Dennis Davis Florida hiker claims coming across a lost and dazed Brian Laundrie along Appalachian Trail in North Carolina.
A hiker has claimed speaking with wanted man, Brian Laundrie on a deserted road near the Appalachian Trail in North Carolina on October 2nd, Saturday morning.
Dennis Davis’ alleged encounter with the boyfriend of slain Long Island, NY, native Gabby Petito comes as police receive tips that Laundrie may be hiding somewhere along the trail, the world’s longest footpath.
‘There is no doubt in my mind I spoke to Brian Laundrie — none whatsoever,’ the 53 year old Florida engineer said according to the nypost.
Adding, ‘Dog the Bounty Hunter’s daughter sent me an audio file of Brian’s voice and the voice was the same I heard.’
A lost and dazed man allegedly waved down Davis on Waterville Road, where the Appalachian Trail runs nearby the border of North Carolina and Tennessee.
UPDATE: AUDIO OF THE HIKER DENNIS DAVIS WHO SPOKE WITH BRIAN LAUNDRIE! @realjamespat #Justice4Gabby #BREAKING #AppalachianTrail#Laundrie #Brian#GabbyPetitoCase#cassielaundrie #hiker #DennisDavis #johnwalsh #Gabby #LaundrieParents #dogthebountyhunter #BrianLaundrie #Manhunt pic.twitter.com/3lIzjPHNBf
— The Forum Celebrity Podcast with James & Florence (@_TheForum) October 3, 2021
‘I’m lost’
The Appalachians is understood to be an area familiar to Laundrie, who was previously reported to have once lived there ‘by himself for months.’
The man believed to be Laundrie pulled his car up alongside Davis to ask for directions to California using only back roads and refused Davis’ suggestion to take nearby Interstate 40.
Davis, a father of four currently hiking the Appalachian Trail, said the Laundrie-look-alike acted skittish and rambled about being in a fight with his girlfriend.
Davis said he believes if the man was Laundrie he was ‘wigged out’ from being on the run and the situation with Petito.
‘He said ‘man, I’m lost.’ I said ‘what are you trying to find?’ and he said ‘me and my girlfriend got in a fight but she called me, told me she loves me, and I have to get to California to see her.’
‘I said ‘well, I-40 is right there and you could take it west to California’ and he said, ‘I’m just going to take this road into California’.
‘He was worried and not making sense.’
‘That was the guy… no doubt about it’
Davis did not immediately recognize the man as the fugitive until he pulled over and looked up photos of the wanted man on his phone.
The man Davis sighted drove a white or light-colored pick up truck resembling a Ford F-150 and wore a dark bandana on his head.
Despite the road being dark, Davis said the headlights from both idle cars were sufficient to see the man at such close range.
‘Obviously, as a father with a daughter, I want to do whatever I can to help the family find closure and get this guy off the streets,’ he said.
‘Law enforcement is probably getting millions of leads on this guy, but I am not some goofball out there doing drugs in the middle of the night, I am a highly educated professional.
‘And I know that was the guy. There is no doubt about it.
Other alleged sightings in North Carolina
Davis also said he contacted authorities about the interaction but has not heard back from the FBI or police.
The hiker’s assertion follows that of other alleged sightings in Watauga County, North Carolina earlier this week, reports WSOC-TV. Users in a private Facebook page, Appalachian Classifieds, described how people were ‘reporting seeing Brian Laundrie in Boone, NC.’
To date the Watauga County Sheriff said there had been no actual verified sightings of the wanted man.
Both Laundrie and Petito have allegedly hiked parts of the Appalachian Trail. In March, Petito shared a photograph on Instagram with a geotag for the Appalachian Trail in Georgia.
Laundrie returned to Florida from a cross-country trip without his girlfriend and travel companion Gabby Petito, 22, on Sept. 1.
Petito was officially reported missing Sept. 11 and later found dead in Wyoming.
Laundrie remains the sole person of interest in the case. He went missing on Sept. 14, according to his parents, who only reported it to police three days later.
There is an active warrant for his arrest on fraud charges for using someone’s bank card around the time Petito disappeared.
