The Bobby Dunbar case became one of America's most famous missing-child mysteries and remained unresolved for nearly a century.

 

In 1912, four-year-old Bobby disappeared during a family fishing trip in Louisiana.

After an eight-month search, authorities found a boy traveling with a handyman named William Cantwell Walters. Bobby's parents believed the child was their son, although several relatives expressed doubts about his identity.

Walters insisted the boy was actually Bruce Anderson, a child his family had entrusted to his care.

Bruce's mother, Julia Anderson, also claimed him, but after a confusing legal battle, the court awarded the boy to the Dunbar family, and Walters was convicted of kidnapping before his conviction was later overturned.

For decades, the boy lived as Bobby Dunbar and raised a family of his own.

In 2004, DNA testing on Bobby Dunbar's descendants revealed they were not biologically related to the Dunbar family.

The results confirmed the boy raised as Bobby was almost certainly Bruce Anderson.