In a moment, you will read the story of perhaps the strangest disappearance you have ever seen in your life… In August 1912, 4-year-old Bobby Dunbar disappeared while fishing with his family near Lake Swayze in Louisiana.
The boy was searched across the state for eight months, and the search ended when a mechanic named William Cantwell Walters was traveling with a boy matching Bobby’s description. Walters insisted that the boy was his brother’s illegitimate son, Charles “Bruce” Anderson, and that his mother, Julia Anderson, had left the boy with him while he was looking for work.
Despite everyone in town confirming this story, Anderson was arrested and the boy was taken to be “reunited” with the Dunbars. At that time, newspapers published different news about the merger.
“The boy recognized his mother instantly. ‘Mom,’ she cried as she reached out and extended her arms to him. The mother hugged the child and then passed out.” Another said that the boy woke up and cried when he saw the Dunbars, Mrs. Dunbar stepped back gasping and said, “I don’t know. I am not entirely sure when he has a son,” he wrote. The newspapers also disagreed on what Bobby did when he saw his brother, Alonzo.
Bobby Dunbar and Bruce AndersonHowever, despite all these contradictory reports in the newspapers, the boy was accepted as Bobby Dunbar and continued his life with that name. Walters was sentenced to life in prison for kidnapping; This sentence was overturned in the second year of his sentence.
Then a woman named Julia Anderson appeared; He claimed that the boy was actually his son, Bruce Anderson, as Walters and others in town said. He was allowed to examine the boy, but that day he wasn’t sure it was really Bruce. He returned again the next day, this time looking confident that it was his son. However, as he could not afford to take the family to court, he had to return home empty-handed.
Bobby’s grandson stepped in and…
You might think the story ends here. But his grandson, who believed he was Bobby’s grandfather until his death in 1966, decided to investigate further.
Margaret Dunbar Cutright, Bobby Dunbar’s granddaughter, wrote years later in a book about the disappearance that “My grandmother first told me the story when I was in the fifth grade, during a visit six years after my grandfather died,” she continued. Although it was a long time ago, the story scared me.”
Margaret Dunbar CutrightAccording to the family, Bobby was briefly abducted but then returned; that is, the events unfolded as in the original story. However, Margaret came across newspaper clippings kept by the family about the abduction and subsequent return of a child and the dispute over who it was. Soon after, the family agreed to do a DNA test comparing Bobby Dunbar’s son, Bob Dunbar Jr., to Alonzo’s son.
When the test results came back, there was no match: Alonzo and Bruce were not related. So William Cantwell Walters’ claim was actually true.
In short, Bruce Anderson was taken from his real parents when he was four years old and placed with the Dunbar family, whom they raised believing he was their son.
What happened to the real Bobby Dunbar?
The fate of the real Bobby Dunbar, who disappeared in August 1912, is still unknown. However, many people think that he drowned in the lake they visited…
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