A storm was blowing in as Larry Bader went up to rent a boat. His wife was 4 months pregnant, and he hadn’t paid income taxes in nearly 5 years. He just needed a break.
But something was off. First off, all he wanted was to boat in the middle of the storm, but most weird of all, he was bringing a suitcase. The next morning Larry Bader’s boat was found on the rocks of Perkins Beach. The coast guard there said no man could have survived overboard in such a rough lake.
Bader was presumed dead, but something wasn’t right; the gas line on his boat was disconnected. Gas lines on boats don’t become disconnected by themselves. Even in a storm that rough, a gas line wouldn’t have been disconnected unless someone disconnected it.
Four days later, John Fritz Johnson entered. He was a fantastic archer, taking archery up to “strengthen his back muscles after an injury.” Though it started as a small hobby, he ended up winning the Nebraska state championship just five weeks after he started for what he thought was the first time. Remember that word thought for later.
Fritz could often be found talking to his friends about his childhood in the Boston orphanage as well as his 13 years in the Navy. His childhood memories were vivid, and he would remember new things often. Though Fritz was a bit of an “oddball,” he had many friends and was quite the popular person, though he didn’t really have any childhood friends.
Fritz was sent to Chicago’s McCormick Place to show off archery equipment. Well, he was there, and he ended up getting into an interesting situation.
An Akron man walked past him admiring the bow and arrows being displayed, when he saw him. There in the flesh was Larry Bader. It couldn’t be him, he thought. Larry Bader was assumed dead; he died in a boat crash. Though he tried to deny it, the truth couldn’t be changed. This was Larry Bader.
The man called Larry’s brother, who flew in from Chicago desperate to find who he thought was his long lost brother. Larry’s brother agreed that this was Larry Bader.
Fritz told these people time and time again he had never been to Akron, but when they continued to push, he agreed to be fingerprinted.
Larry’s fingerprint was an exact match to Fritz.
Fritz hired a lawyer and yet again said that he didn’t know Larry Bader and he certainly wasn’t him.
After the continual push that Fritz was who he said, he was brought in for physical and mental testing. Everything came out fine. As said before, Fritz was a bit of a weirdo, but without anything diagnosable, he was perfectly fine.
Something that did cause an issue though is that Larry Bader was married to a Catholic. Catholics don’t recognize divorce, so when someone comes and they have the exact same fingerprint as your husband, you marry them. Fritz Johnson at the time had a girlfriend, but news came in and Fritz Johnson had to “get married” to Larry Bader’s wife and spend time away from his current girlfriend.
Fritz’s life was a mess, he was married now, and was living with the kids that Larry had. His girlfriend was angry and confused. Fritz’s once lovely world filled with financial stability and friends was ruined, and there was no way to put it back together. The media was spiraling, and people were interviewing and submitting false stories about who Fritz was.
Then, he died. Fritz Johnson died of brain cancer on September 16, 1966. A funeral was held in both the home town of Fritz Johnson, and of Larry Bader. To this day, we have no idea what could’ve happened. Thoughts?
Similarities Of Larry Bader and Fritz Johnson
- Larry Bader was an archer and won a tri-state archery contest. Fritz Johnson was also an archer who took up archery to help his back.
- Both Larry Bader and Fritz Johnson were in the navy, though Fritz said it was 13 years and Bader said that it was only 18 months.
Differences Between Larry Bader and Fritz Johnson
- Fritz Johnson was born in Omaha Nebraska and Larry Bader was born in Akron Ohio. The distance is roughly 1,000 miles.
- Fritz believed he was in the navy for 13 years, whereas Larry believed he was in the navy for 18 months.
- Fritz believed he was an orphan as a child. Larry Bader wasn’t.
Schachet • Apr 15, 2025 at 1:37 pm
I’m stumped!