‘Dog the Bounty Hunter‘ Remembers Late Wife Beth, Says, ’There‘ll Never Be Another’

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Beth Chapman, the better half of the duo from the hit TV show “Dog the Bounty Hunter,” who had been fighting Stage 4 throat cancer, passed away on June 26, 2019. Everything was turned upside down for her husband, Duane “Dog” Chapman, and their family.

As Dog told People, “You realize that never will no one love me as much as she did and I will probably never love no one else as much as I loved her.” In recent months, Dog and his children have opened up in interviews and on social media about the grieving process and how irreplaceable Beth was in the family.

As he and his children continue to mourn, he promises to carry on his work of bringing wanted criminals to justice in honor of her memory. On what would have been Beth’s 52nd birthday, Dog paid tribute to her with a clip from their final show together, “Dog’s Most Wanted,” which aired on WGN. “There will never be another like you,” he wrote.

Dog and Beth were co-owners of Da'Kine Bail Bonds in Honolulu, Hawaii, and were married in 2006 at the Hilton Hotel in Waikoloa Village as their show was taking off. They had two children together, Bonnie and Garry Chapman, and Dog adopted Cecily, who was Beth’s child from another marriage.

“Dog The Bounty Hunter” (2004 to 2012) featured the couple and Dog’s adult children Leland and Lyssa Chapman tracking down criminals on the run in Hawaii and Colorado and became a surprise hit on A&E. The couple’s colorful banter and fearlessness in tracking down hardened fugitives from justice captured the hearts of fans all over the world. A spin-off show, “Dog & Beth: On the Hunt,” which featured Beth Chapman in equal billing with her husband and business partner, ran on CMT from 2013 to 2015.

In September 2017, Beth received a stage 2 throat cancer diagnosis. As she wrote in a letter to family and friends that was published by US Weekly, “I’ve been dealt my share of unexpected blows over the course of my almost fifty years but nothing as serious as the one I heard from my doctors two weeks ago when they uttered those dreaded three words, ‘You have cancer.’”

Chapman explained that doctors told her immediate surgery would be the best chance at halting the disease’s progress. Despite the difficult prognosis, she tried to remain optimistic. As she told People, “You’ve got to fight it like hell. You can’t let it overtake your body—but you also can’t let it overtake your brain and your spirit. I totally believe in the power of prayer.”

While the cancer went into remission for a time, Chapman had to have emergency surgery in early 2018, which revealed that it had spread to other areas. Now her diagnosis was increased to an even bleaker stage 4. As Dog told US, “They cut a hole in her throat so she can breathe; she can still talk.” Noting that Beth was never one to back down from a challenge, he said she was “doing the best she can and remains incredibly strong.”

Despite her worsening health, Beth continued to run their bail bond business with Dog and filmed the first season of “Dog’s Most Wanted,” affirming her commitment to the production. “If I’m gonna die, I’m gonna die in my boots,” she said. In June 2019, after flying from Colorado back to Hawaii, Beth was placed in a medically induced coma. She passed away in the early morning of June 26, 2019.

As Dog tweeted, “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. We all love you, Beth. See you on the other side.”

In an emotional memorial service in Colorado broadcast on WGN America, the family, including daughter Bonnie, paid a moving tribute to Beth. “I’ve never imagined I would lose my mom at 20,” Bonnie said. “I never imagined walking down the aisle without her or her not judging my dress. I never imagined a life without her, it’s really tough now being without her.”

Dog, meanwhile, has been very vocal about his loneliness and his wish to remain unmarried in honor of Beth’s memory. “Even though she is not physically there, mentally and spiritually she is there,” he told Entertainment Tonight about filming without her. Dog plans to continue hunting and remains surrounded by family and friends, which helps him go on.

As he told ET, “There is not another Beth. There'll never be another Beth. There ain’t a girl built like another Beth.”