Tal McThenia & Margaret Dunbar Cutright: "A Case For Solomon: Bobby Dunbar And The Kidnapping That Haunted A Nation"
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2012-08-14/tal-mcthenia-margaret-dunbar-cutright-case-solomon-bobby-dunbar-and-kidnapping-haun
The photo on the left was sent out by the Dunbars on circulars at the time the Dunbar child disappeared. The one on the right is the boy now held by the Dunbars as their child, taken from Walters. The defense contends the photos are mute evidence that the boy held by the Dunbars is not the lost child. Study the features closely—what do you think? Is the one on the right Bobbie or Bruce Anderson?
(New Orleans Daily States, Apr. 2, 1914)
In August, 1912, 4-year-old Bobby Dunbar disappeared during a family camping trip near a swamp in St. Landry Parish, Louisiana. After an 8-month, nationwide search, investigators found a boy in Mississippi matching Bobby’s description. He was with a traveling piano tuner, who was arrested and charged with kidnapping. But when a destitute, single mother named Julia Anderson came forward to claim the boy as her son, the case became a sensationalized battle over custody. Nearly 100 years later, Bobby Dunbar’s granddaughter Margaret Dunbar Cutright started digging into the mystery again. She worked with documentarian Tal McThenia to put the pieces together. They join Diane to discuss the meaning of family identity and truth.
Guests
Tal McThenia
radio and television documentary writer and producer.
Margaret Dunbar Cutright
granddaughter of Bobby Dunbar.
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Read An Excerpt
Excerpt from "A Case For Solomon: Bobby Dunbar And The Kidnapping That Haunted A Nation" by Tal McThenia and Margaret Dunbar Cutright. Copyright 2012 by Tal McThenia and Margaret Dunbar Cutright. Reprinted here by permission of Free Press Publicity. All rights reserved.
Comments
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Four and five-year-olds are very articulate. What did the child himself say about what had happened?
has anyone tried in recent history to do a DNA analysis?
Fascinating story. Has Ms Dunbar ever considered undergoing DNA testing to once and for all put an end to any doubt on the true identity of Bobby Dunbar. Surely, modern science could recover DNA samples from both the Dunbar and Anderson mothers and compare those to the man who eventually became known as Bobby Dunbar.
I have 2 sons. It is quite obvious to any parent that you would know whether it was your son or not. These people knew this was not their son. They were horrible people and criminals themselves.
I was just looking at a picture of my daughter taken about a year ago. While she has changed, she is still her. I would know her in an instant. She will be 4 later this month. I know every freckle. These boys look nothing alike.
My mother was born in 1924. Now I know why she struggled and sacrificed and worked as a secretary and cocktail waitress to raise my sister and me. She was aware that a child could be lost to others if she ever allowed us to be taken, even temporarily. She also never remarried until we were off to college.
Diane, that Dunbar woman refused today to acknowledge that this boy belonged to the single mother. Unbelievable.
I strongly disagree with your final comment that "family is how you perceive it". Easy for you to be cavalier. I'd wager that you would move heaven and earth to be reunited with YOUR child. Sincerely
Sheila, you nailed it. The Dunbars delayed even 4 more years to do the DNA test.
The child on the right is definitely Bruce Anderson. They don't resemble each other at all. When I heard the story, I almost immediately felt that the wrong child had turned up. It becomes a case of Bruce Anderson's resignation to being Bobbie Dunbar.
Rather than find fault at this point, I think it is better to try and see the case thru the eyes of those involved. It was said that the child did not speak out as to whom was the correct parent. I think in hearing this interview, more likely all the people involved knew, even secretly this was not Bobby Dunbar, but the bigger decision at that time was what was the better outcome for the child. To be placed with a family who may provide a better means of living, or to return him to a single mother with no means of income. Wether right or wrong I am not to judge. I see it from this point. Remember the nation was very different from today, and in several years would be in the throes of the Depression. I am not stating the Dunbars were correct in stating the child was theirs, nor do I know how hard Ms. Anderson fought to get her son back. I just see it through the eyes of the time. Wonderful story, and of course another "driveway moment" for me.
Oh my gosh, that letter William Walters wrote to Percy Dunbar! That was amazingly powerful! That poor, poor man...
I think a few people are confused. There was DNA testing done on the guests father (Bobby Dunbar's son) and his cousin (Bobby Dunbar's nephew). The DNA showed that they were not blood relatives. To make the DNA conclusive everyone back to the great grandfather Percy would have to be done. The family has accepted that while the DNA is inconclusive they believe the man rasied as Bobby Dunbar is in fact Bruce Anderson. Also that Bobby Dunbar was most likely drown or killed by an alligator when he wondered off. They said as much in the This American Life story. Listen to the last 5-10 minutes again or read the Wikipedia article to confirm this.
Also another commentor quoted Diane as saying "family is how you percieve it." She doesn't say that anywhere in the piece.
I agree with the commentor who said you have to look at it from the view point of the time. Collecting evidence and scientific conclusions were almost non exsistant and social status was everything.
Great story.
Many children who disappear are victims of homicide. Was the possibility that the four year old Bobby Dunbar who went missing killed by one of his parents considered? To me, this would begin to explain why the child's mother claimed a child who was not her own.