Dog The Bounty Hunter grieves daughter Barbara Katie in heartbreaking tribute on 15th death anniversary
Dog the Bounty Hunter posted a heartbreaking tribute to his late daughter, Barbara Katie, on her 15th death anniversary.
Dog, 67, whose real name is Duane Lee Chapman, took to Instagram on Tuesday, May 19, to remember his beloved child who tragically passed away at the age of 23 after a car accident. "Fifteen years ago today. My Barbara Katie went to be with Jesus," Chapman wrote as a caption to a photo of Katie holding her son Travis who was four-years-old at the time of her death.
Katie was driving the car on that ill-fated day and was accompanied by a friend in the vehicle, who was also killed in the horrific crash. The car in question swerved off the road and hit a bunch of trees before toppling over during the crash in 2006. Apparently, Katie had a history of drug and alcohol abuse which is said to have played a major part in the accident in which she lost her life. "There is no clue as to why they left the roadway. There are absolutely no skid marks on the road. They just went off the road, hit an embankment, and launched" Trooper Jeremy Stone claimed at the time, the Sun reported.
Katie was born in June 1982 to Chapman and his ex-wife Lyssa Greene. “B-K was a sweet, bubbly girl whose earliest loves were bringing home strays and fishing on her daddy’s knee,” according to her obituary. “Bright and beautiful, her dream was to be a veterinarian. Dearly loved by family and friends, the loss of her smile, contagious laugh, and goofy humor will be missed and mourned forever.”
The tragedy was especially difficult for Chapman as he was planning to marry Beth Chapman in Hawaii, the very next day of the crash - a wedding that they had been planning for months. Despite finding out about the car crash and his daughter's death, Duane decided to go ahead with the ceremony as planned. After discussing it with those closest to the couple, "they all decided unanimously they should celebrate the wedding and her life,” Michael Feeney, senior vice president of A&E television network, revealed in a statement at the time, In Touch Weekly reported. During their reception, Duane and Beth broke the news of their daughter's death to the attendees.
“She’s with mom now,” Cecily B. Chapman commented below her dad's latest post referring to her own mother, Beth, who she died in June 2019, following a long battle with cancer, nearly spending 30 years together with Duane. “It’s 5:32 in Hawaii, this is the time she would wake up to go hike Koko Head mountain. Only today, she hiked the stairway to heaven,” the bounty hunter tweeted at the time, confirming she passed away at the age of 51.
After less than a year of his wife's passing, Duane started dating a woman named Francie Frane whom he recently got engaged to after just a month of romance. the pair were introduced when Francie's husband Bob was asked to do some work at Duane's Colorado mansion. Bob died several months before Beth did, causing Duane and Francie to bond over their shared grief before their friendship eventually turned into a romantic relationship.