How Bobby Dunbar Vanished, Changed Into A Different Boy, & Then Reappeared

The Dunbars traveled to Louisiana’s Swayze Lake on August 23, 1912. Four-year-old Bobby abruptly disappeared as the family was having fun in the lake. Lessie and Percy Dunbar, his parents, looked in all the right places but were unsuccessful.

Eventually, a statewide search for the youngster was launched by the local and state police. Alligators were caught, dissected, and even dynamite was thrown into the lake to get the boy’s body out of the water. However, all was in vain.

Eight months after Bobby vanished, the Dunbars learned that a youngster who matched Bobby’s description had been discovered in Mississippi.

The boy had been observed with a man named William Cantwell Walters, a roadside handyman. He said the boy was his nephew Charles Bruce Anderson, the illegitimate child of his brother and a lady by the name of Julia Anderson when questioned by police.

He insisted that Julia had left Bruce in his care while looking for a job. Although Winter was supported by many town residents, the police detained the boy and arrested Winter.

One publication reported that the boy and the Dunbars had a happy first reunion and that the boy shouted “Mother” as soon as he saw Lessie. According to other versions, Percy and Lessie Dunbar refused to admit that the boy was their son.

Lessie Dunbar said the following day that she had positively recognized moles and scars on the boy’s body that proved he was Bobby after taking him home for the night and bathing him. The Dunbar family was then permitted by the authorities to return home with young Bobby.

However, a few days later, Julia Anderson appeared, confirming Walters’ assertions that the boy was her son. She claimed that she had Walters watch him for a few days while she searched for employment but that those few days had turned into months during which she had been unable to do so.

The Dunbars were contacted by the police again, and Bobby was placed in a lineup to see if Julia could recognize him.

She was unable.

However, she returned the next day and asserted that she was certain that the kid identified as Bobby Dunbar was, in fact, her son Bruce.

However, word had already gotten out that she had hesitated in making her identification the day before and that the boy was already enjoying a comfortable life with the Dunbars. As a result, the courts were reluctant to reopen the case.

The boy was left with the Dunbars after Julia Anderson left because she couldn’t afford to pay for a legal battle.

Lessie and Percy Dunbar were certain that the boy was Bobby. He had adapted well to life at home, was having fun with his brothers, and even had some indications of memory.

Walters was found guilty of abduction as a result and given a two-year prison term. He maintained his innocence in the matter up until the very end of his life.

The Dunbar family raised Bobby. Before his death in 1966, he got married and finally had four kids of his own. When the incident from his boyhood was brought up, he would constantly insist that he was Bobby Dunbar, according to family members.

Then, in 2004, Bobby Dunbar Jr., his son, gave his permission for a DNA test. His daughter Margaret had been looking into the circumstances and was determined to establish beyond a doubt that her grandfather was Bobby Dunbar.

Bob Dunbar Jr.’s DNA was compared to the DNA of his cousin, who is the offspring of Bobby Dunbar’s younger brother.

The results of the test were unambiguous: Bob Dunbar Jr. was not linked to any Dunbar family members through blood.

Years ago, the boy the Dunbars claimed to be, Bobby Dunbar, was actually Bruce, Julia Anderson’s son.

Ultimately, the Anderson family was delighted because they believed the test supported their assertions. The fact that the evidence disproved the kidnapping charge against William delighted the Walters family as well.

The fate of the actual Bobby Dunbar is still a mystery.

What do you think about Bobby Dunbar’s case? Do you think he came back, or the boy who came back was different? Please let us know, and don’t forget to spread the news so that we can hear from more people.