Dog The Bounty Hunter Wife: A Timeline Of Their Relationship

By Cara Dudgeon 4 years ago

Dog The Bounty Hunter's Wife: A Timeline Of Their Relationship
The death of Dog the Bounty Hunter's wife, Beth, has shocked many. Fans took to social media to pay their respects, but no one was more upset than Duane.

Her year long battle with cancer came to an end on June 26th.

Beth might have been Dog the Bounty Hunter's fifth wife, but she was his one true love and only long term relationship.

In honour of Dog the Bounty Hunter's wife, Beth Chapman, let's take a trip down memory lane as we remember their love story.

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dog the bounty hunter wife - duane and beth on the red carpet

Image Source/ People

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How did they first meet?


Beth and Duane first met in 1988, but didn't get married until nearly TWENTY years in the future!

In a similar manner to Princess Diana, Beth famously said:
'I was the other woman through three wives [...] Two wives, and one really good girlfriend'.

When the future Mr and Mrs Chapman met, Duane was married to Lyssa Rae Brittain. Together they had three children: Barbara, Tucker and Lyssa. Rumour has it that Duane paid Lyssa $1000 to have a child with him! That's $333.33 for each child...

The pair got divorced in 1991. However, rather than pursuing his feelings with Beth, Duane went on to marry Tawney Marie.

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Just like Beth, Duane met Tawney in 1988 - he arrested her for drug possession. So romantic! She went on to be Duane's secretary; take that in whatever way you will...

The pair were only married from 1992-1994 but didn't officially divorce until 2002. Duane discussed his marriage to Tawney in his autobiography, You Can Run But You Can't Hide (2007); he stated that the marriage was 'a disaster from the start', also claiming that she had an amphetamine addiction.

Throughout all of this, Beth and Duane had an on-and-off relationship. After Duane's separation from Tawney in 1994, Duane and Beth finally decided to take their relationship seriously in 1995. They had two children out of wedlock: Bonnie in 1998 and Garry in 2001. Duane also adopted Beth's daughter, Cecily, from her previous marriage.

They finally married in Hawaii on May 20th, 2006.

Duane and Beth Chapman's wedding day

Image Source/ Pinterest

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Tragedy before the wedding...


Beth and Duane's special day had finally come. Little did they know it would be struck by such heartbreak.

The day before the famous bounty couple were set to be married, Duane's daughter Barbara died.

The 23-year-old was involved in a car crash in Alaska which also killed the stolen car's driver. Jeremy Stone, an Alaskan State Troop released a statement about the incident:
'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'.

Barbara's mother, Lyssa admits that she:
'had gotten herself into a terrible mess. … She was trying as hard as she could to put her life back together'.

Despite this tragedy, Duane and Beth went through with their nuptials.

It is obvious that Duane still misses his daughter...



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King and Queen of TV...


2004 saw 'Dog the Bounty Hunter' appear on our screens for the first time with a show of the same name. The show ran on A&E for eight seasons before being cancelled in 2012.

CMT saw their opportunity and decided to create their own season, 'Dog and Beth: On the Hunt'. The show had three seasons before Beth confirmed that they had left CMT - with all rights to their show - which effectively cancelled the series.

Yet again, another television company saw their chance and WGN America chose to develop their first unscripted show in over five years! 'Dog's Most Wanted' will star Duane, Beth and 'The Dirty Dozen' AKA Duane's professional team of hunters. The show was supposed to be broadcast in late 2019 but due to Beth's illness, it is thought to be aired in 2020.


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Beth's illness...


In 2017, Beth was diagnosed with stage II throat cancer. She had a 13-hour surgery to remove the tumor and told everyone that she was going to fight the disease 'like hell'.

A 90 minute TV special titled, 'Dog and Beth: Fight of Their Lives' was shown in November 2017 to record the event.

Initially, Beth went into remission. However, in 2o18 she had another cancer diagnosis after doctors discovered the disease's return after operating life-saving surgery on Beth. She had a blockage in her throat.

The bail bondsman and his wife decided to move back to Colorado, where Beth was born, after she received her stage IV cancer diagnosis.

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Talking about the move to US Weekly, Duane said:
'They say the cancer follows the path of least resistance, so it goes downward. Half of her lung was full of water [...] But she's much more comfortable now [that] she can breathe, but she just wanted to come back to Colorado, she loves it here'.

He went on to say:
'Beth will not take anything the doctors want to give her, even the doctor told me he doesn't want her to have seizures if the pain is that bad, but she won't do it. She takes over-the-counter pain meds. She will not take anything prescription'.

Beth was never shy about the alternative therapies she was testing out:



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Her untimely death...


The couple moved back to Hawaii before her passing.

Despite her fighting, Beth was placed in a medically induced coma a few days prior to her death. On June 26th, Beth passed away.

Duane posted a tweet stating:


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Beth's funeral service will be on July 13 in Denver, Colorado. However, she has also had a traditional Hawaiian 'paddle out'.

A paddle-out sees mourners go into the ocean on a surfboard or boat before forming a line or circle whilst holding hands and then placing a wreath of flowers into the ocean.



RIP to Beth Chapman. Our thoughts go out to her family at this time.

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