'Dog the Bounty Hunter' talks fighting through adversity at The Source Church

Duane Chapman still looked the part of the celebrity bounty hunter as he stepped on the stage Aug. 7 at The Source Church in East County with his signature sunglasses and flowing hair.

Chapman, who is known for his former television show "Dog the Bounty Hunter," talked about a different path, though, at The Source Church. He wasn't concentrating on the chase for dangerous fugitives.

He talked about getting through difficult times in life.

Chapman and his late wife and television co-star, Beth, had appeared at The Source Church together in 2016, 2017 and 2019. However, Beth died of throat cancer in 2019.

On this trip, Duane was accompanied by Francie Chapman, whom he married last September. Seven months before Beth died, Francie's husband, Bob Frane, died of multiple myeloma.

Both Duane and Francie sprinkled in humor as they talked about suffering such huge losses in their lives and how they navigated those tough times.

Those who attended were enthralled.

“I thought it was a great story,” church volunteer Yesenia Reta said. “I just had a great time.”

Duane and Francie, who now live in Naples, had never met until after their spouses' deaths. Francie already had told her friends that she never would get married again.

Fate would intervene. Not knowing that Bob Frane had died, Duane called him to get to pave his driveway because that was his line of work. Francie told Duane her husband had died, and they began a conversation.

Francie didn't know anything about "Dog the Bounty Hunter" or Duane Chapman. Duane told her about the show, and she did remember when a friend had mentioned to her that Beth Chapman of "Dog the Bounty Hunter" had died.

Although she was saddened by the death of a TV personality, Francie said, she really didn't know who it was. She told her friend she didn't know anything about the show, and her friend asked if she had been living under a rock.

“Francie is a rancher,” Duane told the audience with a laugh.

As the friend explained more about "Dog the Bounty Hunter," Francie started to look at photos of Duane. Francie told the crowd at The Source Church that her friend had a vision at that time of Francie being married to Duane.

Francie told her it was absurd and told her friend not to speak of it again.

“I would never, ever, look at that freak,” Duane said, jokingly paraphrasing Francie's words long before she ever had met him.

Francie quickly told the crowd that she never really thought that about Duane.

“But I also told everyone, I'm never getting married again,” she said.

That's when Duane called her home, identifying himself as "Dog."

After she explained that her husband had died, she began crying. Then Duane began crying as well.

They hung up and didn't speak to each other again for seven months.

Francie was watching Fox News when Duane mentioned during an interview this “amazing conversation” he had with her. She reached out.

The angels started to align.

Duane told the crowd he was praying in a snow-covered field in Colorado, where he had drawn a little circle around himself. His phone buzzed. It was the first text he received from Francie.

Things escalated from there. 

The couple now travel across the United States for similar speaking engagements, a life Francie called “the most exciting thing that I have ever experienced, and the most terrifying at the same.”

Duane considers faith the guiding factor in his life and also attributes it to the success of his career. He also said motivational speeches by Tony Robbins inspired him.

Ralph Hoehne, a senior pastor at the church alongside his wife, Joanne, called Duane his friend and said he invites the Chapmans to the church because they present an authentic story.

“Nobody wants to talk about what they lose," Hoehne said. "They always want to talk about what they win. When you find a celebrity that talks about when they took a big loss, for somebody to come and be vulnerable enough to share a difficulty they went through to give somebody else hope, that’s what the Gospel’s all about.”

Hoehne said he and his wife met Duane through Chapman’s former pastor, Tim Storey, a pastor to other celebrities including Kim Kardashian and Justin Bieber.

According to Hoehne, Duane’s most recent visit to Bradenton was not without a little drama.

Hoehne told the audience that he and his wife were meeting the Chapmans at Crager’s Restaurant near his Sarasota real estate office when he received a call from his son Ashton that a company truck was missing.

Hoehne said he spotted the truck heading into another property across the street from the restaurant, then confronted the driver and contacted the police.

The Hoehnes and Chapmans all went over to check out the scene.

Duane had asked to counsel the suspect, but police weren't sure this wasn't just a "Dog" look alike. Eventually, they allowed Duane to get into the back seat with the suspect and offer some support, just as he had done during his former television show.

Duane told the crowd at The Source Church he was asking where the cameras were.

“We could have had him make a show here,” he said.