Early 20th Century Police Officer From Virginia Is A Dead Ringer For Zach Bryan

At this point, Zach Bryan’s name has become synonymous with today’s country-folk scene. With over 90 million units sold in the U.S. alone (eighth all-time among country artists), a Grammy win for his collaboration with Kacey Musgraves on “I Remember Everything,” a publishing catalog which was sold for $350 million and the potential to break George Strait’s record for largest ticketed show in U.S. history with his upcoming Michigan Stadium show in September, the “Something in the Orange” singer has become one of the most prominent artists in all of music since his debut in 2019.

It turns out that he also has a doppelgänger from all the way back in the early 20th century.

This morning, we received a message from a follower, Kaitlyn Savage, containing a photo of a police officer from Augusta, Virginia, and the resemblance is nothing short of uncanny. Savage, who works at the Augusta County Government Center in Verona, Virginia, said:

“I work there and pass by it every day and constantly think this guy looks like Zach Bryan.”

It turns out Bryan’s doppelgänger is none other than John C. Fretwell, a police officer who served in the Augusta County police force from the late 19th century to the early 20th century. Fretwell, who was also a jailer and deputy sheriff throughout his career, was born on February 6, 1864, before passing away on April 26, 1923, at the age of 64 in his hometown of Augusta. Judging by excerpts taken from the Virginia Chronicle, it seems that he was well-liked in the community as an officer, being described as “one of our most popular policemen” in a newspaper from March 27, 1894.

After doing some research, it turns out that Fretwell was actually loosely involved in an over 100-year mystery originating out of Augusta — the mystery of the “white waif.”

As the story goes, on a cold winter night in December 1901, a mysterious woman carrying a child in a basket made her way through Staunton. As Fretwell recalled, she asked him what time the next train departed for Washington, D.C. Disappearing into the night, she then walked another half mile, dropping the basket containing a four-month-old baby boy off on the porch of a Staunton resident.

The child, who became known as the mysterious “white waif,” was then adopted and named Miller Dunbar Snapp. However, absolutely nothing is known about the identity of the woman who dropped him off on the porch that night. Despite a lengthy search to find the woman, no one on the Staunton police force was able to find her. She simply vanished into the night.

Flashforward to today, and Snapp’s daughter, a retired Texas United Methodist Pastor, Jo Ann Snapp Leifeste has spent over twenty years searching for answers — and has come up empty. Contacting everyone from city, state and federal government offices as well as the Augusta County Historical Society, she has yet to find any answers on who the mystery woman — her grandmother– is til this day.

I doubt you would ever hear a story loosely connecting Zach Bryan to a 100-year mystery about a missing woman, but there’s a first time for everything, I guess.

Zach Bryan Tour Dates:

August 30 – Huntington, WV – Joan C. Edwards Stadium

September 6 – Notre Dame, IN – Notre Dame Stadium

September 27 – Ann Arbor, MI – Michigan StadiumThe post Early 20th Century Police Officer From Virginia Is A Dead Ringer For Zach Bryan first appeared on Whiskey Riff.