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It’s clear to anyone who’s ever seen them that Duane “Dog” Chapman and his wife, Beth Chapman, loved each other very much. The couple was together for nearly 30 years before the blonde bombshell lost her battle with cancer at only 51 years old, but the story of their romance lasts a couple of years longer. After meeting when Beth was just 19 and Duane was a 35-year-old father of almost 10 children, the two had an immediate connection — but it would be a while before they would make things official. So what went down in their incredible, unbelievable love story? Check out the gallery below to get the full timeline of their lives.
During the couple’s first interaction in 1988, they actually didn’t meet at all. When Beth was arrested after getting caught shoplifting from a grocery store (by accident, she claims), her dad called bail bondsman Duane to get her out.
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First Meeting
When she swung by his office to fill out some paperwork, they finally met in person — and for Beth, it was love at first sight. “He came walking out there and I said, ‘Oh, yes, he will be mine,'” she told Rosie O’Donnell on the actress’ talk show.
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Working Girl
Duane, however, wasn’t as easily convinced — so, after some more legal trouble and a few other run-ins, Beth also started working in the bond business in order to catch his attention. “Let the stalking begin,” she joked to Rosie.
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Other Relationships
Of course, there were more than a few obstacles in their path — including two of Duane’s wives. He was married to his third wife, Lyssa, when he and Beth first met, and he later married his fourth wife, Tawny.
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Courtesy Beth Chapman/Instagram
A Tied Knot
Beth ended up finding a husband of her own, daughter Cecily Chapman‘s father, Keith. Despite that, the couple was still seeing each other. “I was the other woman,” Beth admitted, noting that their relationship went on through “two wives, and one really good girlfriend.”
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Finding Each Other
Eventually, their other relationships drove them apart, and Beth ended up in Colorado while Duane was in a toxic relationship in Hawaii. When he finally got out and moved to Colorado to live near his sister, they ran into each other again — and it was finally on for real. “One day, we were both standing in the alley behind the houses on bail bonds row. It was like a scene from a movie,” the reality star wrote in his book You Can Run, But You Can’t Hide. “I looked at her and she at me. By the time Beth got to the back of the alley I was already by her side. I grabbed her and put the most passionate kiss on her.”
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Moving In
Duane and several of his kids moved into Beth’s home with her daughter Cecily, and they started running their bond and bounty hunting business together. Before long, they started popping out kids of their own.
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Courtesy Beth Chapman/Instagram
A Blended Family
In December 1998, they welcomed daughter Bonnie Jo Chapman. A little over two years later, in February 2001, they had their son Garry Chapman. Duane also adopted Cecily. Between the two of them, they had 13 kids.
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Real Love, Reality TV
In 2004, they landed their first TV show, Dog the Bounty Hunter. It would start airing in August of that year and last for eight seasons, leading to follow up shows like Dog and Beth: On the Hunt and Dog’s Most Wanted.
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Courtesy Beth Chapman/Instagram
Popping the Question
Though Duane had already taken to calling Beth his wife and the two wore rings while they were apart, he finally decided to put a ring on it (for real) in 2005, asking her to marry him while they were in Las Vegas, Nevada. She said yes — and they almost wed right then and there, but didn’t make it to the courthouse before it closed.
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Making It Official
In May 2006, they finally walked down the aisle and were legally wed. “In my heart, I always knew Beth would be my forever wife. It was time to make it official,” the bounty hunter wrote in his book Where Mercy Is Shown, Mercy Is Given.
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Courtesy of Beth Chapman/Instagram
Cancer Scare
The couple spent the next decade together raising their family and growing their business, but in August 2017, Beth was diagnosed with Stage 2 throat cancer. “I have what is referred to as a T2 Tumor in my throat that is blocking my breathing,” she wrote in a letter obtained by Radar Online. “I was like, ‘Oh my God.’ I have a 16-year-old son in high school. I had just dropped my daughter off at college. … [My Kids are] going to be 21 years old … with no mother,” the star exclusively told In Touch.
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Beating Cancer
Luckily, the odds were in Beth’s favor. She underwent a tumor removal surgery in September 2017 and was given a clean bill of health by November 2017. “Part of me feels it’s hard to believe that I had it, part of me thinks it’s hard to believe it’s gone,” she told In Touch.
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A Second Diagnosis
In November 2018, the couple faced bad news once again after Beth was rushed to the hospital for surgery on a life-threatening blockage in her throat. In January 2019, she hinted that she was undergoing chemotherapy before seemingly revealing that she’d quit a few months later in May.
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Love Lives On
In June 2019, Beth was placed in a medically induced coma, passing away a few days later on June 26. But despite her death, Duane’s love for his wife can’t be stopped. “We all love you, Beth,” the husband wrote on Twitter, grieving her loss. “See you on the other side.”
