Has Brian Laundrie fled to Fort De Soto Park? An Instagram post earlier this year shows the missing Florida man with Gabby Petito at the campsite raising new questions.
Internet sleuths have honed in an image that deceased woman, Gabby Petito and her now wanted fugitive boyfriend, Brian Laundrie posted earlier this year as a possible lead as to the whereabouts of the missing man.
The image posted on Petito’s Instagram in February shows the couple tagged at the Fort De Soto Park in Florida, near the area where Duane ‘Dog the Bounty Hunter’ Chapman is investigating a tip alleging Laundrie and his parents visited a campground in early September.
The image shows Laundrie smiling as he stands behind bars of a jail cell of the old fort.
The couple later posted a review of the campground at Fort De Soto Park on travel website The Dyrt, describing it as a ‘really nice campground, beautiful area with many hikes and easy walks, the beach, historic sites, really nice camp store and well maintained sites!’
Chapman told Fox News Monday night he received a tip that Laundrie’s parents spent the night in Fort De Soto Park with their son twice in early September from Sept. 1 to Sept. 3 and from Sept. 6 to Sept. 8.
‘He’s very young, he’s not an experienced criminal,’
‘They were registered, went through the gate. They’re on camera. They were here,’ he told Fox News. ‘We think at least if he’s not here right now, we are sure he was caught on camera as he went in the gate — that he was here for sure.’
During the second September trip, Chapman stressed that Brian and his parents went into Fort De Soto Park together but only for the parents to return.
In his Fox interview, Dog also addressed the possibility that Brian might be somewhere on the Appalachian Trail.
‘He’s very young, he’s not an experienced criminal,’ the bounty hunter explained, adding that Brian’s lack of criminal history prior to Gabby’s disappearance suggests that Brian won’t attempt shoplifting or breaking and entering to stay on the run.
‘This kid is an outdoorsman, so I think he went where he’s comfortable,’ Dog concluded.
The park is about a 75-mile drive northwest from the Laundries’ home in North Port.
It’s located southwest of St. Petersburg and attracts more than 2.7 million visitors annually, according to Pinellas County’s website.
A spokesperson for Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office told FOX13 Tuesday morning that they were not working anything related to the ongoing search for Laundrie at Fort De Soto Park. The police department added that did not have any confirmed sightings of Brian Laundrie and they are UNAWARE of any tips connecting him to the area.
