BREAKING NEWS 90 Day Fiance star Ben Rathbun is dead at 55: Reality star's devastating cause of death revealed
The reality star passed away on Monday at his home in Greencastle, Indiana, according to TMZ.
Rathbun had reportedly been in the throes of a battle with stage 4 stomach cancer, which he was only diagnosed with at the end of 2024.
His final hours were spent with his loved ones surrounding him, a family source told the publication.
Ben, who was 52 at the time he appeared on 90 Day Fiancé, was best known for the online relationship he developed with his South American girlfriend Mahogany Roca.
At 22, she was 30 years his junior when they appeared on the series.
Rathbun struck up controversy in March of 2022, when he was arrested in Michigan on suspicion of driving under the influence.
He had also allegedly been driving with an expired license at the time.
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Daily Mirror
2 hours ago
- Daily Mirror
Tragic life of Dog the Bounty Hunter - tortured childhood, wedding horror and shock deaths
As Dog the Bounty Hunter's step-grandson dies in a 'tragic accident,' we take a look at the personal heartbreaks the US TV star has endured throughout his life American TV personality Dog the Bounty Hunter is in mourning after his step-grandson Anthony Zecca was killed in an horrific accident at the weekend. The shocking incident in which the 13 year old boy - the son of Dog's stepson Gregory - was shot and killed i s believed to have happened at around 8pm on Saturday July 20 in an apartment in Naples, Florida. Dog and his wife Francie released a statement to TMZ through a representative. It read: "We are grieving as a family over this incomprehensible tragic accident and would ask for continued prayers as we grieve the loss of our beloved grandson, Anthony." Gregory, who is Francie's child from a previous marriage, is part of Dog's bounty hunting crew. He became part of Dog's personal life when he married Francie in 2021. Gregory has previously shared his passions for guns in social media posts. In one he is seen showing Anthony how to use a rifle while at a shooting range. This latest tragedy is not the first Dog, whose real name is Duane Chapman, has endured. Here we take a look at the heartbreak and drama that has filled the 72 year old's eventful life. Childhood abuse Duane was raised with his three siblings by their church minister mother and their father who was a US Army officer in Denver, Colorado. In his 2017 memoir, You Can Run But You Can't Hide, he claimed his dad abused him with beatings which he thought was to toughen him up and was a normal way to be treated. "Because of my religious upbringing, I thought my dad was punishing me for being a terrible sinner," he wrote, according to The Express. "Until very recently, I never understood that none of his abuse was my fault. I just thought that was how all dads treated their sons." He said he was expected to take the beatings like a man: "But I wasn't a man. I was a young boy looking for love and approval from my father. I was desperate for his affection, so I ignored the pain," he wrote. Murder sentence Back in 1976 a young Dog was convicted of first-degree murder relating to the death of Jerry Oliver in Pampa, Texas. He was waiting in a car when his friend shot and killed an alleged drug dealer while trying to buy cannabis. Despite Duane not directly being involved in the murder, the law in Texas states that anyone indirectly involved can be charged. He was found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to five years in prison but only served 18 months. Commenting on the conviction he said: "It's something that follows you the rest of your life, no matter who you become or who you are. I'm not proud of it." Afterwards he chose to pursue a career upholding the law through bounty hunting. He shot to fame starring in A&E show Dog The Bounty Hunter, which followed him as he tried to catch bail jumpers. The show ran for eight seasons from 2004. However because of his conviction he is forbidden from using firearms, which is why he uses a taser instead of a gun in his work. Daughter's tragic death On the morning of his wedding to fifth wife Beth Smith, Dog was told his 23-year-old daughter, Barbara Katie Chapman, had died the day before in Alaska. She was a passenger in a stolen SUV that crashed into a tree after leaving the road. The driver also died in the accident and authorities suspected drugs or alcohol may have been a factor. The family decided to go ahead with the wedding to honour Barbara's memory. She left behind a nine year old son Travis Drake Lee. Grandson's 'abuse' Dog was temporarily given custody of Travis after a tape was handed to court which allegedly contained evidence Travis was being physically abused by his father, Travis Mimms. The TV star previously said: "To hear the audiotape of my grandson being abused was torture." Dog and wife Beth took care of the child but insisted they didn't want to take him away from his dad: "I want him [Mimms Sr.] to take parenting classes. We had to get Travis [Jr.] out of that situation," he said. Long lost son In 1994 Dog discovered he had a son he knew nothing about with ex-girlfriend Debbie White. Christopher Hecht was born in 1972, while Duane was in prison. After Debbie died by suicide in 1978, Christopher was adopted by Keith and Gloria Hecht. She said she initially told Dog to keep away but that he contacted him anyway. "He then reached out to Christopher for the first time when he was 19," she told The Sun. "When he learned Duane was his father, he was ecstatic. They started a relationship." Christopher has had his own share of struggles and scrapes with the law. In 2021 he was sentenced to three years in jail in Colorado for a menacing charge. Dog vowed to help his son when he was released from prison. Death of beloved wife Beth Chapman In 2017 Beth was diagnosed with stage two throat cancer. Her battle with the disease was documented in A&E special Dog & Beth: Fight of Their Lives. After initial treatment she was given the all-clear, but the cancer returned in 2018. On June 26 2019, Beth was put into a medically induced coma and died aged 51 at The Queen's Medical Centre in Honolulu. Dog announced her death on Twitter. He wrote: "It's 5:32 in Hawaii, this is the time she would wake up to go hike Koko Head mountain. Only today, she hiked the stairway to heaven. We all love you, Beth. See you on the other side." Although he vowed to never marry again, less than a year after she passed, Dog had proposed to his new girlfriend, Francie Frane. The couple connected through their shared grief - Francie's husband Bob had died not long before Beth. "We understood the pain that the other one was feeling and [in] those tough days and moments, we helped each other stand up," Francie told Entertainment Tonight. "We could cry with each other and talk about what we were feeling. We were able to walk alongside each other through the pain and heartbreak and it brought us together in this amazing way." They married in 2021. Death of colleague David Robinson was a member of Dog's crew. He died suddenly aged 50 in 2022 while on a Zoom call. His ex wife later confirmed the cause of death was critical coronary artery disease. Dog said he was "shocked and saddened" by his co-star and "right-hand man's" passing.
Scottish Sun
3 hours ago
- Scottish Sun
Tragic life of Dog the Bounty Hunter as star plagued by horror deaths, sinister abuse claims & grisly murder conviction
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) WITH his steely pursuit of criminals and bulging muscles, Dog the Bounty Hunter is the image of an American tough guy. But the TV star - real name Duane Chapman - has had more than his fair share of tragedy, including horrific abuse at the hands of his father, the deaths of two of his children, his grandson, and the love of his life. Sign up for the Entertainment newsletter Sign up 14 Dog has been dogged by tragedies and controversies throughout his life Credit: John Chapple, The Sun 14 Dog's 13-year-old step-grandson Anthony, centre, has been shot and killed by his father Gregory Zecca, pictured right alongside mum Francie Credit: Instagram 14 Dog the Bounty Hunter is married to Francie Credit: Instagram/Dog the Bounty Hunter 14 Gregory Zecca is from Francie's previous marriage Credit: Instagram On Saturday, Dog, 78, was rocked by fresh heartache as his stepson shot and killed his own son, in what is believed to have been a tragic accident, TMZ claimed. Gregory Zecca, son of Dog's wife, Francie, accidentally shot Anthony, 13, at their apartment in Naples, Florida. A spokesperson for Dog and Francie told TMZ: "We are grieving as a family over this incomprehensible tragic accident and would ask for continued prayers as we grieve the loss of our beloved grandson, Anthony." Zecca reportedly works with Dog and Dog's daughter Lyssa on his bounty hunting team. In 2021, the 38-year-old, who was also a gun enthusiast, shared photos of him and his son with a rifle "getting some range time in." But the unimaginable accident is one of many tragedies and controversies that have peppered the life of the star. Dog was one of four children raised by his church minister mum and US Army officer dad in Denver, Colorado. But he suffered regular beatings with a wooden paddle from his dad, who also battered him in boxing matches to 'toughen' him up. In his 2007 book, You Can Run But You Can't Hide, he wrote: "Because of my religious upbringing, I thought my dad was punishing me for being a terrible sinner. "Until very recently, I never understood that none of his abuse was my fault. Just thinking of the abuse I endured can make me cry. Eerie link between Rachel Morin murder and second victim as Dog the Bounty Hunter joins search for suspect in Ring video 14 A young Dog, left, with friends in 1969 Credit: Getty 'I was expected to take it like a man. But I wasn't a man. I was a young boy looking for love and approval from my father. I was desperate for his affection, so I ignored the pain,' he wrote. At 13, he dropped out of school and joined a motorbike gang, the Disciples, spending the next few years in and out of jail for offences including armed robbery. 'I spent the first twenty-three years of my life on the wrong side of the law,' he later wrote. "The only thing I knew about the law was a thousand ways to break it." As a teenager, he fathered a child with Debbie White, who kept her pregnancy from him and later took her own life. Their son, Christopher, was adopted and only met his father after Debbie's mum told him he had a grown son. At 19, Dog married first wife LaFonda Honeycutt and the couple had two sons Duane Lee and Leland. Conviction for murder 14 In 1976, Dog was convicted of murder and was sentenced to five years in prison Credit: Getty Dog has tracked down 6,000 criminals in his job as a bondsman - someone who tracks down wanted criminals for a fee. But in 1976, it was him that ended up behind bars, convicted of murder. The 23-year-old was in a car when his friend accidentally shot an alleged drug dealer in a fight over a cannabis deal. Under Texas law, anyone indirectly involved in a murder can also be charged. Dog was found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to five years in Texas State Penitentiary and a year later, LaFonda divorced him and married his best friend. As a result of his conviction, he is banned from owning a firearm and instead uses a taser for his bounty hunting. In 2012, he was barred from entering the UK, where he was due to appear as a housemate on Celebrity Big Brother, because of his criminal record. While serving time in jail, Dog was commended for tackling a prisoner who was trying to break out. The incident persuaded him to consider a career as a bounty hunter or ''bondsman'. He began working independently, interviewing witnesses to track down the police's most wanted criminals, then claiming rewards on handing them in. Daughter's rape allegation and Beth affair 14 Dog began an affair with Beth after meeting her at a police station 14 Dog's daughter Lyssa said she accused him of rape so she could escape his rows with Beth Credit: Instagram Soon after he started his new career, he met Anne Tegnell and had three more children. One died shortly after birth and the other two – Wesley and JR - were raised by their mother. The marriage was short-lived and in 1982, Dog wed Lyssa Britain and had three more children - Barbara, Tucker and Lyssa. The youngest, 'Baby Lyssa', later wrote a book claiming her dad was a drug addict and her mum an alcoholic. While still married, Dog met Beth - a blonde bombshell with a 38F chest -at a local police station where she'd been arrested for shoplifting, and the pair began an affair. The relationship with Beth was stormy from the start, and Lyssa - who was living with her dad - claims she hated their rows so much she took desperate steps to leave, by making up a horrendous allegation. 'I [falsely] accused my father of raping me when I was 11,' Lyssa admits. 'It was a horrible life that I never wanted to go back to, living with him and Beth and the fighting and the drugs. 'When I got to my mother's, although she drank, it was much more peaceful. I was willing to do anything to not go back.' Marriage on the rebound After their romance faltered, in 1991, Dog was devastated when Beth married his childhood best friend, Keith Barmore, and had a daughter Cecily. "He was a thief with a heroin habit," Dog wrote later. "It just about broke my heart when I heard Beth was dating him. 'When I heard they got married, I got physically sick.…Friends told me he was abusing her something awful." Dog wed Tawny Marie in 1992 – but says he was 'coerced' into marrying her despite knowing she was a 'mistake.' But Beth later admitted the pair continued seeing each other, despite their new marriages. Beth and Dog finally divorced their partners and got back together in 1995 and she began working with him - becoming the youngest licensed bondsman in Colorado at 29. To cement the bond the couple had two more children, Bonnie and Garry, and Dog adopted Cecily as his own. Daughter's death 14 Dog's daughter Barbara died the day before his wedding to Beth in a car accident Credit: Instagram 14 Dog went ahead with the wedding and broke the news to friends and family at the reception Credit: Getty Dog and Beth settled in Hawaii and got engaged. Then, in 2004, he landed his own TV show, Dog The Bounty Hunter. But the couple were to suffer fresh tragedy. Beth's beloved dad and "best friend" Garry Smith died two months before he was due to walk her down the aisle in 2006, leaving her heartbroken. And, the night before their dream Hawaiian wedding, Dog received the horrific news that daughter Barbara, 23, had been killed in a car accident while in a stolen SUV in Alaska. Incredibly, he went ahead with the wedding as planned, breaking the terrible news to his friends and family at the reception. After Barbara's death, her son went to live with his biological father, Travis Mimms. But, in October 2011, Dog and Beth stepped in and took temporary custody after hearing a recording of Travis allegedly physically abusing the nine-year-old. Perhaps remembering his own childhood, Dog said: 'To hear the audiotape of my grandson being abused was torture.' Beth's tragic death 14 Beth suffered from throat cancer before her death 14 Dog shared this picture of Beth a day before she died Credit: Twitter Dog's string of horrific luck continued in September 2017 when Beth was diagnosed with stage two throat cancer. On their A&E special, Dog & Beth: Fight of Their Lives, they told viewers that she no longer had the disease after the cancer had been removed. But in 2018, the disease returned. Dog frequently took to social media to update fans about his wife's treatment and said she was battling to get back to good health. In an interview with the Star Advertiser, Beth said: "I'm a fighter, I'm a strong fighter – big-time survivor – and I'm gonna fight this as vigorously as it's fighting me." In April 2019, Dog revealed that she had been admitted to the hospital and asked for prayers for her two months later on June 23. But on June 26, Beth tragically passed away at a hospital in after being put in an induced coma while at The Queen's Medical Centre in Honolulu. In an emotional tweet, Dog wrote: "It's 5:32 in Hawaii, this is the time she would wake up to go hike Koko Head mountain. Only today, she hiked the stairway to heaven. "We all love you, Beth. See you on the other side." Love again 14 Francie and Dog vowed to honour their former spouses who passed away within months of each other Credit: John Chapple, The Sun In 2021, two years after Beth died, Dog found love again and tied the knot for the sixth time with Francie Frane, who had also lost her husband Bod to cancer just six months before Beth. A day before their wedding, the couple told ET that they had written their own vows which would honour their deceased spouses. Francie, 53, who is a rancher, said: "We have been doing that all along. We have done that privately, and in our vows, we will be honouring them. We honour them all of the time. "And so we will continue to do that throughout their lives. Throughout our life together, we will continue to do that. They will be a part of that always." They wed in front of family and friends in a Tuscan-style estate with incredible views. Close friend and co-star 14 His close friend and co-star David Robinson died in 2022 In 2022, Dog experienced another loss. His co-star and close friend David Robinson died suddenly at the age of 50. David, described by wife Brooke as being 'very healthy', collapsed at home while on a zoom call on Wednesday, although no official cause of death has been announced. In a statement to TMZ, Dog said he was 'shocked and saddened by the sudden loss'.
Time Out
5 hours ago
- Time Out
From social media to the table: Ruivo Oliboile has opened a Picanharia in Carcavelos
With nearly 400,000 followers on TikTok and close to 150,000 on Instagram, Francisco Ruivo (also known as Ruivo Oliboile) gained fame for his 'crazy' cooking videos and recipes mixed with plenty of 'silliness' – as he himself describes it. At 28, he has taken a more serious step by opening his first restaurant: Picanharia by Oliboile, which opened in Carcavelos on June 18. In an interview with Time Out Cascais, the digital content creator – usually shirtless with a cloth or T-shirt wrapped around his head – talks about an idea that had been brewing for quite some time, ever since his videos began gaining traction. 'People have been telling me for a long time that I should open a restaurant', he says. 'As I kept making videos and progressing in my digital journey, the idea became more solid'. An opportunity arose in Carcavelos: a vacant space available for lease transfer, previously home to a picanha restaurant. Francisco Ruivo decided to keep the concept, emphasising that there are no other similar venues in the area, but opted for an expanded menu that goes far beyond the usual rodízios. The picanha menu costs €23.50 and includes, served at will, South American picanha beef, black pork secretos, and sides such as fries, basmati rice, black beans, farofa, and vinaigrette sauce. Guests can also order dishes like the picanha steak sandwich on bolo do caco (€12), a picanha francesinha (€18), a portion of Argentine picanha with thicker slices (€20), wagyu picanha with truffled mashed potatoes and asparagus (€48), or, among others, Oliboile-style chicken with fries (€16). However, don't overlook starters such as the cured picanha carpaccio with rocket, Parmesan shavings and pesto sauce served with toasts (€14); a trio of wagyu tacos with guacamole, sour cream and iceberg lettuce (€16); tuna ceviche (€13); croquiços – shredded meat croquettes with mustard (€9 for three pieces); and the star dish, the Oliovo (€11), a combination of eggs, truffled purée, Portobello mushrooms, mozzarella and truffle shavings. For dessert, choices include a red berry or peach cheesecake (€8) and a ricotta tart inspired by his mother's recipe (€8), but the standout is the baba de cão (€6.50), made with a secret recipe. Pair your meal with one of the restaurant's two signature cocktails – the Ruivo (€13), crafted with Aperol, gin, passion fruit purée, lime juice, egg white, and sparkling wine; and the Oliboile (€12), featuring aged rum, lime juice, coconut syrup, and mint leaves. It's also worth mentioning that the restaurant offers a weekday lunch executive menu for €16.50, which includes a starter, a drink, coffee, and a main course with options such as Argentine picanha, Oliboile chicken, pomodoro pasta, and bacalhau à Brás. 'The menu and the recipes were all created by me', explains Ruivo Oliboile. 'The picanha house concept was a strategic decision, but at the same time, I wanted to introduce some of my own dishes. That's where the diversity comes in – for people to try different things and maybe get a taste of what I could offer elsewhere. I wanted to express myself and let people have a bite of that'. Throughout the menu, you'll find plenty of cheeky nods to the irreverent humour that made him a viral sensation online. The same vibe is carried through to the space itself: in the 42-seat restaurant, with high ceilings and grey-and-wood tones, several of Francisco Ruivo's trademark catchphrases and expressions add personality to the walls. There are the 'badalhocas' (his nickname for frying pans) and his frequent shoutouts to his 'cães' – the affectionate name he gives his audience. 'I wanted this space to breathe Oliboile's personality, so people could actually experience the wild, over-the-top food world of the madman from the videos. It's a part of me – I'm goofy, I love making people laugh, and none of it is fake. But I also know how to be serious. I love business, and I love to work'. Francisco's interest in cooking started when he was 18. After deciding not to pursue university, his father gave him an ultimatum: find a job or move out. 'I got that classic push out the door, full of teenage angst, and started working. Suddenly, I realised I couldn't afford to eat out, so I had to start cooking at home. And as I cooked, I got into it – I started watching Italian chefs on YouTube. That's how it all began'. Ten years later, Francisco says that the Picanharia has proven to be a hit in its very first month, with most diners coming straight from his social media channels. 'We've been fully booked every day', he says. 'And we're already thinking about expanding – whether it's with this concept or something new. I'd love to have a rooftop spot or a seaside restaurant, but opening another Picanharia in the north and one in central Lisbon is definitely a must'. Avenida São Miguel, 249, Carcavelos. Wed-Sun 11.30-15.00, 19.30-00.00. 913 427 300
