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Bobby Dunbar

On 23rd August 1912, Percy and Lessie Dunbar were on a fishing trip with their sons Robert (known as Bobby) and Alonzo in Swayze Lake, Louisiana. The family headed to their cabin for lunch when Bobby disappeared. Bobby’s parents were not immediately concerned and assumed that he had wandered off. When he didn't return by late afternoon, they called the police. The case generated a lot of press and police conducted searches to locate the boy but no clues to his whereabouts were found. Police found bare footprints leading away from the lake where the family had been fishing but it could not be proven that the footprints were left by Bobby. There was reports of a strange man in the area where Bobby had disappeared and police concluded that Bobby was abducted. Friends and neighbours of the Dunbar’s raised a $1,000 reward for Bobby's safe return “no questions asked”.

Fast forward eight months later in Columbia, Mississippi, a man called William Cantwell Walter was found travelling with a young boy matching Bobby’s description. He was arrested and the Dunbar’s travelled to Mississippi to identify the boy as their son. William claimed that the boy was in fact Charles Bruce Anderson (known as Bruce). He said that Bruce's mother was Julia Anderson, a servant who worked for his family, and that she had given him custody of her son. Julia Anderson disputes this and claimed that she had allowed William to take Bruce to visit her sister in Mississippi for 2 days in February 1912, 13 months before William was apprehended by police. Although Julia claimed to only allow William to look after Bruce for 2 days, she never contacted the police. There was suspicion that William was Bruce's uncle-meaning that Julia had fathered a child by her boss.

The Dunbar’s travelled to Mississippi to identify the boy. There are conflicting accounts about the boy’s reaction when he met the Dunbar’s. Some reports say that he addressed his parents by name and hugged them; others say that he had tears in his eyes, refused to be called “Bobby” and didn't recognise Lessie although this was mutual. The next day, Lessie gave the boy a bath and saw a mole on his neck and a scar on his foot, like those that Bobby had and that is when Lessie became convinced that the boy was her son. However, Julia Anderson travelled from her home town of North Carolina and backed up William’s claims that the boy was her son. The police presented Julia with a line-up of boys of a similar age to her son and the boy in question but she couldn't identify any of the boys as her son. After the line-up, Julia was allowed a closer look at the child, even to undress him and it was at this point, she said that the boy was Bruce however this was dismissed as she had not been able to immediately identify him during the line-up. The boy also didn't identify Julia as being his mother, however some claim that he enjoyed the life that the Dunbar’s would provide him with as opposed to the life he had with Julia- assuming the boy was Bruce. The media and the police did not see Julia in a favourable light; she was a lone mother and had given birth to two other children besides Bruce, both of whom had died. All three of her children were born out of wedlock, something that was very much frowned upon at the time. As Julia didn't have the funds to hire a lawyer to fight the case, she returned to North Carolina childless.

William Walter was charged with kidnapping and a trial date was set. Kidnapping was capital crime in Louisiana and William felt that his life was in danger. He sent a letter to the Dunbar's:

"It seems that I must suffer now for an imaginary sin or crime that has never been committed. Dying, I can look up through the ethereal blue of Heaven, thank God, and say my conscience is clear: The heart strings of weeping mothers bind not my withering limbs, and the crime of kidnapping stains not my humble threshold door. I know by now you have decided.  You are wrong and it is very likely I will lose my life on account of that and if I do the great God will hold you accountable. ”

Julia travelled back to Louisiana to testify in support of William Walter. There were several witnesses who claimed to have seen the boy in Walter’s care before the date that Bobby Dunbar went missing. Despite this, William Walter was found guilty of kidnapping. A court-appointed arbiter determined that the boy was Bobby Dunbar therefore Percy and Lessie were granted custody. When Lessie and Percy took him home to their home town of Opelousas, Louisiana, they were welcomed home with a parade. Lessie and Percy Dunbar later divorced at some point during the 1920’s.

After the trial, Julia relocated to Poplarville, Mississippi after becoming acquainted with many of the residents during the trial. William Walter and the boy allegedly spent a lot of time there and the residents protested his innocence during the trial. Julia qualified as a midwife and eventually  married and had 8 more children, all of whom were told about her other son who was “taken from her”. The boy lived as Bobby Dunbar for the rest of his life. He also married and had 4 children. He claims to remember being kidnapped and remembers the time spent with William Walter. Bobby took his family on a trip through Poplarville and reportedly said “Those are the people they came to pick me up from.” He stopped his car and visited the Anderson's, something that Julia’s children say happened on two other occasions. Bobby's child, Bobby Jr, said that his father lived with a cloud of doubt over his identity for his whole life. He spoke of a conversation where he asked his father how he was sure he was really Bobby Dunbar to which his father responded “I know who I am, and I know who you are. And nothing else makes a difference”. Bobby Dunbar died in 1966 at the age of 58. He was buried under a headstone that read “Robert Clarence Dunbar”. After 2 years in prison, William Walter’s conviction was overturned and he was granted a new trial however due to the cost of a new trial, the District Attorney released him. After his release, William moved around frequently, something he had done prior to his incarceration. He visited family on occasion and maintained his innocence until his death in the late 1930’s.

In 2004, Bobby Dunbar’s granddaughter, Margaret Dunbar Cutright began investigating the case herself. She read newspaper articles, examined William Walter’s defence notes and evidence and interviewed Julia Anderson. Eventually her father, Bobby Dunbar Jr consented to a DNA test along with Alonzo Dunbar’s son. The results showed that they were not related, meaning that the late Bobby Dunbar was not the Bobby Dunbar that went missing back in 1912. The most likely explanation is that he was indeed Bruce Anderson. Both Julia Anderson’s family and William Walter’s family were happy that Julia and William had been exonerated of any wrongdoing however Margaret Dunbar Cutright claimed in an interview in 2008, that the DNA results had divided that family as most his grandfather’s children and grandchildren felt like members of the Dunbar family and they were not happy that the case had been brought back into the public eye. The case of Bobby Dunbar is closed and has never been solved.

This case has been full of twists and turns and it is very sad that the DNA test that brought 2 families closure ended up causing so much pain to another. However, it has never been proven that the man who lived as Bobby Dunbar was Bruce Anderson as a DNA test between one of Bobby Dunbar’s children and one of Julia Anderson's children has never been done although it is most likely scenario. What happened to Bobby Dunbar? Theories include that Bobby either drowned, was killed by an alligator or his parents or Alonzo were involved, which is why they were so adamant that the boy found with William Walter was their child. There are also theories that the DNA was wrong as Alonzo’s wife could have had an affair resulting in Alonzo not being the father of the child who was tested, meaning that he wouldn't be related to any of Dunbar’s. Also, because neither Lessie Dunbar nor Julia Anderson recognised the boy immediately as being their soon, reports speculate that the boy was not related to either of them and was someone else entirely. Whatever you choose to believe, there are two facts from this case. First, that we will probably never know what happened to the real Bobby Dunbar. Second, that there are two lost children in this case. Bobby Dunbar and Bruce Anderson were two small children who never met but their memories will forever be connected.

Sources:

http://www.historicmysteries.com/what-happened-to-bobby-dunbar/

http://www.historicmysteries.com/what-happened-to-bobby-dunbar/

https://historichorrors.wordpress.com/2014/09/09/missing-boy-found-or-was-he/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance_of_Bobby_Dunbar#Disappearance

http://z10.invisionfree.com/usedtobedoe/ar/t20008.htm