Bobby and Cheryl Love have a wonderful story, some say it is not necessarily your typical romance. The couple have lived together for over 40 years, you would think the couple has everything worked out and that they hold the secret to a successful marriage. This may have been true to the naked eye, however, Bobby had been keeping a secret from Cheryl. Once Cheryl found out, and from a random source- everything changed.
After 40 Years Of Being Married, Woman Finds Out From The FBI Who Her Husband Really Is
Not Your Typical Morning
Cheryl had awoken on a morning in January of 2015, she began her routine just as always while Bobby carried on sleeping in their bedroom. Suddenly, she heard a knock at the door. “I opened it slowly and saw the police standing there,” Cheryl told Humans of New York in an interview.
Not Your Typical Morning
“Crazy Lady”
The couple had resided next door to a “crazy lady.” The police often checked in on her and naturally, Cheryl assumed they must have accidentally confused the houses or address. Surely, they were not looking for her.
“Crazy Lady”
Life-Changing
“At first I wasn’t worried, but the moment I opened the door, twelve officers came barging past me,” Cheryl explained. Cheryl had no idea that this would be the exact moment to turn her world upside down.
Life-Changing
Asking For His Name
As the officers scurried past her she noticed their jackets had the unmistakable print on them “FBI”, she had no clue what was happening and decided to follow them as they protruded into her home. Cheryl explained, “They went straight back to the bedroom, and walked up to Bobby.” She heard the officers ask, “What’s your name?” to which he replied, “Bobby Love.”
Asking For His Name
Asking For His Name
They then said, “No, what’s your real name?” and her husband replied something in a whispered tone. The officers replied, “You’ve had a long run,” and before she knew it the officers were handcuffing her beloved husband Bobby whilst Cheryl pleaded and asked confused what all this fuss was about. Bobby explained briefly as they forced him out the door, “This goes way back, Cheryl. Back before I met you.”
Asking For His Name
Walter Miller
Walter Miller was born and raised in North Carolina in the 1960s and described his childhood as “pretty normal.” The family he was born into was poor as his mom raised eight kids, and Walter soon began to feel neglected.
Walter Miller
An 80’s Concert
It began at a Sam Cooke concert Walter had attended. Walter recalled, “The crowd was really moving because it was dance music. And Sam Cooke didn’t like that. He kept telling people to sit down.
An 80’s Concert
Going Downhill
And after only two songs, he walked off the stage.” After yelling in a joking manner at the stage, Walter was arrested quickly for disorderly conduct, and he later recalled the situation: “Things went downhill pretty quickly after that.”
Going Downhill
Years Of Petty Crimes
Proceeding the 1964 Sam Cooke concert, Walter already had a criminal record at such a young age. This is when things started spiraling, and Walter later confessed in an interview, “I got into all sorts of trouble.” Walter explained, “I lifted purses from unlocked cars, I was stealing government checks out of mailboxes, I got bolder and bolder.”
Years Of Petty Crimes
Juvenile Detention Center
Walter had even stolen from his school’s band room, gotten caught, and was sent to a juvenile detention center in the area. Following years of small crimes, Walter had to face the repercussions. But what were these exactly?
Juvenile Detention Center
His Life Quickly Changed
Walter’s life rapidly changed as his freedom was stripped and he was forced to abide by the juvenile detention’s strict code. Walter said years after, “I hated everything about that place,” as he complained about the standards regarding food and violence in the center. Walter discussed his experience even though he had been released years prior, “I still have scars from all the times I got beat up.”
His Life Quickly Changed
Calculating A Plan
In the evenings, Walter would listen to the trains as they passed by on the tracks next to his cell-it allowed him to escape the realities of the center. Walter wanted to get out, he had to but how would he do it?
Calculating A Plan
A Daring Escape
The whistles and clashing of the communal train station allowed Walter to reminisce about the freedom he once had and longed for. Juvenile detention became a test of patience for Walter as he waited for a sign or a chance, “I always wanted to know where that train was going,” he said.
A Daring Escape
First Disappearance
one night, he was granted an opportunity as the guard watching the doors of the juvenile center turned around to see what the time was. This was the moment that Walter had been waiting for and he quickly took it. Walter said, “I ran out the back door — toward the sound of that whistle. And that was the first place I ever escaped from,” although it would certainly not be the last.
First Disappearance
Making His Way To The Tracks
Walter went straight to the train station and did what he had been longing for: he followed the trains to see where they would take him to. Eventually, Walter would head west on the tracks, heading to Washington, D.C from North Carolina.
Making His Way To The Tracks
Washington D.C
In the beginning, it seemed as things were changing for the better for Walter. At that time his brother was residing in Washington, D.C. Walter was able to live with him in his city apartment, and decided to go to high school- he attended his classes, and enjoyed basketball with his mates. This was short-lived as Walter soon found himself amongst “the wrong group of kids,” and his life began to degrade yet again.
Washington D.C
Much Worse Crimes
Walter’s new friends did not involve themselves with petty theft but rather committed even worse criminal activities. Walter quickly realized that his friends were robbing banks and had managed to escape the police as they traveled to North Carolina. There was more lax security there.
Much Worse Crimes
Youth Gang
Walter along with his friends continued escaping the feds as hey continued to rob banks. Walter remembered, “After every score, we’d hand out on the strip at 14th and T [Streets], and act like big timers. We felt like gangsters.” He admitted honestly, “I have nobody to blame but myself. I just enjoyed the feeling of having money.”
Youth Gang
Getting Caught Again
Walter’s luck soon ran thin as he and his friends were about to have their chain of robberies and operation come tumbling down. On a normal day in Agust 1971, one of the banks they had robbed had a silent alarm. The bank teller had pressed the alarm which notified the police about the robbery in motion.
Getting Caught Again
Back In Cuffs
As Walter exited the bank, the police were there waiting for his exit in the parking lot. Walter recalled, “I tried to get away, ducking and weaving, running through cars,” but an officer fired a shot. That was the end of it, he had been caught. No doubt he would soon find a way to change his fate…
Back In Cuffs
Sentenced For His Crimes
Walter was found guilty of this bank robbery and on the count of an additional robbery, he was ordered to 25 to 30 years in prison. Whilst in jail, Walter received news that his mother had passed away. He was devastated and promised to turn his life around.
Sentenced For His Crimes
Maximum-Security
Multiple appeals were in motion for Walter, however, they all failed. Walter at this point was adjusted to life in prison but decided that the only route to improving his quality of living would be to have the opportunity of getting transferred from a maximum-security center to a minimum-security one. He began devising a plan.
Maximum-Security
His Work Paid Off
Walter was intent on doing better and changing his life. “I became the perfect inmate. I never had a mark on my record,” he explained. His hard work eventually was worth it, and his good behavior led him to a transfer. Walter’s situation was now “more like a camp” in comparison to a maximum security facility. Although the facility was still walled and equipped with gun towers he felt as though he had more freedom.
His Work Paid Off
Things Were Changing
The inmates in this facility had privileges allowing them to go outside and call their loved ones. Walter actually ran his own radio show, at first he intended to stay and finish his sentence. However, this changed…
Things Were Changing
Everything Went Downhill
Walter enjoyed being a radio host and even claimed that the role enabled him to feel “relaxed”, a feeling he hadn’t experienced in years. However, things started to unravel when a prisoner yelled rudely at the prison’s captain. who mistook Walter as the one who had sworn. This was just the start…
Everything Went Downhill
Too Many Negative Reports
The captain had a vendetta against him since then and began “picking on” Walter. Walter claims the captain would unnecessarily write him up with infractions. The negative reports kept piling up until I was one mark away from being sent back up the hill,” he explained. Walter explained that since he had no plans to backtrack the only way was to escape.
Too Many Negative Reports
A New Opportunity
Due to the negative reports, he was receiving, he was assigned the word job in the prison. Walter and some of the other prisoners were tasked to clean up the roads- this meant they had to wake up before all the other prisoners, bus to Raleigh, and simply pick up trash.
A New Opportunity
The Plotting Begins
He remembered, “It was awful. People would be throwing hamburgers and milkshakes at you. And it was almost winter, so it was starting to get cold.” Regardless of the bad weather, Walter recognized his opportunity. He said, “That’s when I started planning and plotting.”
The Plotting Begins
His Big Escape Plan
Walter planned his large escape, he e=began saving up his money and taking careful notice of the routine, especially that on Tuesday mornings the guard was a tad lazier than the others. Each inmate was patted down before entering the bus but this particular guard let them walk straight on to the bus.
His Big Escape Plan
Collecting The Necessary Information
He also took note of the intersection that the bus would regularly stop at, it was right next to a wooded forest. Walter spent months collecting all of the necessary information, and then, as he watched football on a regular Monday, he made his decision. “That was going to be my last night in prison,” he said.
Collecting The Necessary Information
Everything Was Set
Just as expected, the guard simply stood by the bus and let them enter on that specific Tuesday. Walter was ready and had cleared out the goods in his locker. He had brought along his civilian clothes that he was allowed to wear during his radio show. He was wearing the clothes under his prison uniform.
Everything Was Set
Wailing Of The Sirens
Walter walked to the back of the bus and positioned himself next to the emergency exit. Walter said, “As we slowed down for a stop, I swung open the back door — and I was gone,” as he quickly took off the prison uniform and prison attire before sprinting further into the forest, the sound of sirens was fading in the distance.
Wailing Of The Sirens
The Death Of Walter Miller
“I could hear the alarm blaring behind me, but I didn’t look back,” Walter remembered. Once Walter felt safe, he began asking people for directions to Greyhound station and they would calmly say, “Keep going.” Eventually, he reached the station and boarded a bus to New York City, as he borrowed just enough money from a bystander.
The Death Of Walter Miller
The Birth Of Bobby Love
Walter remembers being slouched in his seat as a woman turned to him and began a conversation, he had this to say: “She asked me my name. I thought for a moment, and said: ‘Bobby Love.’ And that was the death of Walter Miller. His new life as Bobby was about to begin
The Birth Of Bobby Love
Bobby Love
In November 1977, Bobby Love arrived in New York City. He began a totally new life and utilized the little money he had to purchase a room in a motel. The money eventually ran out, and he took to the streets. Regardless, Bobby began a new life even from the streets, he managed to get a birth certificate with a few lies and a lucky break. Not only that he got a social security number, and, later, a driver’s license.
Bobby Love
Needing Employment
He then began to seek employment and worked a few odd jobs in order to pick up paychecks here and there. Walter stayed in $8-a-night hotels. Suddenly, his luck took a turn and his life changed.
Needing Employment
Bobby And Cheryl
Bobby managed to get a job in the 1980s at the Baptist Medical Center cafeteria in Brooklyn. This is where he met his coworker Cheryl, the pair later married. On their first date, the couple had gone to the movies where Prince’s Purple Rain was showing. They then went to a Gladys Knight and the Pips concert. Bobby was starstruck by Cheryl. He explained, “Cheryl was innocent. The opposite of me. And that’s why I was so attracted to her.” Bobby wanted to begin a life with her regardless of the act he knew it could end at any sudden moment.
Bobby And Cheryl
A Heart Of Gold
He had never known someone like Cheryl, “Cheryl was innocent. The opposite of me. And that’s why I was so attracted to her.” He continued, “Cheryl was soft. Almost in a naïve way.” He was ready to start afresh and have a life partner.
A Heart Of Gold
Building A Life Together
On March 30, 1985, Bobby married Cheryl. Bobby was 34 years old and she was only 21. Soon after, the newlyweds had their first child. Their child was named Jasmine. Two years passed and the couple had another baby girl named Jessica. 11 Years later- Jordan and Justin, twins were born.
Building A Life Together
Devoted Family Man
Bobby worked two jobs, besides him getting just two hours of sleep each night, he was an attentive dad. Besides from work, Bobby was an active churchgoer, he volunteered and was present in community meetings. Bobby’s life was somewhat perfect. However, his huge secret loomed behind it. Walter discussed with the New York Daily News that he would send a message to his wife: “I’m not going anywhere unless somebody takes me.”
Devoted Family Man
His Secret
Bobby definitely wanted to inform his wife of his past- he explained that he “just couldn’t risk it.” Bobby felt his life before was already in the past and aid Cheryl was a “righteous woman” and would most likely convince him to turn himself in.
His Secret
Strongly Mistaken
Bobby managed to stay in contact with a few family members in North Carolina, and he had asked his sister to tell Cheryl the truth once he dies. However, his sister persisted he tell her the truth. Bobby said, “That part of my life was buried back in North Carolina. And it wasn’t coming back,” little did he know things would soon change.
Strongly Mistaken
Noticing Oddities
“There was a piece missing,” Cheryl explained, “something was different,” both her and Bobby’s friends did not like taking pictures, were cautious of talking to strangers and simply kept to himself. Even when people would simply ask him for directions he would “seem spooked.”
Noticing Oddities
Praying To The Lord
When arguing with Cheryl, Bobby would build a wall. Cheryl remembered, “I remember during Christmas of 2014, I was on my knees in church, saying ‘Lord, please, I can’t do this anymore. That was a few weeks before everything went down.”
Praying To The Lord
Everything Came Crashing Down
Bobby had started to feel more comfortable as the years went on, he even went to North Carolina to attend the funeral of his sibling. He thinks that this is when someone may have recognized him and told the authorities. Soon after, the FBI was handcuffing him in his own home. Cheryl exclaimed, “My world came crashing down,” and she went on to say that her pain overtook all possible embarrassment. She went on, “Bobby had deceived me for all those years. There was no truth in our house,” further saying in another interview that it was “like I was in a movie — a Lifetime movie.” Regardless of her complex feelings, she felt strongly about acting up.
Everything Came Crashing Down
Facing Grim Circumstances
Bobby’s possibilities were slim. He was being kept on the infamous Rikers Island in New York, as he awaited to be extradited to North Carolina. He would potentially serve his last 10 years of his sentence in North Carolina with additional time for escaping.
Facing Grim Circumstances
For Better Or Worse
Cheryl was witness to his dire conditions as she visited him. Cheryl recalled, “When I first visited him in prison, he broke down crying,” and she added, “His head was in his hands, and he told me: ‘I know, you’re going to leave me.’ I told him: ‘No, Bobby Love, I married you for better or for worse. And now this is the worst.” With that in mind, Cheryl started to work on her plan.
For Better Or Worse
Doing Everything She Could
Cheryl tried and exhausted every lead she could to give her husband freedom. She wrote letters to not only the governor but President Obama too. Cheryl pleaded with her children and any other people in his life to write testimonials. She said, “I didn’t know a thing about Walter Miller, but I told them all about Bobby Love.”
Doing Everything She Could
Addressing The Parole Board
She had managed to organize almost every piece of character defense she could and took it o her husband’s parole board. The task seemed somewhat impossible, but the parole board let Bobby reenter his life and have his freedom back. This new life he had built just one year of prison but things would never be the same.
Addressing The Parole Board
Better Than Ever
Of course, Cheryl forgave Bobby and their marriage strengthened even more. Moreover, Bobby’s nature changed as he was no longer jumpy, he was more engaged with people and more attentive to his darling wife. Cheryl and Bobby felt more connected after this revelation and trying time. Cheryl has the marriage she wanted and they are free. “The day he was set free, I sat him down and I asked ‘What is it? Are we the Loves? Or are we the Millers?’ And he said: ‘We Love. We Love.’”
Better Than Ever