A Case for Solomon

April 16, 2012
First reported by McThenia on This American Life and expanded with Dunbar’s granddaughter, this thorough examination of the fight over a boy claimed by two grieving mothers is a thoughtful look at the elusiveness of truth and the fluidity of identity. In 1912, four-year-old Bobby Dunbar disappeared from a Louisiana swamp, sparking a massive search. But the drama intensified when, eight months later, a boy matching Bobby’s description was reported seen with an itinerant piano tuner. When tramp William Walters was found with a boy in neighboring Mississippi, Bobby’s father, Percy, couldn’t immediately identify the boy as Bobby. But soon the Dunbars’ minds were made up and a media frenzy set in. Walters insisted he’d been traveling with the boy, Bruce Anderson, since before Bobby Dunbar vanished. But the Dunbars’ high social status and media sway prevailed over the claims of Julia Anderson, a destitute woman and mother who claimed the boy with Walters was her own lost son, Bruce. Walters was eventually convicted of kidnapping. Decades later, Cutright arranged for a DNA test to determine Bobby Dunbar’s true identity. It’s difficult not to empathize with both sides of this case, as everyone loses something—particularly the child caught in the middle. Agent: Zoë Pagnamenta, Zoë Pagnamenta Agency.