Nicholas Barclay from Imposter Netflix had three different Tattoos on his body. The 13-year-old got tatted to express his defiance of social norms.
Netflix released a documentary titled The Imposter in 2012. The documentary focused on a Frenchman living in Spain. The young man claims to a grieving family in Texas that he is their son who has been missing for three years.
The Imposter is a true story of Nicholas Barclay, a 13-year-old boy who went missing in 1994. The family and the authorities were unable to get their hand on a single clue about Nicholas. To everyone’s surprise, Barclay called his parents from Spain after three years of his disappearance.
However, upon the arrival of Barclay to Texas, authorities began to raise questions about his identity. The family readily accepted the boy to be their son. After a year of probing, the FBI exposed that the boy was not Nicholas but an imposter named Frederic Pierre Bourdin.
Adam O’Brian portrays the con artist Frederic Bourdin in the documentary. Barclay’s family members are featured along with lead investigating authorities.
Why Did Nicholas Barclay Have Tattoos?
Nicholas Barclay had three tattoos at the age of 13. Getting a tattoo was the teenager way of expressing rebellion against his family and authorities.
Barclay’s imposter was clever enough to notice those tattoos and made the same on the body to convince the teenager’s parents while identifying as Nicholas Barclay.
The teenager was rebellious, ill-tempered, hot-headed, and always looking for trouble. He would often get into a fight with his mother.
Barclay’s mother was worried about his son’s aggressive behavior and, at some level, felt threatened. So, she asked her 24-year-old stepson Jason to move in with them. The teenager’s mother was hoping that Jason could help to control her son’s behavior.
The 13-year-old was convicted of many criminal behaviors, including threatening his teachers in school, breaking into a convenience store, and stealing a pair of shoes. Now and then, police would escort the teenager to his house to inform his parents about his latest juvenile criminal record.
In fact, Barclay was due to appear in court on 14 July 1994 for a crime he had committed. The Judge would give a verdict on whether or not to place him in a group home for young offenders.
The True Story Of Nicholas Barclay Disappearance
A 13 year old boy Nicholas Barclay from San Antonio disappeared mysteriously on 10 June 1994.
One afternoon Barclay was playing basketball with his friend on a basketball court. After the game, all of them headed home. The teenager didn’t feel like walking back home, so he called his brother Jason and asked him to pick him up.
24-year-old Jason was the half-brother of Barclay. Jason replied that he didn’t want his mother to wake up by the noise of the car. So, he told his brother to walk back home. That was the last conversation with the 13-year-old. Nobody heard anything about him after that.
For a few hours after his disappearance, the young boy’s parents thought it was not a cause for panic. Their son had a history of running away from the consequences of his actions. This particular incident occurred to them as one of those regular events.
The authorities and Barclays’s parents both the parties assumed Nicholas was trying to run away from legal troubles. The teenager’s parents were certain that their son would show up sooner or later. After a day away from the scene, young Barclay’s parents began to worry. The police opened a missing person investigation.
For the police, however, the search investigation of Barclay was very challenging because they had no lead to follow. The 13-year-old had no car, credit card, or cell phone in his possession.
Time flew by, and days turned into months with no sign of the 13-year-old. The police didn’t give up their search, but they were unable to establish a solid lead. The parents feared that they would never see their son again.
Was Nicholas Barclay Ever Found?
Nicholas Barclay has not been found since his disappearance in 1994. The imposter Frederic Bourdin claimed to be Barclay in 1997, which was later exposed.
In 1997, Barclay’s parents received a call from Spain. The call revealed that their son Nicholas had been found in a youth shelter in Spain.
Barclay’s half-sister Carey flew to Spain and brought her brother back to Texas. Three years after his disappearance, the teenager reunited with his parents.
The teenager claimed he was kidnapped three years ago while returning home from the basketball court. The kidnappers took him to Europe and pushed him into a sex trafficking ring. However, he managed to flee and was later found by the authorities.
The return of Barclay raised the eyebrows of the authorities and the relatives. The immediate family, however, was happy about his return and turned a blind eye to his unusual behavior.
Imposter Frederic Bourdin Claimed To Be Nicholas Barcley
Barclay was an angry, short-tempered, and aggressive child. But the child who returned was calm, composed, and well-mannered. He never seemed traumatized from the horrifying kidnap he claimed about.
The boy refused to provide fingerprints and blood samples to the authorities and insisted on a court order. Finally, in February 1998, the FBI obtained its court order and performed necessary tests.
The fingerprints and blood samples revealed that the boy who claimed to be Nicholas Barclay was a con artist named Frederic Pierre Bourdin. The 23-year-old Frenchman was a serial imposter who had previously assumed over 500 identities.
The infamous con artist was a wanted man. Interpol had a warrant for his arrest and was looking for him under the name of Chameleon. It was revealed that the imposter scoured through the missing child registry and claimed to be many different children in the past.
After his arrest, the 23-year-old accused Barclay’s parents of murder. The con artist claimed that the family readily accepted him because they needed a cover for murdering their son. However, those were just wild accusations of a thief caught red-handed.
Where To Watch Netflix The Imposter
The documentary was produced jointly by 24 Seven Productions, A&E IndieFilms, and Channel 4. It is available for streaming on Netflix and Prime Video.
The documentary directed by Bart Layton was released in the UK on 24 August 2012.
The trailer for the documentary was uploaded on YouTube by Rotten Tomatoes on 23 February 2012. Check out the trailer of The Imposter below.