Dog the Bounty Hunter star Beth Chapman dies

Reality TV star Beth Chapman, who starred with her husband in the show Dog the Bounty Hunter, has died.

The 51-year-old, who had been battling cancer for two years died at the Queen’s Medical Center in Honolulu on Wednesday.

Her husband, Duane “Dog” Chapman, posted on Twitter: “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.”

The couple became household names thanks to the Dog the Bounty Hunter series, which followed the duo’s exploits in apprehending people who had avoided arrest warrants.

But Beth had herself at one time been on the wrong side of the law. The couple actually met when Duane, the self-proclaimed world’s best bounty hunter, posted her bond for a shoplifting arrest.

Born Alice Elizabeth Smith in Denver, Chapman had lived in Honolulu since 1989. In 2006, she and Duane married during a sunset ceremony at a Big Island resort after being together for 16 years.

The wedding took place a day after the death of Duane Chapman’s 23-year-old daughter, Barbara Katy Chapman, who was killed in a car accident near her home in Fairbanks, Alaska. The couple decided to go forward with the wedding to celebrate her life.

Between them they had 12 children, 15 grandchildren and one great-grandchild. In 2007, they were honoured by the state of Hawaii for their work capturing criminals.

“It’s kind of extraordinary to be called a crime fighter,” Beth said at the time. “I’ll have to go home and get my Wonder Woman outfit.”

Duane Chapman first came to public prominence after he captured serial rapist and Max Factor heir Andrew Luster in Mexico in 2003.

The first series of Dog the Bounty Hunter aired the following year and ran until 2012.

The show was pulled in 2007 following a racial outburst by Duane Chapman and then returned to the air in 2008. He was heard in a taped phone conversation using a racial slur in reference to his son’s black girlfriend. He apologised and said he received counselling.