56
well. Yeah. Um or she thought she did. Uh but she said when she started digging deeper into the case, it became clear to
00:55:02
her that the version of the story she'd heard her whole life might not have been
00:55:06
as accurate as she'd been led to believe. So Margaret said of Julia So Julia Anderson, "This woman was
00:55:14
telling truth. She did have a son. And my heart hurts for Julia at this point believing that this boy is her son. You
00:55:21
know, it's really awkward because Lessie and Julia are in the same position." Yeah. They're both missing children.
00:55:26
Mhm. Which is like This is his granddaughter? Like for her to come out and be like, "Yeah, like we should have
00:55:32
a space in our heart here for this woman as well." Margaret's research eventually
00:55:37
led her to Mississippi where she sat down with Julia's two remaining children, Hollis and Jewel.
00:55:44
This was in 2000. It turned out that Julia's family had also heard about the case their whole
00:55:49
lives, but a very different version of events. Um Jewel's daughter, uh Linda, told
00:55:55
Margaret, "We knew that we had an uncle that had been taken by the Dunbar family
00:55:59
in Opelousas, Louisiana. We always said kidnapped. We said they kidnapped him." Oh [ __ ]
00:56:05
Now from Jewel and Hollis, Margaret learned a lot about Julia and it painted a very different picture from the woman
00:56:12
she was known really She'd only known from like legend and like really bad disparaging newspaper articles.
00:56:19
Julia, according to her children and grandchildren, were was a wonderful mother and an incredibly resilient woman
00:56:26
who attended church every Sunday and contributed to her community whenever she could. Um It was clear to her
00:56:32
children that no matter how strong she appeared to be to everyone around her, which she appeared to be very strong,
00:56:37
Julia lived her entire life with a piece missing. Yeah, I know. said Jewel said she always talked about Bruce, but she
00:56:44
called him Bobby. She was always looking for him. Oh wow. Now everyone in the Rawls family knew
00:56:50
about Bruce and the Dunbars and they knew they lived only about 200 miles from one another. Which is not very far
00:56:56
at all. But they also knew the Dunbars were a prominent, somewhat wealthy family with
00:57:01
good social status. They didn't want to cause any trouble. Mhm. So Bruce would always just be a
00:57:06
memory to them. At least until Margaret Dunbar Cartwright began conducting her research. Margaret Cartwright spent more
00:57:16
than 4 years working on her genealogical project, sometimes working at basically
00:57:21
full-time on it. And she came away with a very intimate history not only of her own family, but of the Rawls and Walters
00:57:29
families as well. She went hard. The research gave her a brand new perspective on the old family legend
00:57:36
about her grandfather's disappearance and reappearance until one day it dawned on her that the story her family had
00:57:42
been telling her for decades could very likely be a lie. Mhm. So Margaret summarized her findings and brought the
00:57:50
findings to the rest of the Dunbar family, her family Okay. and suggested that they have a DNA test
00:57:55
done to put an end to this controversy once and for all. Yeah. And to her surprise, several members of the family
00:58:01
said no. Oh girl. Despite their objections, Margaret arranged with her cousin, Alonzo
00:58:08
Dunbar's son, so Okay. Bobby Dunbar's brother, Alonzo, his son. Yep. They arranged together to have a
00:58:15
comparative DNA test done out of res you know to see if there was genealogical DNA. To
00:58:21
be If it came up that there was genealogical DNA, then we got Bobby. Okay. Cuz we're testing his brother. So we're
00:58:28
seeing that. Now out of respect for the rest of the family, they agreed that they would only
00:58:33
open They were not going to open the results of this until everyone in the family was comfortable doing so. So they
00:58:39
were going to receive these They were going to do it but receive the results and then wait it out until everyone felt
00:58:44
like they wanted to know and then they would do it together. Okay. Unfortunately they never reached
00:58:50
that point. weeks later it was already done for them. So Margaret said, "I called to check
00:58:57
with the laboratory and the laboratory assistant ended up blurting to me the results over the phone." Girl. The DNA
00:59:04
did not match. So that was not That was not Bobby Dunbar. What was Bruce Anderson. What the [ __ ]
00:59:15
Likely Bruce Anderson. That's the story that you know, we don't have the DNA, but Holy [ __ ] Yeah.
00:59:22
I didn't remember the ending of this. lab technician had no idea the impact of what she was saying to me. It was a
00:59:28
shock to me, not really the conclusion, but to hear it." So she knew. She was like, "I have a
00:59:33
feeling this is not Bobby." But to hear it confirmed, wow. And several members of the family were
00:59:40
furious that Margaret had defied their wishes, but she felt she had a duty to inform everyone. Yeah, well, and she
00:59:47
didn't necessarily defy their wishes. No. She wanted to know. Yeah. She had every right to know.
00:59:51
Also, fate has a funny way of working things out. Yeah. Cuz the DNA results weren't just
00:59:56
confirmation of their grandfather's identity. Cuz now they're like, "Oh my god, I'm pretty sure that that's Bruce
01:00:02
Anderson." Right. Which would also mean like, "We're now related to Julia Anderson and
01:00:08
her family." Oh my god, yeah, you're like a whole different your cousins. Those are now like your kin,
01:00:15
essentially. Like you know, like that's yeah, yeah. Holy [ __ ] Oh my god. And it's like thinking of Bobby Dunbar,
01:00:21
like this kid who went through all this, like quote unquote Bobby Dunbar, Yeah. Going through all these
01:00:25
examinations, going through the back and forth, all that [ __ ] seeing his mother,
01:00:29
not knowing if it's her. Potentially living with the Dunbars, potentially being kidnapped, not having any idea
01:00:34
what he went through with Walters. And then to think of him, what really shocked me was to think of him as an
01:00:39
adult who got married, who had kids, who had grandkids. And they must have heard
01:00:45
Imagine hearing this story. You'd be like, "Grandpa, what?" And also like he must have known somewhere in his heart
01:00:52
You wonder if somewhere he was or wasn't. He knew. It's like he had to have somewhere, whether like whether
01:00:58
subconsciously or consciously, the body knows. But wow, you just feel for them because
01:01:04
it's like, wow, this is just so deeply traumatizing. But so this wasn't just, you know,
01:01:11
confirming their grandfather's identity, they were also, you know, vindicating Julia Anderson and William Walters, both
01:01:19
were called liars and accused of much worse for saying this is Bruce Anderson and not Bobby Dunbar.
01:01:24
And they were both dead by this point. And to think of like Julia seeing her child Yeah.
01:01:31
being able to have him. Oh. And then and then thinking of the Dunbars because I like Lessie and Percy
01:01:39
just wanting this to be their child Yeah. that they were missing. It's like, "Oh my god."
01:01:46
There's no win. And when you look up pictures, you can see why there was like a doubt. I'm not saying why like in in a
01:01:54
family it would be confusing, but I'm saying from like an outside perspective I can see the resemblance.
01:01:59
And Hollis Rawls, Julia Anderson's child, Yep. said, "We have no hard feelings against nobody of what has
01:02:07
happened because back in those days, I'm sure they thought they were doing the right thing. And if I had been back in
01:02:12
those days, I might have felt the same way in a way about things like that." Oh wow, they do look a lot alike.
01:02:17
Yeah. But if Bobby Dunbar was really Bruce Anderson, then what happened to Bobby Dunbar?
01:02:24
Yeah. We go all the way back to the beginning. Yep. And Margaret speculated, "I think
01:02:29
he fell off the Swayze Lake Bridge and was eaten by an alligator and died." That's the most likely scenario. And
01:02:35
honestly, the truth is, we will probably not ever know. And for I never like to say that, but we might never know. I
01:02:42
mean, how would we? What happened to Bobby Dunbar on August 23rd, 1912? That is a haunting tale. The end of that
01:02:52
story shook me to my [ __ ] core. just I'm looking at the two of them side by side and knowing that one of these
01:02:59
boys like lived his whole life thinking he was someone else. Yep. And the other was possibly eaten by
01:03:05
alligators. Yes. And they're just like That just sent a chill down my [ __ ] spine.
01:03:10
little boys. Like both of them are just such little cuties. They are. Oh god, and just to think that
01:03:17
Julia died not ever having that piece of her put back together. Like not hearing like, "This is You were right."
01:03:27
Yeah. I mean, you hope wherever wherever she's hanging out that she got to see it. Wow. What a tale. Or maybe whatever
01:03:35
you believe in, maybe they're reunited somewhere. Yeah, maybe. I love that. I don't know.
01:03:39
I like that. Yeah. In another life. In another life, in another timeline, in other realms That's what I believe. I
01:03:45
feel like there's so many other lives another realm going on. I don't know what it's all about, but I'm sure it's
01:03:50
there somewhere. I hope I don't have IBS in that realm. Woah. I hope so, too. I'm just saying. I'm just feeling I'm
01:03:55
just putting out my wishes now. Just saying. Just letting you know what I hope's
01:03:59
going to happen in the other realm. What do you hope? I mean, I hope I don't have
01:04:03
migraines in the other realm. I'd really love to get rid of I'd really love to get rid of those.
01:04:06
We'd like to get rid of our ailments in the other realm. That'd be pretty sick. All right. Yeah. So, that's that's a
01:04:12
wild tale. A thinker. It's an oldie, but it's a wild one. It is. I love an oldie. Yeah. All right.
01:04:19
Well, we hope you keep listening. And we hope you keep it wee. But not so weird as any of this.
01:04:26
And not so weird that you don't practice some self-love and point out the good things that happened to you this week,
01:04:30
man. We're a self-help podcast. Don't be all uncool. Don't. [Music] [Music] [Music]

Badges

This episode stands out for the following:

  • 90
    Most heartbreaking
  • 90
    Biggest twist
  • 85
    Most shocking
  • 85
    Most unpredictable

Episode Highlights

  • Elena and Ash Introduce Morbid
    Meet the hosts of Morbid as they dive into the chaos of the world.
    “Hey weirdos, I'm Elena.”
    @ 00m 06s
    February 13, 2025
  • Excitement for Heart Eyes Premiere
    Elena and Ash share their enthusiasm for the upcoming horror film Heart Eyes.
    “It looks really [ __ ] good.”
    @ 01m 14s
    February 13, 2025
  • The Disappearance of Bobby Dunbar
    A chilling case from 1912 involving a missing child and media frenzy.
    “Never in the history of this parish has an incident created such profound interest.”
    @ 11m 25s
    February 13, 2025
  • The Press and the Kidnap Narrative
    Despite no ransom demands, the press kept the kidnap story alive, leading to sensational claims.
    “It was to sell newspapers.”
    @ 20m 03s
    February 13, 2025
  • The Reunion's Uncertainty
    When Bobby Dunbar was found, his mother was unsure if it was truly him.
    “I do not know. I'm not quite sure.”
    @ 23m 36s
    February 13, 2025
  • The Confusion of Identity
    Julia Anderson's struggle to identify her son amidst conflicting claims and media frenzy.
    “I believe this is my son Bruce, but I can't swear to it.”
    @ 36m 33s
    February 13, 2025
  • Percy Dunbar's Determination
    Percy Dunbar insists on his son's identity, stating he will never give him up.
    “I will never give him up, court order or not.”
    @ 38m 16s
    February 13, 2025
  • The Aftermath of the Trial
    Julia Anderson relocates and continues to mourn her lost son, Bruce.
    “What a tragic loss for her.”
    @ 39m 21s
    February 13, 2025
  • Julia's Heartfelt Testimony
    Julia Anderson testifies from a cot, declaring her son is Bruce Anderson.
    “If that ain't my child, he's never been born on this earth.”
    @ 49m 09s
    February 13, 2025
  • The Truth Uncovered
    Margaret's research leads to shocking DNA results, revealing the true identity of Bobby Dunbar.
    “The DNA did not match. So that was not Bobby Dunbar.”
    @ 59m 09s
    February 13, 2025
  • A Haunting Tale
    The story of Bobby Dunbar and Bruce Anderson raises questions about identity and loss.
    “What happened to Bobby Dunbar on August 23rd, 1912?”
    @ 01h 02m 40s
    February 13, 2025

Episode Quotes

  • We're here with you.
    The Disappearance of Bobby Dunbar | Morbid | Podcast
  • I got this child.
    The Disappearance of Bobby Dunbar | Morbid | Podcast
  • Bobby at first meeting turns upon Alonzo with a scowl of anger.
    The Disappearance of Bobby Dunbar | Morbid | Podcast
  • I will never give him up, court order or not.
    The Disappearance of Bobby Dunbar | Morbid | Podcast
  • If that ain't my child, he's never been born on this earth.
    The Disappearance of Bobby Dunbar | Morbid | Podcast
  • The DNA did not match. So that was not Bobby Dunbar.
    The Disappearance of Bobby Dunbar | Morbid | Podcast

Key Moments

  • Community Support15:48
  • Mother's Heartbreak36:45
  • Desperation38:45
  • Trial Begins46:07
  • Witness Testimony46:35
  • Release from Charges51:49
  • Family Secrets55:09
  • Unresolved Pain1:03:27

Words per Minute Over Time

Vibes Breakdown