Lyssa Rae Brittain Became a Grandma Early Covertly Lived in Alaska

Lyssa Rae Brittain is reality star Duane Chapman’s former wife, who has seemingly vanished from the public eye following her divorce from her husband. It appears that Brittain’s life has been fraught with difficulty even when she left the spotlight.

“Dog the Bounty Hunter” star Duane Chapman met his third wife, Lyssa Rae Brittain, at a bar. At the time, he was nursing a broken heart after his then-second wife, Anne Tengell, took his children away.

Brittain and Chapman bonded over their shared faith, with Brittain revealing that she had divorced her husband, who was a minister because he had been unfaithful. After nearly a decade of marriage to the reality star, she realized their differences.

Lyssa Rae Brittain Wed Duane Chapman after He Offered Her $1,000 to Bear His Child

Brittain and Chapman’s relationship was far from typical. Duane seemed drawn to Brittain because of her religious nature, and the two went on to start a relationship.

In his 2007 memoir “You Can’t Run But You Can Hide,” Duan revealed that his former wife did not share his love for God. However, Brittain was the opposite, and Duan offered her a large sum of money in exchange for something important. He stated:

“When Lyssa told me she understood the Lord, I offered her a thousand bucks on the spot to have my baby.”

Duane Chapman attend the fundraiser event March of Dimes on November 14, 2006, in Honolulu, Hawaii. | Source: Getty Images

Brittain and Chapman got married in June 1982 in a ceremony officiated by an indigenous official. The union happened two weeks before they welcomed a child, their daughter Barbara Katie Chapman.

After Barbara, she went on to have more children with the former bail bondsman. Unfortunately, the couple suffered a heartbreaking loss after their eldest daughter died in a tragic car accident in Fairbanks, Alaska.

In their marriage, the couple has had three children. Their other daughter Lyssa Chapman had appeared in Chapman’s reality show, where she was fondly called “Baby Lyssa.” Their two other sons are Tucker Dee and Nicholas.

Lyssa Rae Brittain Wanted to Live in a Secluded Cabin Rather than the Bright Hollywood Lights

As Brittain came to terms with the fact that she could never match the reality star’s love for stardom, the sparks in her marriage to Chapman began to fizzle out. After nine years of marriage, she and the TV personality divorced in November 1991.

Brittain and her daughter, Baby Lyssa, who was ten years old, eventually relocated to Anderson, a small town in Alaska. The area was remote and different from what Baby Lyssa was used to at Chapman’s.

Even though Brittain was able to start a new life in town, things weren’t always rainbows and butterflies for them. Under her mother’s care, Baby Lyssa eventually got into mischief and grew up too quickly.

Baby Lyssa said her mother still struggled with alcohol addiction, which made it difficult for them to form a close relationship.

Lyssa Rae Brittain Found Love Again, Then Left Teen Daughter in a Trailer with a Newborn Baby

Brittain did not give up on love. Baby Lyssa revealed that her mother had a boyfriend she had moved in with. During this time, Baby Lyssa was 14 years old and pregnant. She gave birth to her daughter after her 15th birthday.

Not long after Baby Lyssa welcomed a baby, her mother would be away with her boyfriend. Baby Lyssa and her newborn daughter would be left alone in their trailer to fend for themselves.

To make ends meet, Baby Lyssa worked as a babysitter to pay the rent on the trailer. At that time, she was too young to receive welfare or access a homeless shelter, leaving her with few options. She admitted to getting involved with men who had access to drugs as a means to survive.

Baby Lyssa said she believed her mother had unresolved issues with her father, Chapman. She expressed regret about how her mother handled the situation and stated that she would have handled things differently with her own daughters.

Brittain’s late daughter Barbara was a teen mother as well. Barbara gave birth to a son at 19. Barbara left her then-four-year-old son, Travis Drake-Lee, before passing away in a tragic death in 2006.

Lyssa Rae Brittain’s Daughter Found It Difficult to Get Close to Her

In a 2016 interview, Baby Lyssa said her mother still struggled with alcohol addiction, which made it difficult for them to form a close relationship. Baby Lyssa revealed to FOX411 that she has a better relationship with her father than with her mother.

In the interview, Baby Lyssa said when people ask her how she’s doing, she replies by saying that her father is a role model and the person who has always loved her unconditionally and been with her throughout her entire life.

Baby Lyssa has become more religious, just like her father. She said she would go to church daily. She also takes her daughters everywhere with her.

She also monitors her daughters’ behavior closely to ensure they would not experience the same childhood struggles she had with her own mother. She added:

“The way that I do that is just supervision. It’s really not that hard.”

Over the years, Brittain has become increasingly private and difficult to track down, particularly since her divorce from Chapman. There has been little information available about her in recent years.

After divorcing Brittain, Chapman remarried Tawny Marie Gillepsie from 1991 to 2003 and to Beth Chapman. He married Beth in 2006, and they had a challenging and unforgettable relationship until she died in 2019.

Two years after Beth’s heartbreaking death, the TV star found another chance at love. He met Francie Frane, with whom he eventually married in September 2021.