Dog The Bounty Hunter's Wife Francie Has Certainly Transformed

This article includes references to addiction, child abuse, and domestic violence.

One could argue that Duane "Dog the Bounty Hunter" Chapman's love life is as interesting as his televised fugitive captures. The Denver native, who shot to fame in the 2000s with his outlandish eponymous show, has been married no fewer than six times and is also a father of 13 children and counting.

In 2021, Francie Frane followed in the footsteps of (deep breath), La Fonda Sue Honeycutt, Anne M. Tegnell, Lyssa Rae Brittain, Tawny Marie, and Beth Smith when she walked down the aisle with the wild mullet-haired enforcer. But with Chapman's reality TV career stalling due to various behind-the-scenes problems, we've yet to see or hear that much of her.

From childhood trauma and drug addictions to religious beliefs and philanthropic endeavors, not to mention plenty of turbulent marriages of her own, here's what we do know about the latest arrival in Chapman's always eventful world.

In his 2007 memoir "You Can Run but You Can't Hide," Duane Chapman revealed that he'd been repeatedly physically abused by his dad as a youngster. "I was expected to take it like a man," he wrote. "But I wasn't a man. I was a young boy looking for love and approval from my father. I was desperate for his affection, so I ignored the pain."

Sadly, like many other hardships the reality TV star has faced in his life, that's something his wife Francie Frane can relate to. While appearing on the "Choosing God" episode of the podcast "Past to Power with Amy Elaine and Latan" in 2021, the sixth Mrs. Dog opened up about the trauma she suffered in her childhood.

Frane revealed that she'd been a victim of sexual abuse, but that her experiences were so traumatic she'd repressed all memories until adulthood. The Colorado native was able to draw upon her faith to help deal with all the emotional damage once they resurfaced. "The Lord chased me down and knocked me down later in my life ..." she told the hosts. "I had never experienced a love like this in my life and I ran to him with arms open."

Duane Chapman and Francie Frane have racked up more marriages between them than Elizabeth Taylor. The former had walked down the aisle five times before finding the latest love of his life, while the latter had previously said "I do" on three occasions. Unfortunately, Frane suffered at the hands of her first two ex-husbands.

While speaking to Naples Daily News in 2024, the latest Mrs. Dog revealed that she found herself in an abusive marriage the first time around and that she was left isolated as a result when she eventually broke free. Frane then added that she was also badly treated by her second husband, but luckily, she had a much stronger support network by this point.

"I did have these amazing people that came alongside me and helped me get a place to live and helped me to start getting into counseling and start getting some healing," Frane said. The former rancher later enjoyed a much happier marriage with an excavation contractor named Robert "Bob" Frane, who sadly died from cancer in 2019 before finding love again with Chapman.

So, what did Francie Frane do before she became immersed in the crazy reality TV world of her fourth husband Duane Chapman? Well, for much of her adult life, she worked as a rancher in her native Colorado.

In a business record search conducted by Heavy.com, it was also discovered that Frane was the proprietor of a firm initially named Delinquent which was later changed to Erosion Solutions Inc. And judging by her Instagram account, she hasn't entirely abandoned the ranching lifestyle since getting involved with TV's premier bounty hunter.

Captioning one particular Instagram snap — taken early on in their relationship — in which Chapman appears to be riding a tractor, Frane wrote, "Let's see if we can show this bounty hunting tough guy how to run some equipment, like us country folks do!!" In fact, she appears to enjoy introducing her fourth husband to various vehicles. In another snow-capped pic of her beau, Frane gleefully explains to her followers how she managed to persuade the former A&E regular to get on a snowmobile.

Francie Frane no doubt got slightly more than she bargained for when she first started dating Duane Chapman. For even at the age of 71, the reality TV star's brood appears to keep growing. In 2023, for example, he discovered that he had an adult son named Jon, taking his tally of children from previous relationships up to an almighty 13!

Luckily, Frane seems to have a good relationship with the majority of stepchildren she's inherited. Lyssa Chapman even stood up for the pair following criticism that they'd both moved on from their former late spouses too soon. "He's the happiest I've seen him in a long time — he's so in love and wants to spend the rest of his life with Francie," she told The Sun, also acknowledging how her future stepmom had been respectful of her mother, Beth. 

Frane also has a family of her own, albeit a much smaller one: two sons and a grandson. And thankfully, they also appear to have welcomed Chapman with open arms. Discussing their first meeting, she told ET, "I had them come over and [Duane] shows up at the door and I think my son sat there for five minutes and couldn't say a word because he was shell-shocked. Now they love him. My grandson calls him 'Grandpa Dog' already."

And the similarities between Duane Chapman and Francie Frane keep coming. Indeed, both parties have struggled with drug problems in the past, the former with crack cocaine in the wake of his mother's death in the mid-1990s and the latter with Adderall.

In a candid interview with CBS 42 in 2023, Frane revealed she'd once been addicted to the amphetamine — typically prescribed for those diagnosed with ADHD — and that, once again, she'd found strength from her religious beliefs in tackling the issue. The former rancher explained that she'd wrestled "with the devil all night long" to kick the habit.

Both Frane and Chapman are now clean. Indeed, thanks to a little help from his new wife, the bounty hunter has also given up smoking. And in another example of the positive impact she's had on his life, Frane has even managed to persuade her hubby to try juicing, a lifestyle change which has helped reduce both his blood pressure and his weight by an impressive 30 pounds!

Duane Chapman's shady past — he spent 18 months in a Texas jail after being convicted of third-degree murder in 1976 — is unlikely to have deterred Francie Frane from dating the reality TV star. After all, she's best friends with a former career criminal.

Yes, the former rancher is close pals with Katie Souza, a one-time violent drug addict once sentenced to 12 years in a federal prison. But just like Chapman, the convict has managed to turn her life around, and after finding God, she now runs a ministry designed to help prisoners across the country do the same.

Frane was essentially something of a fangirl when she first met Souza in the wake of her third husband Bob's death. On the recommendation of another friend, the Colorado native found solace in her faith-based teachings, as she explained to Coastal Breeze News: "I started listening every day. And I started going to anywhere she was teaching. I drove there, I flew there." Souza was also instrumental in Frane and Chapman's first meeting and even officiated their wedding before teaming up with the bride for a new initiative helping trafficked and abused women.

Duane Chapman was inevitably left devastated when his wife of 13 years, Beth, died from cancer in 2019. And Francie Frane knew exactly what he was going through, for she'd also lost her excavator husband Bob to the same condition earlier that same year.

It was the couple's grief that first connected them following a serendipitous phone call just two days after Beth's passing. Unaware that Bob had died, Chapman left him a voicemail in the hope of booking him for some driveway work. When Frane returned his call, the pair got talking about the tough times they were going through. She recalled to ET, "As soon as I hung up the phone, I called my girlfriend and was like, 'Are you sitting down right now because you're not going to believe who I just talked to.'"

Frane and Chapman only reconnected eight months later when the former spotted the latter talking on television about a particular phone call that had helped with the healing process. Recognizing the reality star was referencing her, the former rancher got back in touch with Chapman and on the proviso that he attended church with her first, they agreed to a first date.

Francie Frane obviously didn't watch much A&E back in the '00s as the one-time rancher had absolutely no clue who one of its biggest stars, Duane "Dog the Bounty Hunter" Chapman, was before she was first introduced to the reality TV favorite.

Speaking to Coastal Breeze News in 2022, Frane recalled how she was only made aware of Chapman when mentor friend Katie Souza informed her of his tragic loss in 2019. "I was about 10 months into my grieving process at that time," she said, referring to the death of her third husband Bob. "The word cancer at that point made me start bawling. Then I thought, 'Who is Beth Chapman and why are you crying?' So, I say that to Katie. She says, 'That's Dog the Bounty Hunter's wife.'"

That didn't make things any clearer, though, and even when Souza brought up a photo of the mullet-haired star, she was still none the wiser. Frane did, however, argue that Chapman desperately needed a visit to the barbers in an expert bit of shade. The following day, Souza revealed she'd had a vision that Frane would soon meet the bounty hunter in person, something that was ironically met with total bemusement.

On Labor Day weekend 2021, Duane Chapman and Francie Frane walked down the aisle together at an intimate Colorado Springs ceremony in front of 100 of their nearest and dearest. It's fair to say, however, that the nuptials didn't exactly run smoothly.

According to the Daily Mail, Chapman was forced to hire extra security, including Navy SEALs and German Shepherds, after an anonymous hater issued a threat to spoil the bride's crystal-adorned mermaid dress with paint. There were also reports that one guest had their car tires punctured with razor blades and that another returned to their vehicle to find a 'mysterious pungent odor.'

The plot thickened when Chapman's daughter Bonnie and stepdaughter Cecily were mentioned as possible culprits. The pair didn't receive an invite to the wedding, with the former's accusations that the "Dog's Most Wanted" star was racist, homophobic, and adulterous no doubt playing a part. The week previously, Chapman told People, "Despite the sadness we feel at this rift in our family, Francie and I are looking forward to celebrating our wedding next week with the rest of our family and close friends."

As any of her Instagram followers will already know, Francie Frane is a committed Christian. In fact, the former rancher is so invested in her faith that she believes her relationship with Duane Chapman is all part of God's plan.

In a candid chat with Naples Daily News, Frane explained that she initially thought that her husband had been brought into her life to help each other heal from their respective losses. However, the Colorado native now understands that they have a higher calling: "It's so much bigger than just that. It was God using us to change people's lives. It was this love story that God brought us together."

Frane regularly takes to social media to offer fans spiritual words of wisdom. "Live fearless and get up again, no matter how hard the fight!!," she captioned an Instagram reel alongside the hashtag #FearlessFridayWithFrancie. "Keep believing, even when God doesn't answer your prayers how you want Him to. There's still a miracle in motion!!!!"  And she and Chapman will often offer her words of wisdom at faith-based events such as the Southwest Believers' Convention and Fire in the Valley Conference. 

Having gone through several abusive relationships herself, Francie Frane is now determined to assist others who have endured similar struggles. With the help of husband Duane Chapman and minister friend Katie Souza, the one-time rancher has launched a new 18-month program named the House of Bounty.

This initiative, which began in their adopted hometown of Marco Island, Naples, is designed to provide shelter, refuge, and recovery for abused and trafficked women. "They would live there and they would go through stages of the program and graduate to different levels," Frane told Naples Daily News. "We want to help them be able to get healed and whole and get out of the life and get out of their abusive situations and help find what their destinies are."

Any women hoping to join the program will first have to prove that they're clean before being accepted, with Frane insisting that they're not providing a rehab facility or halfway house. The Colorado native also stated that Chapman's Dog Foundation would also set up camp in the same area alongside Souza's ministry. "We feel like we're being called to this so we're all in and we're going to make a move together," she added.

Francie Frane might not have had any idea who Duane 'Dog the Bounty Hunter' Chapman was when they first started talking back in 2019. But she soon threw herself into his crazy fugitive-chasing lifestyle.

During a chat on "The Dr. Oz Show" in 2020, the reality TV star revealed that not only was his future wife more than happy to join him on his latest mission, but she also gave him a run for his money: "I know she's a hunter," he said (via People). "Her and her two sons have hunted bow hunt, so they track, they look for things that the prey leaves behind. And so she's kind of a natural." Chapman didn't specify the nature of his first shared bounty hunting experience with Frane. But he was certainly impressed with what he saw, adding, "She started getting leads and writing them down, so there's more than just tracking and hunting. And she's really, really good at that."

Sadly, she hasn't yet got the chance to show off her skills on camera. The reality show "Dog's Dirty Dozen," in which she filmed scenes, never made it to air, and her husband's follow-up "Dog Unleashed" was also pulled after production company Unleashed Entertainment claimed that he'd breached his contract.

Duane Chapman might have sported the same wild mullet since rising to fame as reality TV's premier bounty hunter. But his sixth wife certainly isn't afraid to mix things up when it comes to her sense of style.

To celebrate their second wedding anniversary in 2023, Chapman uploaded a loved-up snap of himself and Francie Frane all smiles on Instagram. And the latter debuted a striking new image, ditching her typical curls for straightened hair and showing off a new piercing on her upper lip. And the accompanying caption proved that her husband was still head over heels.

"My dearest Francie, I love you so much more every single day and you love me with an unconditional love," the former A&E favorite, who was sporting a large turquoise necklace and his usual black shades in the pic. "You allow me to honor Beth whenever I need to as I do you about honoring Bob. Francie, you have brought me closer to Jesus and my destiny as an evangelist. I weep as I write this, I love you my Honey forever."

If you or anyone you know needs help with substance abuse, child abuse, or domestic violence, contact the relevant resources below:

• The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).
  

• The National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1−800−799−7233. You can also find more information, resources, and support at their website.

• The Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child (1-800-422-4453) or contact their live chat services.