The Disappearance Reappearance and Disappearance of Bobby Dunbar

AKA the ultimate con
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[@ItMeSinamenRoll]

My dad was switched at birth. Babies in the US are given wrist tags, but back in the 60s they took the tags off when they gave the babies a sponge bath. My grandmother was like “that’s not my kid” when they brought the baby to her on the day they went home. The hospital was like “ok, sure fine, just take it home and decide tomorrow.” She brought the baby back and was like “i gave birth to a 15 lb baby with a giant ugly nose and you gave me a 6lb baby with a button nose and I want my baby.” And the other family was bringing my dad back like “hi yes, why were we sent home with this giant infant?”

[@DaBeanieBaby]

This made me ugly laugh just imaging that shit

[@jadensstuff4450]

21:29

[@Gloriomono]

😂 my grandmother had to yell at the nursery that she would not breastfeed "that baby" (supposedly my uncle) and finally point out, that she did not in fact give birth to a red-head (his hair was black!)

[@serenetiv]

I as switched in the hostipal after birth, too xD but since I got a big mole on my head it was easy to notice and every time the nurses brought my mom the wrong kid, she spoke up right away and got us switched back again. Idk how the nurses just didn't notice or didn't care... but yeah.. I got to go home with the right family though. PS: I'm not from the US xD and we had those wristbands, too, but nobody looked at them I think

[@MatthewSalzer]

It's bad when you have to admit that you had a huge baby and were given a small baby and the other family says the direct opposite.

[@chrisvanlaarhoven2722]

Story from the Netherlands here, my barber in the little town I live in was switched as a baby. He found out when he was in his 50’s. His parents and siblings always found it a bit odd that he looked slightly different than them but otherwise didn’t think much of it. Until a few years ago he was contacted by the other switched person who did look into it further. And yes, after DNA testing and the obvious resemblance to each other’s real parents they found the truth. They still consider their wrong parents as their family but they became good friends and a sort of extended family with an interesting tale.

[@idbuyanewbmx]

That's how I'd imagine it too- the family you were raised with IS your family. Of course there are a bunch of what ifs.

[@stefiskek6894]

I loved the other Dutch baby swap. (DNA onbekend, free on NPO). Where in a family of really tall people (1.80+ cm) 1 really short sister was born (1.40 cm). In another family where everyone was around 1.40 cm one sister around 1.80 was born. You can already guess who was swapped offcourse. Only a bell started to ring when one guy made a remark after dating the one short sister, and she looked like the family of his ex (guess he had a type..). They were too afraid to test it when parents where alive. So they tested it around age 80.. It made them really close friends. I 100% had to cry at the end. Btw; apparently before birthcontrol + divorce being heavy frownd upon; 4 out of 10 children were not from the father they thought in NL and UK. So allthough myheritage/ancestry webstes to create a familytree are super fun.. they are likely not true at all DNA wise; only family wise ;)

[@MrGforce52]

Mannnn I don't know how I'd feel. I think I would start feeling nothing in relation to my adoptive family, because they aren't my REAL family, but I wouldn't know my REAL family at all.

[@hard-hearthallllc548]

​@MrGforce52 I guess this raises the question: what is family? Is it some random dude I have no idea exists that happens to share my blood, or is it the people that I sit down with to dinner each night? Is it someone I have never met, or the person singing me happy birthday? The woman that bandaged my booboo's, or that lady over there that has my hair color?

[@allrequiredfields]

I need a video on this one

[@davidt3563]

When I was a kid I walked away from my mom at the air show and I met an old lady who was wearing the same shirt. Thankfully she was incredibly nice and took me through the B1 bomber showing (I absolutely loved that plane and probably begged her) and then she took me to the lost person tent. Thank you random old lady for not stealing me or killing me!

[@mrbfros454]

My little brother wandered away from a family reunion when he was four. By the time someone noticed he was gone he had walked about half a mile or more on dirt roads and trails that led through dense forest. Thankfully someone noticed him trotting along and realized he was separated and called the police. By this time we had also called the police to report him missing and they were able to reunite us. My mom went through a pretty ridiculous roller coaster ride of emotions that day! That being said I can totally imagine Bobby just wondering off and either getting eaten by an animal or dying from exposure/dehydration and then being consumed by scavengers. A 4 year old will often randomly pick a path that no one would expect, and end up somewhere no one will ever think to look. Mystery solved as far as I’m concerned…

[@stanislavkostarnov2157]

yup my parents scoured half the district looking for me when I had climbed into our neighbors chicken-house

[@retriever19golden55]

What looks like a path to somebody two or three feet tall doesn't look like a path to an adult. Try following your dog through the woods...

[@thehangmansdaughter1120]

When our twins were born here in NZ, not only did we watch as the tag was put on their ankles, my husband took photos of both babies and signed their chests himself with marker. We knew their faces would be covered with breathing equipment etc for some time, so wanted to make sure we could tell which were our babies for sure.

[@knuckle12356]

Banksy, taking things a _liiiiittle_ too far...

[@jackn8384]

Yep, putting toxic ink on a vulnerable baby's chest sounds like an intelligent option. Good job. Top parents.

[@thehangmansdaughter1120]

@@jackn8384 The markers are surgical grade, non-toxic. They're used by surgeons to mark out measurements on patients during surgery.

[@catherinetodd5163]

@@jackn8384 Sharpie fine point as well as many others, are non toxic. Jump to conclusions much? (Rhetorical)

[@DMTrance87]

Get a midwife and have a water birth at home.... Suddenly you don't have to worry about something that is, frankly, insane that it even happens. Have a backup doctor at your local hospital just in case of emergency.

[@mwhitelaw8569]

Shoot man I was 3 when my parents left for a month Leaving me with my aunt I didn't recognize either one of my parents when they got back. Thankfully I had an older brother I recognized him So at that age Highly susceptible to forgetting things quickly

[@vampcaff]

Word soup, delicious.

[@darkop3191]

The alligator explosion cheering bit was 10/10 editing and timing.

[@barbarabell8674]

Jenn the editor is amazing!

[@seththomas6350]

That’s gotta be an all-time best edit on this channel

[@nichoudha]

The dynamite may have destroyed evidence of the body being there....

[@karolinaa3944]

This story is so interesting, especially in that it gives a glimpse into how deeply tragedies affect generations of families, not just the immediate family a tragedy happened to

[@BeesWaxMinder]

Very Good Point thanks

[@clairenollet2389]

My Mom was born in 1921, but she was fascinated by this case, which was still notorious when she was growing up. As she related it, the identity of the boy was decided on class lines. Lower class and working class people, like my Mom's family, were convinced that Bobby wasn't really a Dunbar, but that the "rich" Dunbars has "stolen" Bobby from his own mother, who was classified as "white trash" by the news of the day. Even among people of higher socioeconomic classes, my Mom related, suspected that Bobby wasn't really a Dunbar, but that he was better off being raised by the Dunbar family, so it was OK.

[@lizc6393]

Really fascinating input and context here, thank you!

[@mirandagoldstine8548]

Your mom was really intuitive. That’s basically what I said in a post only I mentioned the belief that the boy, “Bobby”, would be better off in a two parent family out of the belief it was more stable.

[@MacKennaTheGoddessofRadiation]

​@@mirandagoldstine8548which in the end since the Dunbars got divorced he still didnt get

[@mirandagoldstine8548]

@@MacKennaTheGoddessofRadiation I don’t know what it is, karma or irony?

[@crwydryny]

In regards to the kid not being able to identify his parents. Years ago my parents adopted my sister's kids, the youngest was about 3-4 when he was in the foster home, for several months, while me and my dad renovated the house to accommodate them, when he was brought there he initially didn't recognise my parents despite them practically raising him for the first 3 years of his life

[@kellybeck4579]

You should do the case of Walter Collins. The injustice his mother faced was asinine, and the story was the basis for the movie "The Changeling."

[@MountainCry]

Simon did that for one of his channels, I just can't remember which one.

[@JF1908x]

@@MountainCry he’s only got about 2,869 channels to chose from 😅

[@LisaBowers]

@@JF1908xI was only aware of 2,868! Welp, I'm off to find the one channel I'm not following... ヘ⁠（⁠。⁠□⁠°⁠）⁠ヘ

[@Robert_H_Diver]

So sad

[@sunnysoprano7101]

Are you talking about the 80s movie?

[@MiaD666]

I used to play outside when I was kid, we went to the woods, the playground etc with no supervision. I heard about this case before and the fact that everyone knew it wasn't Bobby and covered it up so a rich family could have a kid is sickening.

[@mirandagoldstine8548]

I read about it in an issue of a magazine. I have to agree with you it was terrible but we also have to remember it was a different time. The Dunbars had wealth and, probably, political clot, enough so they could, if they wanted to, get a decision made that was satisfactory to their needs. Plus back then DNA wasn’t even a concept and Julia’s reputation was probably smeared because of the actions of powerful men like Bruce’s biological father (who probably used her and lied to her about marrying her in exchange for sleeping with him). So when word got out she had illegitimate children the media decided to paint her as a wretched woman who was unfit for motherhood. Thankfully Julia had a happier life after settling in Poplarville. Apparently she became a beloved part of the community as a nurse/midwife and she got married. Even had 7 kids. But I think she always felt guilt about her actions and what was beyond her control. Sadly the rich and powerful will still attempt to get away with any crimes they commit under the belief that greasing the right palms and bribing the right people will make the charges go away. I think if Julia had someone to speak up for her, a guardian angel you could say, perhaps things could’ve been different.

[@annabellelee4535]

Actually it was a better deal for the pretend Bobby. The woman gave her child to an itinerate handyman to travel with for dubious reasons. She wasn't a good mother.

[@davidhughes4089]

Simon's completely wrong about why they write the number on babies nowadays - it's actually because night shifts are boring so the nurses and midwives use them to play baby bingo

[@annabellelee4535]

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@voutsider190]

Lol

[@MrOwl-mw3fb]

Fascinating! Thank you, Kevin. For what it's worth, Simon, I grew up in the 80s in the rural US. Even here, we were on the roads Like Stranger Things kids on bikes. We crossed fields to see the neighbors. We had a neighborhood that you measured in square miles versus blocks. It was a fantastic time to be a kid, except for all the missing kids and the adults who preyed on them. Child disappearances, abductions, and abuse. Parents knew that the abuse was happening but didn't talk to kids about it and acted shocked when it came to light. There were people in the community you were told to not go near or be alone in a room with (including relatives), but no one told us why, and you did out at the asshole's gravesite that he raped and molested four generations of family. It was just as scary, but everyone thought, "it couldn't happen here" until it did. Childhood is a beautiful time when innocence should be cherished and protected. Those movies in Hollywood were right but hardly ever showed the dark side of that freedom. In a nowhere town in Tennessee with nothing of note, I don't have enough fingers and toes to count the number of kids I knew or knew of that were disappearances or victims of violent and heinous crimes. I theorize that the reason cities got/get a bad reputation is that, yes, there is more violence, but it may be that it is not true per capita. Keep up the amazing work, my friends. I had never heard of this one.

[@larrya.gresham8314]

It's the per Capita statement where you get it all correct. I'm 59 and grew up a city kid but I have always paid attention and if you check you'll find that when state parole boards can't release someone back to their neighborhood because if the out cry of people because of what was done and pressure is put on the parole boards they end up relocating the inside vidual to county's that have smaller populations and Kay not have ever heard about the crimes committed. In most cases these people either remain distanced from their new neighbors or just leave because they aren't country folk but all it takes is 1 who now might have the isolation that makes for even worse things to come with fewer eyes watching.

[@SassyGirl822006]

Bobby probably wondered off, like 4 year olds do, and was lost in an area just wilderness enough to make finding him before he succumbed to the elements impossible. The body has either been found and misidentified (because Bruce), or has never been found.

[@jennfields1990]

The story kind of reminds me of the Andrew Barclay case. The family was so happy having him back that they ignored the fact that he had different colored eyes and a lot of other things. But when you finally spoke to Fredrick Bourdin, he said he knew they weren't convinced and we're all too happy to have him there. He thought that something terrible happened to the boy and that the family had something to do with it. That's why they were so happy to have him back with glaring issues and a ridiculous story, because it helped cover up the crime of what they had done. Im not saying that they had anything to do with Bobby's disappearance, but when you hear that the father murdered someone the day that the kid disappeared....Plus he was apparently coming home from work..... yeah I don't know....

[@spiritmatter1553]

That case was BANANAS! Agree that the family had to have known that their son was gone permanently.

[@ephennell4ever]

Re-watch the vid (like I did); the killing was on the 8th anniversary of Bobby's disappearance. It's a little weird, but not really anything more than that. Unless you're going to say that the occurrence was some sort of indication of a stressor that 'broke-loose' that day, because it was the anniversary-day. Even so, it doesn't really speak to what specifically happened that day.

[@ashleelarsen5002]

It reminds me of a chocolate bar- with peanut butter and those crispy wafers. I'm probably just confused though

[@alexisfreeze]

I wouldn’t take Fred’s word. He’s a known liar.

[@Sienisota]

The horror of the fact that grief-stricken parents could steal someone else's child, and get away with it because they were rich.

[@annabellelee4535]

The horror is the fact that anyone would give a toddler to an itinerate handyman to travel with for dubious reasons. Thank goodness the pretend Bobby got into a good and loving home.

[@purplebean8989]

​@@annabellelee4535..... so playing pretend instead of looking for the real Bobby is OK to you???

[@annabellelee4535]

@@purplebean8989 So, giving toddlers to men for their own use is OK to you????

[@purplebean8989]

@@annabellelee4535 "for their own use"? She sent him to take the boy to visit his Aunt, but was too poor to go looking for him. Did you watch the video?

[@annabellelee4535]

@@purplebean8989 Don't be naïve, she gave her child to a man to use for his own purposes. He won the lottery when the police rescued him from the traveling perv and thought he was the Dunbar child.

[@Suzanneyhearts]

Sometimes I find the "unknown" to be boring in the end when it's just mostly myth, but this episode and these kinds of mysteries are fascinating!! I'd love more like this! Mysterious disappearances are very interesting.

[@earthrize.streaming]

Agreed, this is definitely one of the better ones, along with the internet mysteries

[@luckyspurs]

This was the best one ever. Feel so bad for Julia Anderson; had the world and the entire class system against her. Her son was essentially legally kidknapped from her. And she never got an ounce of sympathy for it her entire life.

[@mirandagoldstine8548]

Agreed. If only she had someone to help her then perhaps she would’ve gotten more sympathy. Unfortunately back then it was a different time. People looked down on unwed mothers so the public, if they did suspect that “Bobby” wasn’t really Bobby, probably thought the child would have a much better life with a “normal” family (I.e. a two parent family). I did some research and it turns out Julia did find a safe haven away from North Carolina, even found love and had more kids but she always was haunted by the loss of Bruce.

[@andriagamgoneishvili8468]

may she rest in peace. her child was taken away from her❤

[@mirandagoldstine8548]

@@andriagamgoneishvili8468 By the cruelty of people’s beliefs and standards of the day. Hopefully Julia can rest now knowing that the boy raised as Bobby Dunbar really was Bruce and that a bit of justice was served, albeit too late.

[@annabellelee4535]

Why have sympathy for a woman to gives a toddler to an itinerate handyman to travel with probably for dubious purposes. Bobby got a better deal when he went to a loving home.

[@sktbug6833]

Simon - “I’m sure some alligators being blown up is fine…probably good” Alligators minding their own business doing alligator stuff - “Dude…WTF!?!?!!”

[@HappyBeezerStudios]

Now I imagine the aftermath when it's raining alligators

[@wombat862]

You should do the disappearance, reappearance, disappearance of Danny.

[@lizc6393]

Lmao

[@JudyMenzel7]

I must agree that baby swapping happens alot in the USA. I am one of them. Ironically, the hospital burnt down, with records, within a year after I was born. My DNA does not match my siblings, but it's far too late to bother doing anything about it. We were already in our 60s when we compared our DNA. I knew my entire life I was different from all my siblings (5). Such is life, I guess.

[@annabellelee4535]

It was common enough that my mother got out of bed every morning to watch the leaving mothers take their babies so they didn't grab me by mistake.

[@juliabazanska]

I gave birth twice in Germany. It was borderline impossible for anyone to switch the baby because from the second it's born it never leaves the mother's side. It's given a bracelet with its surname and put in a cot on wheels that you tow around with you (I once walked around with the baby in my arms and was given a stern telling off). You're not allowed to leave it alone (women still do it when the baby is asleep to, like, pee or something) and the staff won't take it from you, you have to be present at all times if the staff need to take it for checkups. Yes someone could come into your room and switch it when you're on the loo but they would have to walk through the whole ward twice, once with a baby on their arms, and that would be noticed by everyone.

[@sydneyslaughter7163]

Germany doesn’t mess around!

[@packyourears]

As a Louisiana resident… Simon’s pronunciation of Opelousas makes me hope he covers a store in New Orleans on Tchoupitoulas Street

[@jrmckim]

Omg I'd pay money for that! Heck even the town names are crazy. Fordoche GrosseTete Coushatta Thibodaux Shongaloo Urania Kickapoo Keachi Bawcomville Tangipahoa Natchitoches Mowata Zwolle And my favorite... Logansport. Is it pronounced Logan's port or Logan Sport?

[@jacobpream6356]

I love for this channel. I need more skepticism and critical thinking in my life!!!

[@nochannel1q2321]

Speaking of which, since the 1980s, at least in the US, violent crime rates have dropped every single year aside from 2001. It's just the overcoverage of crime stories on the news that have made parents and the general public perceive things as more dangerous. Things have actually never been safer.

[@kraekin]

I miss growing up in the late 80s early 90s in Canada. Lived in a small town with like 3k people, would go outside for hours without any supervision, explored the forest, went part way up a mountain. Even took an ATV with a friend and drove to the lake about 10 minutes outside of town. All this before I was even 11 lol.

[@markgirard4023]

this was also my childhood hop on the bike around 7 gather up your friends return at dusk

[@aceofspadess4945]

Pppppplliiiiìiòóo

[@aceofspadess4945]

Sottoiopppppĺ

[@Sarah-said]

I grew up in the same time period in a town of about 8,000 and I walked all over town and could safely be gone for hours. My kids life has been the complete opposite of my childhood.

[@HomesteadGirls]

We lived by a military base so when we heard Taps we'd go in for dinner. After dinner we'd go out until the street lights came on.

[@83gemm]

Oh I am SO excited to watch this one!! This is the one mystery that drives me crazy. I think about it randomly. I hope you can finally decode it to me!

[@GameHammerCG]

Speaking as someone who grew up in a community where everyone played outside and random adults definitely helped raise you, parents were absolutely aware that the world wasn’t as nice as we’d all like it. We were 100% told to stay away from certain people; and never to accept gifts/a ride/etc from a few people. You grew up knowing who to trust and who not to.

[@TheOriginalCFA1979]

No, you grew up thinking you knew who to trust because your parents were naive about the world around them. Go work at a gas station and you’ll learn everyone in town not to trust in the first month, if you trust all the people who weren’t pointed out you’re getting robbed quickly and repeatedly. Those were the people who’d shown themselves to be trouble. Your parents were sending you blindly off into the waiting arms of every predator they didn’t know was a predator. Because they were naive and didn’t understand reality, like you’re naive and don’t understand reality.

[@GameHammerCG]

@@TheOriginalCFA1979 you must be fun at the parties you’re not invited to.

[@annabellelee4535]

Yep, that's more how it was. I would spend all day outside exploring and playing.

[@riaclerica]

During my childhood in the 1990s I was allowed to go exactly four houses to the left of my house and two doors to the right. The block, basically. Never across the street or around the alley to the canal. Mostly I played under a tree in the side yard of my home. After I hit my teen years I mostly stopped going outside because it suddenly dawned on me I lived in a desert where about half the year it's between like 90 and 120 degrees so outside was stupid. Besides, the internet was a bigger thing by then.

[@lauraknight5973]

okay but this was exactly my childhood too lmao

[@riaclerica]

@@lauraknight5973 You decided the sun was evil when you hit puberty too? I'm overjoyed! 😄

[@lauraknight5973]

@@riaclerica basically. 😂 I lived in a rural desert town. Aside from the three months of track season, the only reason teenage me had to be outside was to walk to the gas station for nachos

[@Vaeldarg]

@@riaclerica In wetter areas it isn't much better. In the summer you get slowly eaten alive by mosquitoes, waiting for winter when they're dormant.

[@cristinesplinis5815]

Watching your facial expressions as you discover the story with us is 100% worth watching instead of just listening.

[@kylechristy2155]

00:50-1:07 Simon I have thought about that so many times. People will talk about the past with nostalgic feelings and I have that same thought pop into my head. When I point it out they deny it. Sometimes I just keep it to myself and laugh at their naïve ignorance. “The past was the worst!” FYI I’m 31 and people discuss their fondness for the 60’s -80’s. I just laugh because I listen to the casual criminalist. 😂

[@davidmorris6254]

The 50s were probably our high point in relation to pending power vs inflation tbh

[@davidmorris6254]

Remember they could afford things like houses on a single income

[@annabellelee4535]

There is nothing naive about it, we just had more freedom and more fun than you did as a child. That's why so many people feel sorry for you all. You're so scared of freedom. That's sad.

[@BruceBoyde]

This one was fascinating. I absolutely love this channel

[@alaintobin6690]

Yet again another cracking episode from Simon and his team

[@ThatWriterKevin]

Thanks!

[@Sniperboy5551]

I’m blessed to have grown up during the rise of the Internet when kids still went outside, but we had all still had modern tech at home. I had a laptop when I was like 12, but I didn’t have a cell phone until I was like 14! I still used to go out and play with friends for the entirety of my school years, but it also allowed me to become pretty technologically literate when I wasn’t having fun in nature. It was nice to be able to play video games and talk to friends when we had a snow day or something, I think it was the best time to grow up even though the world is kind of going to sh*t now!

[@khaightlynn]

*-Love-** Growing Up In The Time of AIM.* I'm really glad I grew up during that time, but I'm even more glad that I wasnt on the internet through the majority of the 2010s and missed so much of the weird ass drama

[@stacyrussell460]

My oldest & youngest daughters are nearly identical, especially when looking at baby photos. Only way to tell them apart was by their outfits. Oldest was born in summer so plenty of pictures of her wearing onesies. Youngest was born just before winter so equally plenty of pictures of her in a snowsuit or otherwise all bundled up. But as their mother, I know there's little differences. Yes, they also have freckles in different places & up close I could tell them apart. But in photos it's a bit harder.

[@adammarktaylor]

I believe in the US, babies are taken from the mother and placed in a room with lots of other babies, and that's where the mistakes can happen. My sons were born here in Ireland and they stayed with their mother from the moment of birth til the moment she brought them home. I guess some malicious nurse could do something while the mother is sleeping but there's no way a switch could occur by accident.

[@panamalgato]

Another win for Jen! Amazing editing

[@evillttlimp]

When I was born, the hospital was being used as a teaching hospital. There was a room full of future doctors of Canada and they had a little bit of "too many cooks" syndrome. At one point the doc had to retrieve me from the NICU (I am really pale, to be fair) and later they handed my mom the wrong baby, but it was only for a brief moment. Everything turned out totally fine but I can definitely see how things can go awry!

[@ladygrndr9424]

Makes me grateful my kiddo was born with an extra toe, and a very distinctly shaped one at that. 100% sure we made it home with the right one!

[@TheyCallMeNewb]

This instalment has some of the very most mellifluous, fittingly menacing music rolling in the background. There's a lot to like here.

[@OrdinaryDude]

I grew up in the 70s and yeah... On Saturdays or every day during the summer I'd leave the house and usually not come home until I was hungry, or some adult in the neighborhood came out their front door to remind us kids that it was around dinner time and our parents were probably wondering where we were. (Not usually though, they knew I'd eventually need food.) Of course, I lived in the suburbs of Seattle and I'd be more likely to be attacked by a Cougar than a serial killer.

[@aceykrew]

Also from outside Seattle & so true about the cougar haha

[@bryangibson6211]

The editing on dtu has been fabulous lately! Idk why because idk anything about editing, but there’s something else that’s…extra attention keeping lately. Good job!!!

[@emmarichardson965]

This was the early 60s, but my mom was accidentally given to the wrong parents in the hospital. Both my grandmother and the other mother immediately realized, so all was well, but to make it really funny, the baby my mom was mixed up with was Hispanic, while my mom is very white (though dark haired). As for the Czech hospital staff using permanent marker to write numbers on the babies...so that's where Dwight Shrute got the idea!

[@K8E666]

This does bring back nostalgia for my youth. Being a child in the late 70’s (I was 5 in 1980) and early 80’s we had a private neighbourhood park opposite our house and would spend from early morning to night playing with friends from the street all throughout the school holidays and on weekends and evenings after school. We also had an area of trees and a stream a hundred yards away and mountains behind us - it was a brilliant place to live and we camped, played on our bikes, roller skated, ghost hunted and rode mini motorbikes around and no one complained ! We’d occupy the entire street whilst playing tennis during Wimbledon season and the cars would wait until we’d caught the ball before trying to get past ! The past (as in the late 70’s and 80’s) was not the worst 😂😂

[@NinjaMatt2201]

I remember how hard it was for my parents to keep track of me and my brother when they let us go out with our friends and how much effort it took in the age before cell phones. Teaching me to check in at certain times and ask trusted adults to use their home phones, what neighbors houses I could trust to ask to use their phones, and find pay phones, always making sure I have change for pay phones at all times, convincing me to do all that as a kid. My mom's panic whenever I failed to call her at a specific check in time. It took a lot of effort, otherwise it would be ages before they'd know you were missing. Now everyone has smart phones, you can even track the location of your kid's iPhone.

[@Lela-plants]

Oh my goodness! Your mom had you call? Lol, Mom used to kick us outside in summer by 9:30 am. When we came home for lunch she would often hand us sandwiches and kool-aid (red of course) and tell us to have a picnic. We then came home for dinner and usually went out afterwards until the street lights came on. I remember telling her it was hot out and being handed a popsicle and told we could change and play in the sprinkler. She said we’d mess up the house. We were outside with about 9 other kids from the street who were all in an age range of 6-10 years, boys and girls. We rode bikes all over the area. That being said, most moms didn’t work and we knew we could go to any house in the subdivision and ask to use a phone or if we needed an emergency bathroom. When my kids were little they stayed summers with my parents, I came in and they were inside playing games. I asked, about the outside, popsicles, and sprinklers. I was told “It’s too hot out there for these babies…” 🙄🙄

[@sheenatitus2632]

Fantastic as always!

[@deaniej2766]

I was a kid in the late 50's - early 60's, and yes, neighbor adults did fuss at us, but not hit. Hitting children was the parents and teachers job. Yes, corporal punishment was a thing in most schools. But you'd better believe that every adult in the neighborhood knew the phone numbers of every parent, and they were afraid not to use it. It did have its good side, though. When my sister and I took our younger cousin to a playground and she got bitten by a snake, the first car we flagged down was my grandmother's next door neighbor's teen daughter. She took the cousin to the hospital and we went to tell our mother and aunt. The ER crew started treating her before her mother got there. Luckily, since we were in Florida and could have easily been worse, it was a nonpoisonous snake. Cousin was 3, I was 6 and sister was 8. Neighbor teen was almost 17. We were 4 or 5 blocks from aunt's house.

[@thehangmansdaughter1120]

Wow, Mrs. Thomas would spank us at the drop of a hat. We usually deserved it. But, if anything went wrong we knew we could go to her house for help, like when my sister fell off a fence and needed stitches in her knee.

[@EbonyPope]

Also he doesn't seem to know that child abduction was and still is an incredibly rare case. You can't put children in a golden cage. We're seeing the effects what it did to the newer generation. Obesity is only one detrimental effect it had since kids don't play at much outside anymore.

[@batfurs3001]

@@EbonyPope mmhm, and that safe communities where children can play outside unsupervised (or at least freely without having parents breathing down their necks 24/7) are FANTASTIC for a kid's development. Independence is SO important for kids, and I am so incredibly grateful that I had that growing up in Europe. I have American friends that aren't allowed to go out on their own at all at age SIXTEEN. Talk about sheltered! As is a kid being able to walk or bike to school alone or with a friend. Unfortunately American suburbs are incredibly dangerous, not because of horrible serial killers, but because of their terribly pedestrian unfriendly design.

[@EbonyPope]

@@Julia-uh4li Well that's exactly my point. Too much screen time. And it's up to you as a parent to control that. Children need to get bored by the way. It's the source of creativity. Once you're bored you get creative to find something to play. But having a screen in front of you that can do everything will suppress this urge. What's the point in getting creative when you just can get online and okay games, watch videos or use social media? Of course this will have negative health effects.

[@mikemhoon]

We were once communities. Now people live years in a place and never know their neighbors. It was a totally different mindset back then.

[@brianwenger2112]

I live in new Orleans. I know "awe puh loose sis" quiet well. Never heard of this story. Nice

[@colemanstein9554]

I literally found out about this yesterday. Get out of my head, Simon!

[@ThatWriterKevin]

Where was it? Someone else said the same thing in the comments

[@ASHl33164]

Basically the moment I was born, my dad noticed a fairly large birthmark on my left thigh, and consciously made note of it because he had heard about babies being switched at birth in the hospital. I’ve always laughed a little bit at this story and thought it was kind of heartwarming, as he always teases me about it, since that was how he knew I was definitely his kid, but I honestly had no idea the statistics of babies being switched were so high! 😯😮

[@areolata]

In suburban U.S., when I grew up, we were away from our homes as much as possible. During the summer we would eat breakfast and all the kids would head out somewhere to play (local park, woods, etc). We would randomly go to someone's house for lunch, alternating houses each day, and then go back out again. My mother would just go out the front door and holler for us to come home (as did other mothers) when it was dinner time. She had a booming voice but we could be as far as a mile from our home so we would just all head home once we heard anyone's mother shouting "dinnertime!". These were days where you could just go to any house if you got hurt and the homeowner would patch you up, or call your mom, or help out in any way needed. I know there were still bad people even then but I never once encountered anyone even remotely creepy during those times.

[@teaspoonsofpeanutbutter6425]

Community. That's what I feel we're now missing. And I live in a small, fairly safe place. Community just isn't a thing any more.

[@chlorineismyperfume]

My childhood in western Australia was exactly like that in the 80s, hollering mother and all! Fond memories

[@moramorandobianchi7093]

I was searching for videos about this case, and I really liked your format

[@kitrozon4422]

They didn’t tear the family apart by doing this DNA test. The selfish members of the family are the ones who now knew they’re family kidnapped that poor woman’s child and they weren’t part of the family in blood but nothing changed except there were answers now. Just not the answers they wanted made public that brought shame on their family. Selfish and petty family from a rich background. Snobs.

[@mirandagoldstine8548]

Agree. Also back when this case was big there was a huge amount of discrimination against single mothers and illegitimate children so if they did know “Bobby” wasn’t really Bobby they probably justified it by thinking the boy would be better off in a two-parent family. It was basically based in the morals of the time that drove them to claim Bruce as Bobby. Either way they have to come to terms that their ancestors lied in court which is a felony and caused a woman who had so many blocks against her to experience pain yet again.

[@trishapellis]

Love the little clip of Rev. Chris from Jolly at 1:19. Also, my father heartily corroborates the idea that if a school teacher had hit you and you told your parents, they would hit you too because they trusted that you had deserved it... but then again my grandmother seems to have been of the disposition that you should beat a kid up every now and then anyway, because if you didn't know what they'd done, the kid themself would know... And at that I want to say "The past was the worst" with a big fat wink, but r/InsaneParents suggests this specific kind of thing is far from a thing of the past - it just depends on where you go.

[@73dmonty]

Stunned to hear the stats on swapped babies - would have to check that out. Can't say what all hospitals are like but my girls had a band put on their ankle at birth with both parents info & unique # . My husband got one at the same time with sane info & they gave me one in addition to my own patient id bracelet. Girls did have to go for some testing & treatment but nurses, docs all checked baby to adult anytime they came or went without one of us. Common practice as far as I know so it seems hard to believe that #.

[@kencarlile1212]

Trust me Simon, there were and are _plenty_ of places in the US where kids simply couldn't just go out and play in the street. Hollywood has done a real number on all sorts of things that we perceive as reality.

[@ohioplayer-bl9em]

but many, many places they could and still can. Thats why i bought the house i live in now. The community is small and kids play in the streets still. if a car is in the neighborhood its because they live here or are visiting someone. nobody just drives through because nothing is there.

[@olga138]

We lived in the country, played in the road, went on our bikes to our friends' houses a mile or more away, walked those roads on Halloween with no adults, etc etc. I live in a town now where I see middle school and elementary kids walking home from school, or riding their skateboards or bikes---no adults picking them up in cars. There are lots of places in the US that are safe---all the noise about children being abducted is exaggerated.

[@carnuatus]

I'm confused about what Hollywood has to do with it?

[@olga138]

@@carnuatus Simon said that watching American movies gave him the impression that it was like Mayberry everywhere---kids playing outside unsupervised and no crime, etc. In his case, he lived on a busy road and his friends were a mile or more away, so he couldn't just hop on his bike and go play with someone.

[@christiansheets8725]

Ah yes, America; eight lane highways, parking lots that stretch to the horizons, and relentless traffic. All wonderful and safe places to enjoy the outdoors!

[@K8E666]

Love this channel ! It’s second only to The Casual Criminalist on my list of KZbin channels 😊

[@joeclerkin2653]

My wife was born in and spent the first 6 years of her life in Opelousas!

[@molybdomancer195]

Do you watch this channel normally or were you attracted by the story? I suspect Simon didn’t take into account that people from the town might come here to watch it because of the title

[@joeclerkin2653]

@@molybdomancer195 I’ve been watching Simmons shows for a while now so this is a coincidence. I did tell my wife the many different ways he tried to pronounce it’s name and she got a good laugh from it.

[@chrf65]

I turned 10 in 89, we definitely played outside nonstop, in the street, the woods, rode our bikes daily etc. we better had been in the house by the time the street lights came on. we grew up on a small lake in CT so we skated all the time as well

[@MCsCreations]

It's not only sad, it's shocking!

[@acousticrocker7990]

This is probably the best Decoding the Unknown yet!

[@ThatWriterKevin]

Thanks!

[@moniquejeffrey]

you legitimately caught me with the introduction because I know I did not click on the new Casual Criminalist episode. That is the next video on my list.

[@rachelwitherspoon4394]

Oh yay a Kevin DtU!!! Gonna be fun!! Kevin does such great intros!!! The 80s and 90s are great in my memories, but I WAS unaware of the ax murder that went down a few blocks away, and the kidnapping, murder of 2 kids where they found the dude driving around with body parts in their cooler. Less than 2 degrees of separation between me and that killer, and had NO IDEA. We just didnt HEAR about that kind of stuff as much back then.

[@ThatWriterKevin]

Thanks!

[@NDMagoo]

The wagon story is significant. It's either true and probably describes Bobby's death, or is made up for some reason. If Bruce knew that he was really Bobby, he may well have made up the wagon story in an attempt to get people to stop looking for him (Bruce).

[@mirandagoldstine8548]

Yeah. I think if it did happen Bruce probably buried the trauma deep in his mind in an attempt to erase it from his memory. But that’s the problem, trauma likes to linger in the mind and when he was asked about it later it managed to unearth itself and he had to relive the shock. Plus I think Bruce went along with it because he had felt, in some way, the stigma his mom had to deal with due to her having illegitimate children so perhaps the Dunbars were a nice change from what he might have grown up with. Kids are oftentimes far more perceptive than people give them credit for. I did read that Julia later got a better life as she did find love again and eventually married him (I have not found her husband’s name) as well as found a warm welcome in a community far from her old home in North Carolina. Apparently she became a midwife in Poplarville and did have more kids like Simon said but she was always regretful of losing her son Bruce but back then she didn’t have a chance. Her reputation probably colored people’s perception of her during the trial plus the Dunbars were a wealthy and powerful family who likely had enough wealth and probably some political clout to bribe the right people. So yeah I do think in a way the Dunbars kidnapped Bruce and the Dunbar family has to come to terms with the guilt that their ancestors committed a terrible act. Because in the end the truth always comes out. But still that leaves the question of who the third boy was if the recollection was true. Walters was certainly guilty of kidnapping but, if Bobby did drown in the swamp, then could there have been another family that lost their child, another set of victims? I think so and I’m afraid that we may never get the full story. The boy, who was probably Bruce, passed away years ago and without a journal we can’t say if his memories were real or not.

[@SparkLove4all]

Love your presentation. Keep up the good work! 🤪

[@RareInTheHistory]

I had heard the story before but without the further information of the granddaughter uncovering Bobby's visits to the Andersons and doing DNA only to prove he was indeed not a Dunbar. I feel for both families, one clinging to the hope he was theirs and the other certain he was theirs only to have him ripped away again once found. It's such an incredibly sad set of circumstances.

[@H_412]

Long time fan of all the shows. Not sure if the background music in Decoding is a recent addition but I like it a lot

[@kittjy9438]

It's been a long time since I watched Unsolved and the Ghoul boys' take on this. I can't help but laugh on how alike Simon's and the boys' comment on the "pony". 🤣🤣🤣

[@suet.r.4815]

When I was in my twenties, I had a very elderly next door neighbor lady, who was a child in the early 20th century and lived here back then. (Northern Wyoming, USA) In the 1910's she and her friends would leave in the morning and wander for miles. They had an old frying pan and they would catch frogs and make a fire and fry the legs when they were hungry. It was very rural... very "old west." They really didn't go home at all until supper time. Their parents were busy working all day... few modern conveniences, make your own bread and butcher and salt your own meat, and all. By the time she was ten, she was working along side the adults. It was just a different time and place. I was raised on a ranch, quite isolated, so that play-in-the-street-with-friends-all-day experience wasn't mine either. But I did walk off by myself for miles sometimes. - -Sometimes I would get in trouble when I arrived back because nobody knew where I'd gone.

[@magnificentfailure2390]

Growing up in the 60's and 70's I heard dozens of cautionary tales of kids who went missing, kids who were assaulted in public restrooms, kids who died at their own parents hands, etc. God forbid any other adult raise a hand to my siblings or me, aside from my parents and grandmother. My Dad would have and did physically assault people who hit his kids. I'm not sure what world the intro is based on, but it wasn't the one I grew up in. Edit: I sure did play in the streets and I did go missing for hours. More than once I got home to find police crawling all over the area searching for me. I was generally miles away from home, so searching the neighborhood was pointless.

[@neelasorable]

When my brother was born he was given to another woman on a different ward. My mum went to feed this other kid and then realised it wasn't my brother and had to fully argue with the midwife it wasn't her kid, eventually the mess up was fixed. Wild times.

[@Beth-mi2hf]

​@silksonic3927you do realize there hasn't always been DNA testing right

[@symonew33]

Im so confused about how babies are still switched at the hospital. When i gave birth in 2015 they marked me, my daughter and her dad, they gave me and my daughter bracelets that had to be scanned in order everytime they took her away from the room and they had to be rescanned when they brought her back, and they gave my boyfriend and daughter a matching electronic bracelet when she went for testing that would go off if she got too far away from her father who went to the testing room with her.

[@ThatWriterKevin]

The math comes out to 4-5 times per year per hospital. I guess babies get moved around a ton, like a dozen times every day, and it just kinda happens occasionsally. But thanks to the bracelets and everything else now, almost every mistake is caught long before anyone leaves the hospial

[@ohioplayer-bl9em]

daughters, Fathers, and boyfriends.. im confused 🤔

[@tomorrow4eva]

Depends on the tech and policies the hospital is using, and if they have good staff. If those are all good your chances of a swap are extremely low. The more of those three are lacking, the higher your chances of a swap.

[@DFSJR1203]

Simon, in the 1960's our parents where at home while my friends and I would go out in the woods behind some junk yards and play all day. We never had a problem with abductions, only getting in a fight with another group of kids.

[@williambrandondavis6897]

Ignorance is bliss

[@DaxianPreston]

And even today abductions by strangers is incredibly rare. People confuse the statistics. Our streets are safer than they have ever been yet people think it’s some sort of free for all kidnapping nightmare. The 60s 70s and 80s had much higher crime rates than today. In the US anyway.

[@sydneyetboyd3879]

I knew of this story but not to this detail. Thank you for sharing the whole story.

[@zeroreyortsed3624]

There were some children separated from their parents on a large scale In The US a few years ago. They were around that age, and were separated For roughly the same amount of time, give or take. And when they were reunited with their mothers and fathers, they didn't recognize them, and actually wanted to return to the social worker. So it is completely possible the boy didn't remember his mother when he was returned to her.

[@kathryncumberland]

Small child not remembering their parents is one thing. But parents not remembering their child? Impossible!

[@toxicginger9936]

@@jmax8692 OP didn't ignore that factor, that simply wasn't the specific factor the OP was addressing.

[@felicitybywater8012]

Agreed. Eight months is a very long time in the life of a child that young.

[@LizzyDel]

Great video!

[@pullt]

I was put up for adoption soon after my birth and I see my birth mother as an angel for her gift she gave my parents as my Mom had medical issues leaving her infertile. I've no interest in meeting her, but she is a hero to me. Not sure why descendants 100 years down the line would care so much. The value of our experiences here is in your interactions with people you care about, not some certainty about the family tree.

[@Itiswhatitis638]

But your mum wanted to give you up and you knew your story.. the Andersons didn’t give up their child and the child didn’t know who he was.

[@Werevampiwolf]

I think it's more the fact that Bruce was basically kidnapped from his birth mom. She didn't want him to be adopted by another family, he was taken from her, twice Would you feel differently if you found out that instead of being put up for adoption, that there's a very large chance that you were kidnapped? Because I would at least want to find out if there was that much doubt.

[@pullt]

@@Werevampiwolf If I were kidnapped 110 years ago and dead for decades, I'd not care because I'm dead. If my great-grandfather or grandfather were kidnapped 110 years ago and were dead for decades, I'd also not care

[@SteRDLK]

@@pullt Alright, you wouldn't care, this family did

[@pullt]

@@SteRDLK I realize that. I'm just stating that it's stupid. Assuming there's no funny incest business, everyone has 64 great- great- -great- great- great- grandfathers and something horrific happened to at least one of them. At some point, surely any rational person would stop caring I'm just saying 110 years ago is in my non-caring basket.

[@MG-hz7wi]

I was born in 1966 and raised on a one block Street in a suburb of Los Angeles county. During my growing years, we would spend all of our free time playing with other kids on the block, with the knowledge that wants the sun went down, you would go home for dinner. If your parents wanted you home before that, they would just call a neighbor who would yell out your name and tell you that your parents wanted you at home. It was a great time.

[@TeraunceFoaloke]

Well this was very bittersweet but it does seem Bruce made some effort to keep in touch with his birth family, even if it was just small talk. He also seems to have maybe tried to provide some closure with that wagon story.

[@mirandagoldstine8548]

Yeah. I think so. But if the boy who fell of the wagon, if it was true, wasn’t Bobby, then who was it? Could there have been a third family that lost a family member?

[@TeraunceFoaloke]

@@mirandagoldstine8548 As Simon said very unlikely. The wagon story was pure fiction.

[@mirandagoldstine8548]

@@TeraunceFoaloke Who know if it was true or not. I’ll admit that.

[@LloxieFox]

Now this was an interesting, if ultimately sad one. Definitely one of the more intriguing episodes, even if it has some "intense", as Simon puts it, aspects.

[@beawriting]

That’s freaky! I just read about this on Reddit last night.

[@flowertrue]

My mom, after having five albino children, never expected to have another baby, but especially one without the condition. When she saw the baby she thought it was switched. She kept saying about my sister, "She's so brown!" Even though she was pretty fair skinned. The doctor, an Indian woman, was confused. She said, "I don't think she's so brown!"

[@novice5895]

Wouldn’t it be crazy if the real Bobby had survived all that time, somehow? Waiting, hoping, praying for his parents to rescue him😔. So sad to contemplate. RIP Bobby & Bruce🕊🕊.

[@heathercurry898]

My earliest memory that I can still recall is from 5 years old. Nothing before that. At all.

[@joelb8653]

I was born in the '50s and parenting consisted of telling you to come home when the streetlights came on.

[@Kiahona]

Found a new Simon channel. Hell yeah!

[@jesway]

My brother was born in the early 80’s in Panama. While in the hospital, Mom would try to feed him and he wouldn’t nurse. Turns out the nurses had been handing him to another mother! After several nursing sessions, she insisted he was her baby. Crazy.

[@rudra62]

There is a bond that happens between a woman and the baby she nurses - whether or not it's biologically her baby or not. That was the case for many wet-nurses, when they were a big thing - whether it was done by making a slave wet-nurse a white baby, or if it was someone doing it for pay or out of sympathy. Some of these bonds were heart-wrenching when broken, and some of those bonds last a lifetime.

[@jeanneswift2005]

I enjoyed Your video and just subscribed.

[@jannetteberends8730]

English psychologists warned decades ago that the harm that was done by overprotecting children in England, outweighs by far the very little change on harm done by strangers. And I think they were right. Dutch children are the happiest in the world according to a UN report. One of the reasons mentioned is that they can go wherever they want on their own On their bikes). In that way they are independent and have control.

[@davidspencer7254]

Psychology is a cod profession.

[@badluck5647]

This my favorite episode so far.

[@ThatWriterKevin]

Thanks!

[@MaterMotely]

This isn't completely in relation to this episode, except for the serial killer talk at the beginning. But might I suggest a book. Sons of Cain by Peter Vronsky. A great book on the history of killers with a very interesting theory on why there were so many in the 80s.

[@anna9072]

I grew up in the 60’s. And yes, all the neighborhood kids ran around together and were parented mostly by all the parents. We were free to roam as long as we didn’t go out of hearing of mom’s dinner bell, but woe betide you if she rang the bell and you didn’t come. We caught tadpoles and frogs in the swamp, explored and climbed trees and generally did whatever. Everyone in the neighborhood knew everyone else. Yes, there were certainly creeps around, I had an experience with one, I think it was far less prevalent than today, and it was a great way to grow up.

[@thehangmansdaughter1120]

When I was a kid in the 70s and 80s in New Zealand we'd go out to play and come home when we were hungry. If you misbehaved the nearest adult would spank you. If you were the oldest in a group of kids the younger children were your responsibility. If you were home alone you weren't allowed to let a stranger inside. No-one thought any of this was weird. Maybe NZ was just a little safer? If a kid went missing the entire nation knew about it.

[@LaylaSpellwind]

Casualling the unknown. There's a reason I love both these channels... They're very similar. =D

[@btetschner]

Fascinating case! Her family probably didn't want him to get a DNA test because then it would make them all look like frauds. What a shocking ending.

[@rebecca7948]

Another interesting case! It is sad for all really!

[@ignitionfrn2223]

5:00 - Chapter 1 - The disappearance of Bobby Dunbar 11:55 - Chapter 2 - The reappearance of Bobby Dunbar 16:25 - Chapter 3 - William walters & bruce anderson 22:20 - Chapter 4 - Revisionist history 25:55 - Chapter 5 - Margaret dunbar cutright 30:25 - Chapter 6 - An inconvenient truth 34:25 - Chapter 7 - The truth comes out 39:35 - Wrap up

[@joecampbell3660]

Jen… you’re the best!

[@MCsCreations]

Hello there, General Kenobi.

[@mikieswart]

you are a bold one

[@MCsCreations]

@@mikieswart Simon always says "Hello there" in the beginning, but not this time. Did you notice it as well? 😬

[@Nilboggen]

I will say that strange memories coming back to you later in life can happen. I am 38 now but when I was in high school I had this vivid memory of being on an airplane and playing with a toy medical kit. I told my mom and she was like yeah we flew to texas when you were 2 and a half to visit your Aunt and I gave you the toy medical kit as a reward for flying there. She didn't believe that I actually remembered it but then I was able to tell her our seat number and the exact color of the medical kit brown with a teal interior and a silver and orange hammer inside with a black and orange stethoscope and white fake case of bandaids (I can still vividly recall this right now) who we were sitting by and pretty much everything about 5 minutes of that plane ride. And I don't have any magic memory abilities that is the only memory I can recall like that where I know everything about that one scene. Its super weird. Its also my earliest memory obviously and to be honest things don't really pick up again until I am 5 or so and then its only bits and pieces.

[@deltatango6793]

I enjoyed this story very much! …bittersweet ending, but fascinating nonetheless.