TV personality Duane Lee Chapman, better known as “Dog the Bounty Hunter,” has dramatically joined the hunt for murdered Gabby Petito’s boyfriend, fugitive Brian Laundrie.
On Saturday afternoon, the 68-year-old former bail bondsman arrived at Laundrie’s parents’ home in North Port, Florida, repeatedly knocking on the door but met silence.
“I need to speak to the father. I need to ask him where his son is. Is he in there?” Chapman told reporters before banging again violently on the property’s door.
Responding to journalists’ questions on whether he was confident in discovering Petito’s fiancee’s whereabouts, he said: “Yes, I will find him,” adding that he had gotten many leads and was receiving many more every ten minutes.
“The reason I went to Mr. [Christopher] Laundrie is I carry a reputation with me,” he told the media moments later, adding: “The reputation is, ‘He gives you a second chance. He’s gonna get you, but he gives you a second chance’.”
Chapman, a legendary bounty hunter, was reportedly in Florida on his honeymoon with his wife Francie Chapman when he became interested in Laundrie’s disappearance and started reaching out to Mr. Laundrie.
In 2006, he lost a daughter the same age as Gabby Petito in a car accident.
“I know what the victims feel like,” he said.
Petito disappeared after going on a road trip with her fiancé, who returned home without her. Her parents reported her missing on September 10, and the police launched an investigation into the case.
However, on Friday, September 17, Laundrie’s parents reported that their son was missing, telling police they had not seen him in three days.
Petito’s parents and stepparents held a funeral for their daughter on Sunday, a week after investigators found her remains at a camp she shared with her boyfriend in late August.
“And the dad can still reach out to me, through social media,” Chapman said. “Let’s get the kid captured alive. Alive.”
An FBI-led search uncovered the remains of Laundrie’s fiancee, the late Gaby Petito, in the scattered Spread Creek camp, Wyoming.
Authorities named Laundrie a “person of interest” in Petito’s disappearance amid efforts to find her and “subject of a federal indictment” for alleged debit card fraud. A court order, which Chapman brought Laundrie’s home with him on Saturday, was issued on the charge.
