- The Chapman family has requested prayers as they grieve their loss.
Tragedy has struck Marco Island resident and TV star Dog the Bounty Hunter and his family, TMZ has reported.
It’s believed that Gregory Zecca ― the stepson of Duane Chapman, the celebrity’s real name, and son of Dog’s wife, Francie ― accidentally shot and killed his step-grandson, Anthony, in “a freak accident” at their Naples apartment late July 19, TMZ said in a July 20 story.
Collier County sheriff’s deputies were investigating a July 19 shooting death at an apartment shortly after 8 p.m. They called it an isolated incident.
However, sheriff’s officials said late July 20 they could not confirm whether that shooting involved Dog the Bounty Hunter’s family.
Deputies said one person was dead shortly in a shooting late July 19 on Sumter Grove Way, said Michelle Batten, a sheriff’s office spokesperson. The sheriff’s office did not identify the shooting victim, the gunman and said no arrests were made.
Dog the Bounty Hunter’s connection to SWFL
Chapman in 2023 began being spotted on Marco Island with Francie since calling it home.
“Facebook groups have lit up with users spotting the couple dining in adored local establishments throughout Southwest Florida,” the Naples Daily News reported two years ago.
“Recently they were seen at Sami’s Pizza and Grill, a fan-favorite pizza joint among islanders on Collier Boulevard.”
Duane and Francie met in 2019 and wed in 2021 after both had experienced the loss of the spouses due to cancer.
A TV star, Dog the Bounty Hunter entertained millions of his fans over the years in chronicling the life of a bounty hunter and his family in their everyday lives.
“It was God using us to change people’s lives. It was this love story that God brought us together,” Francie said in another 2023 Daily News story.
What did Dog the Bounty Hunter’s family say about the death
A Chapman family representative said the couple was asking for prayers as they grieve the loss of their grandson, TMZ reported.
Judge Judy, Bob Seger, Newt Gingrich: Celebrities who call Naples, Marco Island home
TMZ, a U.S. entertainment-focused tabloid news site, in recent years broke celebrity death news including ― and most famously ― the death of Michael Jackson in 2009.
The tabloid has reported other celebrity deaths, including in 2023 when it broke the news that “Friends” co-star Matthew Perry had died.
