People: Catherine Bach Says She Is on the Up After a Serious Health Scare

Catherine Bach says she is doing well. Speaking to People at Cure Addiction Now's third annual Fundraising Evening in Los Angeles on Monday, November 9, the Dukes of Hazzard star, 72, said she is "on the up" after a serious health scare during a reported hospitalization last year.

I have always had a soft spot for stories like this one. They are not about a premiere or a contract. They are about a person who went through something frightening, came out the other side, and showed up for a good cause with her family next to her.

What Bach Said

"I'm good ... Everything's on the up and up," Bach told People. She did not play down what she had been through. "It was very serious. Yeah. It was a very serious situation," she said.

Her daughter, Laura Lopez, 28, was with her at the event. "She's back and better than ever," Lopez told the magazine. Bach, who has two daughters, said Lopez "took care of me during that time."

That last line is the one that stayed with me. Behind almost every recovery there is someone who drove to the appointments, sat in the waiting room and kept the house running. Bach chose to name that person in public.

What Happened Last Year

According to People, citing Fox News, Bach was hospitalized in October 2025 after developing an embolism following surgery. She had been scheduled to appear at Cooter's Place in Nashville and canceled the appearance at the time.

Her former Dukes of Hazzard castmates shared the news with fans. John Schneider, now 66, wrote on Facebook that he had texted her and that she responded right away. "Yes, she is in the hospital, but she assures me that she is going to be fine," he wrote, adding that she appreciated the prayers and support.

The late Ben Jones, who played Cooter on the show, also posted about her on Facebook, according to Parade. He wrote that she had been admitted on an emergency basis and that she had an embolism that probably developed as a result of a recent surgery.

Why Fans Paid Attention

Bach became a household name as Daisy Duke on The Dukes of Hazzard, which ran on CBS from 1979 to 1985. For many families, that show was a weekly ritual, and the cast has stayed close to its fans through reunions and appearances for decades.

That bond explains why a short Facebook post from Schneider traveled so far last year. Fans were not reading a press release. They were hearing from a friend that someone they grew up watching was in trouble and was going to be all right.

The Cause She Showed Up For

The setting of this update matters too. Cure Addiction Now's evening at the Beverly Hills Hotel raised money for innovative research into substance use disorder, according to People.

Addiction touches far more families than most people admit out loud. When a recognizable face spends an evening helping fund that research, it sends a quiet message to people who are struggling that they are not invisible.

The Lesson for the Rest of Us

There are two things I take from this story. The first is that recovery is rarely a solo effort. Bach did not say she beat this by herself. She said her daughter took care of her.

The second is about honesty. She could have said everything was fine and moved on. Instead, she said plainly that it was very serious, and then said she is good now. Both things can be true, and saying both helps other people who are in the middle of their own scare.

If you have someone in your life who carried you through a hard season, this is a good week to tell them so.

What Is Confirmed

Confirmed, according to People: Bach says she is "on the up," she described the situation as very serious, and she credited her daughter Laura Lopez with caring for her. The details of the 2025 hospitalization come from earlier reporting by Fox News and Parade, as cited by People.

Bach has not shared further medical details, and anything beyond what she said remains her own business. For now, the news is simple and welcome: Daisy Duke is doing well.

ABC7 Chicago: DNA Solves the 1981 Murder of Juanita Boyd, a LaPorte Courthouse Worker

In February 1981, Juanita Boyd went out for the evening in LaPorte, Indiana, and never came home. For 45 years, her family waited for someone to say who took her life. On Tuesday, November 10, the LaPorte County Sheriff's Office said it finally has that answer.

Sheriff Ronald Heeg told reporters that DNA evidence and forensic genealogy had identified the man investigators say killed her. "Although cold, it was never forgotten about, and it was looked on by several generations of police officers throughout the years," Heeg said, according to ABC7 Chicago. "Today, I'm happy to announce that this case is no longer cold."

Who Juanita Boyd Was

Juanita Boyd was 31 years old. She worked at the LaPorte County Courthouse, and she had a 9 year old son. Capt. Andy Hynek of the Sheriff's Office described her as a loving, nurturing mother who spent all of her time with her boy. He said it was completely out of character for her not to come home the next morning.

That detail matters. Too often, coverage of old murders reduces the victim to a date and a location. Juanita Boyd was a public employee, a neighbor and a parent. Her son grew up without her.

What Happened in 1981

According to investigators, Boyd was last seen at a bar on Lincolnway in LaPorte. WSBT reported that she was reported missing after she did not return home on February 22, 1981.

Six days after she disappeared, her green Pontiac was found stuck in the mud off Forester Road in Coolspring Township. Her body was in the trunk. The Sheriff's Office said she died from asphyxiation, and WSBT reported that she had been strangled and stabbed.

DNA testing did not exist as a police tool at the time. But investigators preserved the evidence they collected, including an undergarment that carried biological material. That decision, made decades ago, is the reason this case could be solved at all.

How DNA Finally Named a Suspect

WSBT reported that the case was reopened in 2013. As DNA testing improved, detectives turned to forensic genetic genealogy, which compares crime scene DNA with family trees built from relatives who share genetic markers.

Detectives used DNA from Boyd's clothing to find a connection to one family. In July of this year, Capt. Derek Allen said, investigators collected a DNA profile from an immediate relative of a potential suspect. By October, the comparison was back. According to ABC7, the analysis showed a probability of 38 trillion to one that the DNA belonged to Carl David Phillips.

Investigators say Phillips was living in LaPorte County at the time of the murder and had lived near the crime scene as a child. Hynek told WSBT that Phillips had served time in the Indiana Department of Correction in the 1970s for armed robberies and believed he was on parole when Boyd was killed.

A Case That Cannot Go to Trial

Phillips died in 2017. The Sheriff's Office said he would have been charged with Boyd's murder if he were still alive. Because he is dead, there will be no trial, no plea and no sentence.

Investigators also said there is no known relationship between Boyd and Phillips. That leaves the hardest question, why, without an answer.

What This Means for Other Families

Members of Boyd's family attended the announcement but declined to comment. Their silence deserves respect. An answer after 45 years can bring relief and fresh grief at the same time.

"I'm hopeful this will help bring peace to this nearly 46 year old case," Hynek said, according to WSBT. "To our community, I believe this will bring hope."

The Sheriff's Office said its investigators are working on three other cold cases. That is the larger lesson here. Evidence kept carefully for decades, combined with patient detective work and new science, can still give families a name.

How You Can Help

Cold cases move forward when people speak up. If you have information about an unsolved case in LaPorte County, contact the LaPorte County Sheriff's Office directly. If you know something about any unsolved homicide in your own community, call your local police department or sheriff, even if the case is decades old and even if the detail seems small.

Sources for this report include ABC7 Chicago and WSBT 22, which covered the Sheriff's Office announcement on November 10. Juanita Boyd's name deserves to be remembered, and her family deserves the peace that this answer may bring.

Why I Admit When I Do Not Know the Answer

For a long time I treated every question like a test. If someone asked me something in a meeting, at an event or in a conversation with a friend, I felt I had to have an answer ready. Saying I did not know felt like failing in front of people, so I filled the silence with something that sounded right.

It took me years to see what that habit was costing me. Today, "I don't know" is one of the most useful things I say. It has not made people trust me less. It has made them trust me more.

The Cost of Pretending

When you guess and present it as fact, one of two things happens. Either you get lucky, or you get caught. Getting caught is the obvious risk, because once people discover you bluffed on one thing, they start to wonder about everything else you have told them.

But getting lucky has a cost too. Every time a guess works out, it trains you to keep guessing. You never go and find the real answer, so you never actually learn it. Over time you build a reputation on a foundation that is thinner than anyone realizes, including you.

There is also the cost to other people. When I gave confident answers I was not sure of, people made decisions based on what I said. If I was wrong, they paid for my pride.

Why Honesty Builds Trust

The people I trust most are the ones who tell me where their knowledge ends. When a doctor, a lawyer or a mentor says "I am not certain, let me check," I believe the rest of what they tell me a little more. They have shown me they will not dress up a guess as a fact.

The same thing works in reverse. When I started admitting what I did not know, I noticed people listened more closely when I did speak with confidence. My "yes" and my "I am sure" began to carry weight, because they were no longer automatic.

Admitting a gap also opens the door for others. In a room where the person speaking says "I don't know," everyone else feels permission to be honest too. Questions get asked that would have stayed hidden, and problems come out earlier, while they are still small.

How I Say It Now

Saying "I don't know" does not mean shrugging and walking away. The way you say it matters as much as the words.

I Say What I Do Know

I usually start with the part I am sure of. Something like, "I know the deadline is Friday, but I don't know whether the budget has been approved." That shows I am engaged and draws a clear line between fact and uncertainty.

I Offer a Next Step

The most important part comes next: "Let me find out and get back to you by tomorrow." An honest gap followed by a real commitment is far more valuable than a confident guess. Then I make sure I actually follow through.

I Point to Someone Who Knows

Sometimes the best answer is a name. "I don't know, but Maria handled that last year, and she will." That is not passing the buck. It is getting the person the right answer faster than I could.

What Not Knowing Has Taught Me

Once I stopped pretending, I started learning again. Every "I don't know" became a small assignment. I would look things up, ask questions and come back with something real. Over the years those small assignments have added up to more knowledge than all my confident guessing ever gave me.

It has also made me calmer. I no longer walk into conversations bracing for the question that will expose me. If I do not know, I will say so, and that is fine. The pressure to be the person with every answer is gone, and I did not realize how heavy it was until I put it down.

A Small Practice to Start With

If this is hard for you, start small. The next time you are asked something you are unsure of, try saying, "I'm not sure, but I'll find out." Notice how the other person reacts. In my experience, most people respond with relief, not disappointment.

Confidence is not knowing everything. It is being comfortable with what you do not know and willing to go and learn it. The sooner you give yourself permission to say three honest words, the sooner people will believe you when you say you are sure.