The next day, after bathing the boy, Lessie Dunbar said she positively identified his moles and scars and was then certain that he was her son. The boy returned to Opelousas with the Dunbars to a parade, with much fanfare celebrating the "homecoming." Shortly thereafter, Julia Anderson of North Carolina arrived to support Walters' contention that the boy was, in fact, her son, Bruce. Anderson was unmarried and worked as a field hand for Walters' family. She said that she had allowed Walters to take her son only for what was supposed to be a two-day trip to visit one of Walters' relatives. She further asserted that she had not consented for Walters to take her son for more than a few days. According to newspaper accounts, Anderson was presented with five different boys who were of the same approximate age as her son, including the boy who had been claimed by the Dunbars. When the boy in question was presented, he reportedly gave no indication that he recognized her. She asked whether he was the boy recovered, but was not given an answer and finally declared that she was unsure. Upon seeing the boy again the next day, when she was allowed to undress him, she indicated a stronger certainty that the boy was indeed her son Bruce. However, word had already spread about her failure to positively identify him on the first attempt. This, combined with the fact that newspapers questioned her moral character in having had three children (the other two deceased by that point) out of wedlock, led to Anderson's claims being dismissed. With no money to sustain a long court battle, Anderson returned home to North Carolina. She later returned to Louisiana for Walters' kidnapping trial to attest to his innocence and push for the court to determine that the boy was her son. At the trial, she became acquainted with the residents of the town of Poplarville, Mississippi, many of whom had also come to proclaim Walters' innocence. William Walters and the boy had spent quite a bit of time in Poplarville during their travels and the community there had come to know them well, with a number of them asserting that they had seen Walters with the boy prior to the disappearance of Bobby Dunbar. Despite their testimony, the court reached the determination that the boy was in fact Bobby Dunbar. Walters was convicted of kidnapping, while the boy remained in the custody of the Dunbar family and lived out the remainder of his life as Bobby Dunbar. After the trial, the people of Poplarville welcomed Anderson and she began a new life there, eventually marrying and having seven children.