Dog the Bounty Hunter searches for Brian Laundrie. Reality bounter hunter star Duane ‘Dog’ Chapman reckons he has found a lead in the wanted man’s case.
And now it has become a reality show…
Famed reality star, Dog the Bounty Hunter believes a Florida campsite could be the key to finding wanted fugitive boyfriend of slain Long Island, NY native Gabby Petito.
The reality star otherwise known as Duane ‘Dog’ Chapman told Fox News he received a tip that Brian Laundrie and his parents camped together at Fort De Soto Park in Pinellas County in early September.
Chapman, 68, claims the family took two trips to Fort De Soto, from Sept. 1-3 and Sept. 6-8. But on the Laundrie’s second trip, three people came into the park and only two left, Chapman claims.
Police, however, say they’re not looking in the area and have gotten no tips about Laundrie being there.
Has Brian Laundrie fled to Fort De Soto Park?
Did Brian’s parents help him evade police?
‘They were registered, went through the gate,’ he said. ‘They’re on camera. They were here.’
The revelation comes as TMZ said Chapman and wife Francis Frane apparently found a ‘fresh’ campsite in the woods of Florida. Dog tipped off authorities to the find and believes there’s unspecified evidence linking Laundrie’s parents to the site.
Laundrie’s parents, Chris and Roberta, denied any knowledge of or involvement in Brian’s disappearance in a statement through their lawyer on Monday.
‘The speculation by the public and some in the press that the parents assisted Brian in leaving the family home or in avoiding arrest on a warrant that was issued after Brian had already been missing for several days is just wrong,’ attorney Steven Bertolino said in a statement.
1-833-TELLDOG
Dog joined the hunt for Laundrie on Saturday and photographed banging on the door of Laundrie’s parents home in North Port, Florida over the weekend. The wanted man’s parents didn’t answer the door.
Chapman told Fox he joined the search for Laundrie after the public asked him to do so.
‘We had a lot of requests that I get in on this,’ the reality star told FOX. ‘This is what I do for a living, for 45 years.’
Dog plans to catch Laundrie by his 24th birthday, Nov. 18. He said many early tips he received on his 833-TELLDOG hotline pointed to Laundrie being somewhere along the Appalachian trail, where he was known to spend time camping.
‘That is the most leads coming right now that say that,’ Dog told the nypost.
As of Monday, the infamous bounty hunter told of receiving more than 1,000 leads on the hotline according to Fox News’ “Fox and Friends.”
‘I would say within 48 hours we probably will have a location where we start the tracking at,’ Dog said during an interview on the show.
Authorities decline to comment on reality star involvement
According to an interview with the nytimes last year, the famed bounty hunter told of capturing 10,000 fugitives over the course of his career.
Laundrie, 23, hasn’t been accused of Petito’s death but he’s a wanted man for allegedly using someone else’s Capitol One bank card in Wyoming in late August – around the time Petito, 22, lost communication with her family. The accusation doesn’t say whether the card was Petito’s.
The young couple had embarked on an ill-fated cross-country trip, but Laundrie arrived back home in Florida Sept. 1 without his girlfriend. When Petito’s family reported her missing on Sept. 11, Laundrie and his family refused to speak to police.
He went on the run shortly after, sparking a massive search at a nearby 25K acre alligator infested swamp reserve when his parents reported him missing days later as the son’s whereabouts remains a mystery.
Neither the FBI nor Florida’s North Port Police Department responded to overtures for comment on Chapman’s involvement.
