Dog the Bounty Hunter claims he has found a Florida campsite that he thinks could be key to finding Brian Laundrie, the fugitive boyfriend of slain travel blogger Gabby Petito.
Duane “Dog” Chapman told Fox News that he received a tip that Laundrie and his parents camped together at Fort De Soto Park in Pinellas County in early September. The three took two trips to the park from September 1-3 and September 6-8, he said.
But on the second trip, three people went into the park but only two exited, Chapman said.
“They were registered, went through the gate,” he said. “They’re on camera. They were here.”
“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. Not over in the swamp,” he said, referring to another nearby nature preserve that police have searched.
The DeSoto park is located about 75 miles away from the Laundries’ home and contains more than 1,130 acres on five different keys.
Chapman announced Saturday that he would begin searching for Laundrie and says tips started streaming in right away. One tip led Chapman and his new wife Francie Frane to a “fresh” campsite in the woods of Florida.
Laundrie’s parents, Chris and Roberta, said through their lawyer Monday that they were not involved in their son’s disappearance. “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.
He said his clients “do not know where Brian is.”
“They are concerned about Brian and hope the FBI can locate him,” Bertolino wrote in the statement.
“A Pinellas County sheriff spokesperson told Fox News it was not conducting an investigation at Ft. DeSoto,” Fox reported. “He later added: ‘Allegedly, what we’re hearing, is two people left on the 8th. Three people came in on the 6th, and two people left on the 8th. I think he’s been here for sure.'”
The New York Post reported Chapman 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,” he told the Post.
Chapman went by the parents’ house, prompting Roberta Laundrie to call 911.
“Dispatch audio has emerged of Roberta Laundrie siccing the cops on TV personality Duane Lee Chapman, who was seen Saturday banging on the door of the North Port, Florida, home where Brian and his girlfriend Gabby Petito lived,” Fox News reported.
“The female, Roberta… called in on 911,” a dispatcher is heard saying, adding that the caller “referenced a situation with the male,” according to the network.
Chapman told Fox News that he had spoken with police before he arrived at the Laundrie home. “It’s a shame they wouldn’t speak with us. The police said we were welcome to knock on the door so we did. I wanted to tell the Laundries that our goal is to find Brian and bring him in alive,” he told the outlet Monday.