Disappearance of Bobby Dunbar
Bobby Dunbar was an American boy whose disappearance at the age of four and apparent return was widely reported in newspapers across the United States in 1912 and 1913. After an eight-month nationwide search, investigators believed that they had found the child in Mississippi, in the hands of William Cantwell Walters of Barnesville, North Carolina. Dunbar's parents claimed the boy as their missing son. However, both Walters and a woman named Julia Anderson insisted that the boy with him was Anderson's son. Julia Anderson could not afford a lawyer, and the court eventually ruled in favor of the Dunbars. Percy and Lessie Dunbar retained custody of the child, who proceeded to live out the remainder of his life as Bobby Dunbar.
In 2004, DNA profiling established in retrospect that the boy found with Walters and "returned" to the Dunbars as Bobby had not been a blood relative of the Dunbar family.
Disappearance
Robert Clarence "Bobby" Dunbar was the first son born to Lessie and Percy Dunbar of Opelousas, Louisiana. He was born in April 1908. In August 1912, the Dunbars took a fishing trip to nearby Swayze Lake in St. Landry Parish, Louisiana. On August 23, while on that trip, Bobby Dunbar disappeared.After an eight-month search, authorities located William Cantwell Walters, who worked as an itinerant handyman, specializing in the tuning and repairing of pianos and organs. Walters had been traveling through Mississippi with a boy who appeared to match the description of Bobby Dunbar. Walters claimed that the boy was actually Charles Bruce Anderson, generally referred to as Bruce, the son of a woman who worked for his family. He said that the boy's mother was named Julia Anderson, and that she had willingly granted him custody. Julia Anderson would later confirm this. Nonetheless, Walters was arrested and authorities sent for the Dunbars to come to Mississippi and attempt to identify the boy.
Newspaper accounts differ with regard to the initial reaction between the boy and Lessie Dunbar. While one account indicated that the boy immediately shouted "Mother" upon seeing her and the two then embraced, another said only that the boy cried and quoted Lessie Dunbar as saying she was unsure whether he was her son. Other newspaper accounts quote both the Dunbars as initially stating doubts as to the boy's identity. There were similar contradictions in newspaper accounts of the boy's first sighting of the Dunbars' younger son, Alonzo, with one newspaper claiming that the boy recognized Alonzo instantly, called him by name and kissed him, with another saying the boy showed no sign of recognizing Alonzo. The next day, after bathing the boy, Lessie Dunbar said she positively identified his moles and scars and was then certain that he was her son. The boy returned to Opelousas with the Dunbars to a parade, with much fanfare celebrating the "homecoming."
Shortly thereafter, Julia Anderson of North Carolina arrived to support Walters' contention that the boy was, in fact, her son, Bruce. Anderson was unmarried and worked as a field hand for Walters' family. She said that she had allowed Walters to take her son only for what was supposed to be a two-day trip to visit one of Walters' relatives. She further asserted that she had not consented for Walters to take her son for more than a few days.
According to newspaper accounts, Anderson was presented with five different boys who were of the same approximate age as her son, including the boy who had been claimed by the Dunbars. When the boy in question was presented, he reportedly gave no indication that he recognized her. She asked whether he was the boy recovered, but was not given an answer and finally declared that she was unsure.
Upon seeing the boy again the next day, when she was allowed to undress him, she indicated a stronger certainty that the boy was indeed her son Bruce. However, word had already spread about her failure to positively identify him on the first attempt. This, combined with the fact that newspapers questioned her moral character in having had three children out of wedlock, led to Anderson's claims being dismissed.
With no money to sustain a long court battle, Anderson returned home to North Carolina. She later returned to Louisiana for Walters' kidnapping trial to attest to his innocence and push for the court to determine that the boy was her son. At the trial, she became acquainted with the residents of the town of Poplarville, Mississippi, many of whom had also come to proclaim Walters' innocence. William Walters and the boy had spent quite a bit of time in Poplarville during their travels and the community there had come to know them well, with a number of them asserting that they had seen Walters with the boy prior to the disappearance of Bobby Dunbar. Despite their testimony, the court reached the determination that the boy was in fact Bobby Dunbar. Walters was convicted of kidnapping, while the boy remained in the custody of the Dunbar family and lived out the remainder of his life as Bobby Dunbar.
After the trial
After the trial, the people of Poplarville welcomed Anderson and she began a new life there, eventually marrying and having seven children. According to her descendants, she became a devout Christian, helped found a church and served as nurse and midwife to the small community. Although her children indicated that her life was a happy one after settling in Poplarville, they said that she nonetheless spoke often of her lost son and that their family always regarded him as having been kidnapped by the Dunbars.In 2008, one of Anderson's sons, Hollis, recounted the story for This American Life that in 1944 Bobby Dunbar/Bruce Anderson visited him at his place of business, where they talked. Hollis' sister Jules has recounted a similar experience wherein a man, who she believes to have been Dunbar, came to the service station where she worked and talked to her for an extended period. The Dunbar family also has a similar story, as told by Bobby Dunbar's son Gerald. The family was returning home from a trip and passed through Poplarville when Bobby Dunbar said, "Those are the people they came to pick me up from." The Anderson family then had a brief visit with Dunbar.
After Walters had served two years of his prison term for kidnapping, his attorney was successful in appealing the conviction and Walters was granted the right to a new trial. Citing the excessive costs of the first trial, prosecutors in Opelousas declined to try him again and instead released him. After his release from custody, Walters resumed an itinerant lifestyle. He died April 7, 1945 and was buried in Pueblo, Colorado beside his wife. The grandchildren of Walters' brother reported that during their childhood, he typically visited their grandfather a few times per year and that during these visits, Walters always maintained his innocence regarding the kidnapping charge.
The boy raised as Bobby Dunbar married, had four children of his own and died in 1966.
Later investigation
Years after Bobby Dunbar's death, one of his granddaughters, Margaret Dunbar Cutright, began her own investigation of the events, poring through newspaper accounts, interviewing the children of Julia Anderson and examining the notes and evidence presented by Walters' defense attorney for his kidnapping trial and appeal. Although Cutright had initially hoped to prove that her grandfather was a Dunbar, her research ultimately led her to doubt her belief.In 2004, after an Associated Press reporter approached the family about the story, Bob Dunbar, Jr. consented to undergoing DNA tests to resolve the issue. The results showed that Dunbar, Jr. was not related by blood to his supposed cousin, the son of Alonzo Dunbar who was the younger brother of Bobby Dunbar, Sr. Since the DNA testing is conclusive, the fate of the real Bobby Dunbar remains unknown.