Next month marks the 100th anniversary of the events that led to one of the most bizarre cases in American history.

Bobby Dunbar was a four-year old boy, who accompanied his parents and younger brother on a fishing trip and picnic at nearby Lake Swayze in Louisiana on August 23, 1912. His parents realized in the late afternoon that their older boy was missing, and began a search that included the police and other people at the Lake. They grew very concerned when a child reported seeing a strange man around the lake prior to Bobby's disappearance.

The lake was dragged and the grounds searched, but there was no sign of him. The disappearance became a top story and made the national news. Soon everyone throughout the South was looking for Bobby Dunbar.

Eight months after the boy was missing, a wandering handyman, William Walters, passed through a small town in Mississippi, and drew the suspicion of some of the residents as he was accompanied by a boy, fitting Bobby's description. He claimed that the boy was Bruce Anderson, the son of an unwed hired hand, working for his family in North Carolina. Julia Anderson eventually arrived and stated that it was her son, whom she hadn't seen in several months even though the boy did not seem to recognize her.

The Dunbars arrived, and after some initial hesitancy, Bessie Dunbar identified the boy as her older son after seeing birthmarks and scars on his legs. Walters was charged with kidnapping, the Dunbars took Bobby home, and Anderson, lacking funds to file a custody suit, returned to North Carolina. She returned to Mississippi to testify on behalf of Walters, who was convicted of kidnapping and sentenced to twenty years in jail. His conviction was overturned on appeal due to an evidentiary issue, but the State of Mississippi declined to try him again because of the expense, so he was released with his name uncleared. Julia stayed in Mississippi where she married, became a nurse, and had eight children. She always claimed to be Bobby's real mother.

Meanwhile Bobby Dunbar grew up in Louisiana, married and had four children of his own. while his memories of the events that led to his finding with Walters were dim, he was aware of the controversy surrounding his life. In his adulthood he had contact with some of Julia's grown children, and when passing through Mississippi with his own kids, would point to the town where the people, who had him for some months, lived.

Bobby died in 1966. The curious nature of his life didn't escape his grandchildren, one of whom wanted to test his DNA to determine once and for all Bobby's true identity. Dunbar's oldest son, Bobby Jr. initially objected to having the body of his father exhumed, but eventually relented in 2004. DNA tests conclusively confirmed that Bobby Dunbar was, in fact, Bruce Anderson, thus bringing a measure of closure to the curious case of Bobby Dunbar..

Uh. Very curious for sure. You know, it makes me wonder about my opposition to a DNA database as a requirement. If there were some guarantee that it would used sine qua non for legitimate purposes only, I might support it.

But what happened to little Bobby??

Good question. It is widely believed that little Bobby fell into the lake where he was eaten by an alligator. That was one of the theories until Walters was found.

I Google'd him after reading your post, Klyd. He is on one "bizarre disappearances" list after another. Interesting case, unless you were either Mrs. Anderson or Mrs. Dunbar.