Dog the Bounty Hunter star Lyssa Chapman, known as “Baby Lyssa” on the series, revealed the last text she sent to her stepmother Beth Chapman in June, an hour before Beth was rushed to the hospital. Beth died on June 26, five days after she was hospitalized in Honolulu. The Dog’s Most Wanted star, 51, battled throat and lung cancers.
Chapman sent her stepmother an innocuous message, similar to one people send their loved ones every day. “Heading into the store let me know if there’s anything else that I can get for you but you can think up see you soon,” she wrote at 10:25 a.m. on Saturday, June 22.
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“Tearing up can’t read,” one fan replied.
An hour before the ambulance was called… @DogWgna #DogsMostWanted pic.twitter.com/GL1SmFoT3k
— Lyssa Chapman (@BabyLyssaC) November 7, 2019
“Aww Please know she is watching over all of you…remember the good memories those treasured moments Celebrate her! I think of your family often sending [positive] vibes,” another wrote.
Chapman never received a response. An hour after she sent the message, Beth was rushed to the intensive care unit at Queen’s Medical Center in Honolulu and placed in a medically-induced coma. Five days later, Duane “Dog” Chapman announced his wife’s death.
“It’s 5:32 in Hawaii, this is the time she would wake up to go hike Koko Head mountain,” Duane tweeted. “Only today, she hiked the stairway to heaven. We all love you, Beth. See you on the other side.”
Beth was diagnosed with throat cancer in September 2017, but was declared cancer free following surgery, as seen in A&E’s Dog and Beth: Fight of Their Lives. In November 2018, Beth was rushed back to the hospital, and doctors discovered her cancer returned.
Two months after her death, Beth and Duane’s daughter Bonnie revealed to SurvivorNet that her mother was also diagnosed with lung cancer, which led to her death.
“A lot of places have been reporting that she passed away to her throat cancer, but it was actually stage IV lung cancer in the end,” Bonnie explained. “She did try one round of chemo. And it did not go well for her. She had very severe symptoms.”
Bonnie said the chemotherapy left Beth unable to get out of bed.
“She had complained about every single joint in her body starting to ache… about her not being able to get up by herself to use the bathroom. It was hell to her,” Bonnie said.
Before she was hospitalized, Beth and Duane finished filming Dog’s Most Wanted Season 1 for WGN America. The season finale, which aired Wednesday, served as a memorial episode. The episode included a scene with the family debating what to do after Beth was placed in a coma. They ultimately chose to take her off life support, knowing that she would be in pain the rest of her life if she woke up.
After doctors pulled her off life support, doctors believed Beth would only live another hour. However, Beth lived another day.
“They said to me, ‘Do you know how strong of a wife you’ve got?’ and I went ‘Duh!’” Duane said in the finale. “At 5:30 she said she’s starting to breathe slow. Then they called me right back and said ‘Dog, she stopped breathing. And I’m like, can I make it there in time? I’m 15 minutes away. ‘No.’ So 5:36, she was pronounced passed away.”
