“The Ghost of Bobby Dunbar”: This American Life
In 1912 a four-year-old boy named Bobby Dunbar went missing. Eight months later, he was found in the hands of a wandering handyman in Mississippi… or was he?
As a fan of This American Life, I have enjoyed many a fine episode but this one stands out in my mind as one of my favorites. This compelling and incredibly detailed account of the true story of Bobby Dunbar is captivating from beginning to end.
Four-year-old Bobby Dunbar went missing in a swamp in Louisiana. After an 8 month investigation and a nation-wide, highly publicized search, investigators believed they found the missing boy. Mrs. Dunbar was, at first meeting, not sure that this boy was her son but after a bath, she claimed that it was him, based on scars and marks on his body. However, soon after, a woman named Julie Anderson appeared and insisted that the boy was actually her son. The court system eventually sided with the Dunbars and they retained custody of the boy, who lived his life as Bobby Dunbar… but was he?
We follow Bobby Dunbar’s granddaughter as she researches this family secret. She connects with Julie Anderson’s family and we are presented with two angles — two families who view one situation and one boy in incredibly different ways.
In 2004, Bobby Dunbar’s granddaughter discovered a secret beneath the legend of her grandfather’s kidnapping, a secret whose revelation would divide her own family, bring redemption to another, and become the answer to a third family’s century-old prayer.
How could one boy have changed so much in 8 months that he was only recognizable through scars and birth marks? Even Julie Anderson didn’t recognize the boy at first and only claimed it was her son after a second meeting. How could both mothers not recognize their child at first? And why didn’t Bobby himself identify Julie Anderson if she was, in fact, his mother? We also explore the role that wealth and privilege played in the public portrayal as well as the court’s rulings. And is it really possible that the Dunbar family raised the wrong child all along?
Who was this boy and was he the real Bobby Dunbar? A DNA test will give the families the shocking answer to this question. The mystery unfolds as we examine identity in this unforgettable episode.
Listen to this podcast episode here.
