The daughter of Duane “Dog the Bounty Hunter” Chapman thanked fans following her father’s announcement that he’s engaged, but she said that people shouldn’t be so quick to judge his actions.
Chapman announced his engagement to Francie Frane, coming less than a year after his wife, Beth, died of cancer.
“As usual, very thankful for those who are supportive,” she wrote on Instagram, adding that people shouldn’t be quick to judge. “Please for the love of God, let him be,” Chapman continued.
“It’s been extremely difficult to see one parent pass, and the other so intent on following. My father deserves to be happy. He’s still got my mother’s name on his chest, he’ll never forget her and the love she gave him,” Bonnie Chapman added. “She would be happy my father is in love and finding peace,” Bonnie added.
She noted: “As usual, no one can replace my mother; but it’s okay to let new people in. Life is filled with so much sorrow and hurt, in times like this is when love is found unexpected.”
In a recent interview with TMZ, Duane Chapman said his family is supportive of the engagement.
“For a living, she’s a rancher and she recently lost her husband to cancer six months before I lost Beth Chapman so we hopped on the phone, started talking to each other, crying and consoling each other and then one thing led to another and it’s just incredible that I’ve been able to meet someone like her,” Dog told the website. “With Francie, I’m allowed to speak about Beth, we speak about her husband. We cry. We hold each other.”
Beth Chapman last summer died after battling cancer for several years. She was 51.
“No matter what happens, she and the family have placed all of their hope, faith, and trust in God,” the family’s agent said in a statement after her death.
The two rose to fame when they both appeared on the A&E show “Dog the Bounty Hunter” for eight seasons until 2012. They also appeared on WGN’s “Dog’s Most Wanted.”
Weeks after Beth’s death, Chapman said he wouldn’t get married again.
Chapman told People magazine in late August that he and his late wife had discussed the possibility of him moving on before she died from cancer in late June 2019. “I probably will do that, and I told her that,” Chapman said of dating. “What deal we said is I will never take ‘Beth’ off my chest, I have her name here. And I will never get married.”
He continued, “And she said to me, ‘We are human, okay?’ And probably the same thing I’d say to her.”
