The Double Life of Lawrence Bader

A man disappears unexpectedly, then reappears as a TV show host under a different name three years later

In 1957, Lawrence Bader disappeared after taking his boat on Lake Eerie. He was on a fishing trip and declared dead in 1960.

When he left, he left behind three children and his pregnant wife.

But five years later, his doppelganger was found in Chicago, Illinois. This man’s name was John Fritz Johnson. He was a television host for the local news station.

Johnson claimed not to be the missing Lawrence Bader.

What happened to him?

Instead, he claimed to have grown up in an orphanage before he joined the Navy, got married, and had his own children.

He took a fingerprint test and the DNA matched up to Lawrence Bader.

Johnson’s fingerprints matched Bader’s

After the DNA results went public, the TV station fired him, and his second wife annulled their marriage.

How did his family react?

To make matters worse, the life insurance company wanted their $40,000 payout back from Johnson’s first wife. Absolutely devastating. That’s equivalent to $370,500 today. His family was absolutely blindsided and in disbelief.

He claimed to have had amnesia which erased his memory and instead created false ones.

Was he telling the truth?

It remains a mystery to this day.