'SEARCH IS ON'
Dog the Bounty Hunter finds CAMPSITE in K9 hunt for Brian Laundrie near park where Gabby’s fiancé took trip with parents
DOG the Bounty Hunter and a crew of K-9s have discovered a fresh makeshift campsite in the manhunt for Brian Laundrie near the park where the missing fugitive had camped with his parents weeks ago.
Duane "Dog" Chapman and his team sniffed out a fresh Monster Energy Ultra Gold can at the site deep in the woods of Shell Island off the coast of Florida near Fort De Soto Park.
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It emerged earlier on Wednesday that Laundrie had stayed the night at the park with his parents - just days after returning alone from his cross-country trip with fiance Gabby Petito.
The Monster drink appeared to show no signs of no rust or faded colors suggesting it had just recently been discarded, according to .
The find has not been confirmed to be Laundrie's.
DOG ON THE HUNT
But the discovery came on Wednesday when Dog arrived in the offshore island location with a crew and a team of K-9s to determine if Laundrie is canoeing around to elude capture after the disappearance and death of his fiance Gabby, 22.
"We're out here at the island," Dog said while dispatching from Fort De Soto Park, where he believes the 23-year-old outdoorsman may be hiding.
He continued in a Wednesday : "This would be and could be a perfect spot for him to hide.
"Not too many people out here, but there's a lot of environmental things we're gonna fight... The search now is really on."
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The bounty hunter and former TV host believes that Fort De Soto Park in Florida's Pinellas County - which lies about 75 miles from Laundrie's North Port home - is prime territory now to possibly find Laundrie.
"Dog and team are still searching an island near Fort De Soto Park in Pinellas County, Florida, according to the bounty hunter's .
"K-9 teams have been brought in to assist," adding that search teams would continue "into the evening."
WHERE IS BRIAN?
Dog the Bounty Hunter joined the vast search to find Laundrie this week.
On Tuesday, he claimed a tipster informed him that Brian was likely in the park.
The Sun visited Fort De Soto Park on Wednesday, revealing the exact spot where Laundrie and his parents stayed on September 6, days after he returned alone from a cross-country road trip with his fiance, Gabby Petito, in her transit van.
She was later found murdered in Wyoming.
Laundrie's parents reported him missing to police on September 17th. Three days earlier, he allegedly told them he was going hiking at the Carlton Reserve in Sarasota but failed to return.
Dog suspects Brian never actually left Fort De Soto with his parents when they checked out of the camp on September 8.
On Wednesday morning, Dog arrived with a crack team of investigators to scour the park for Laundrie on foot and on water.
'IT'S SCARY'
While the claim has been dismissed by the family's attorney, campers at Fort De Soto exclusively told The Sun they're fearful
"It's scary but realistic," dweller Amanda Smith, who has been staying at the campsite since Sunday, said of Laundrie's potential presence.
"We actually were just looking at some of the mangroves out there and it's very thick.
"You'd have to be skilled which apparently he is in the outdoors but you could for sure hide in them, and this is a good location in terms of being close to things but also being able to kind of get away at the same time."
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Beyond Dog's pursuit in the park, law enforcement was also believed to be conducting searches at the park on Wednesday, with helicopters and police cars spotted in the area, WFLA's Josh Benson reported.
When asked by The Sun about police "activity" at Fort De Soto Park, the North Port Police Department said they "can't give any of that information out over the phone."
OUT OF THE ORDINARY
Smith, who says she visits the park around five times a year, said she didn't notice anything strange about it until Monday night.
"We were out by the campfire and there was a helicopter [flying above] but we weren't really thinking anything of it because we had no idea anything was going on.
"And then on Tuesday morning, I woke up to a text from a friend that said that Dog was looking for Brian and there were tips that he was here and then the whole campground story came out."
Another helicopter was circling above the park throughout yesterday, Smith said.
"And today the gate is closed at the front of the campground and that's not typically the case. It's usually open throughout the day," she said.
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Smith added that she hadn't seen any police in the area, but said she had witnessed what she believed to be a series of "boat searches."
"Last night there was a boat that went from one end of the island all the way through, but it was moving very slowly and then it came back around.
"It had very big lights and looked like they were searching for somebody," she said.
"We don't think it was police ... [but] we couldn't tell. It was too dark and the lights were too bright to see the markings on the boat, but you could tell it was searching."
'POSSIBLE' LAUNDRIE IS AT PARK
John Rean, of Orlando, who visits Fort De Soto around twice a year, said he also believed it's possible Laundrie could be hiding somewhere in the 1,136-acre park.
Rean said he saw plausibility in a theory put forward by Dog that Brian could be at the park to avoid detection.
"I mean, if you look at Google Maps you can see there's a ton of stuff around here so it's a possibility for sure," he said.
Jinia Rash and Michael Houpt who were visiting from Saint Augustine, however, said they were skeptical that Brian would be "stupid" enough to hide in Fort De Soto.
"To be honest with you, I don't think he's here anymore," Rash said. "He would be stupid to be here."
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Houpt concurred, adding that they "haven't seen police or anything in the area. They're being very discreet if they are."
The couple, who arrived at the park on Monday, said everything appeared to be "business as usual."
Park workers explained to The Sun that the gate to the campsite was closed at the direction of the county before another interjected that they shouldn't be speaking to the press.
Campground 001, where the , remained empty on Monday.
PARENTS PUSH BACK
In a statement issued through their attorney Steven Bertolino yesterday, Chris and Roberta Laundrie denied Dog's claim that Laundrie didn't leave the park with them on September 8.
"That dog doesn't know what he's talking about," Bertolino wrote in a texted statement to WPBF.
"The Laundries had reservations at the campground for September 1 to 3. They canceled those reservations and did not go to the park during that weekend although dog says they did.
"They did go to that campground September 6 and 7 as a family and they all left together despite the claims of others."
Bertolino added that went to "other places on two different dates" which the FBI is allegedly aware of.
"So Brian obviously returned home after camping and what that dog is spewing is nothing but baloney," he wrote.
HUNT FOR LAUNDRIE CONTINUES
Brian Laundrie has now been missing for more than two weeks.
He is not currently considered a suspect in Gabby's murder but has been cited as a person of interest. He is also wanted on a warrant for alleged bank fraud after running up $1,000 in that’s believed to have belonged to Gabby.
The couple was around two months into their planned four-month cross-country road trip touring the US’ national parks before Gabby vanished sometime around August 27.
Brian quietly returned home to Florida alone on September 1, failing to alert police or Gabby’s family that she was missing.
He then reportedly vanished on September 14, five days before Gabby's remains were discovered in the Spread Creek Dispersed Campground area, in Grand Teton National Park.
The investigation into Gabby's murder continues.
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Gabby Petito timeline
Gabby Petito, 22, was last seen on August 24, leaving a hotel in Utah. Here is a timeline of Gabby Petito's disappearance:
- June 2021 - set off on a cross-country trip across the US.
- July 4 - posts photos of herself barefoot in Gove County, Kansas.
- July 8 - Gabby posts photos of herself at the Great Sand Dunes National Park in Colorado.
- July 18 - Gabby and post photos of themselves at Utah's Zion National Park.
- August 12 - in September showing an encounter Brian and Gabby had with police in Utah. Police confirmed that no significant injuries were reported.
- August 19 - on their YouTube channel chronicling their trip.
- August 24 - Gabby is spotted leaving a hotel in Salt Lake City, Utah.
- August 25 - Gabby Facetimes her mom, Nichole Schmidt, for the final time. In a later police report, Schmidt said her conversations with her daughter revealed "" between her and Brian.
- August 25 - Gabby also posts her last Instagram. No location is given.
- August 27 - Gabby is . Witnesses claim they saw Brian in an explosive argument with staff at a restaurant in Jackson Hole, leaving Gabby in tears.
- August 27 - Four hours later, travel bloggers driving through Grand Teton National Park drive past the couple's van "abandoned" on a dirt road.
- September 1 - Brian returns home to without Gabby.
- September 11 - report her missing to Suffolk County police.
- September 14 - Brian's family issues a statement saying he has retained an attorney and will not be cooperating with investigators.
- September 14 - Brian is by his family. He reportedly told them he was going hiking in Cartlon Reserve but failed to return.
- September 15 - Florida's North Port police announce in the case. He is not charged with any crime.
- September 16 - Utah police release of the police encounter with Brian and Gabby.
- September 17 - say they have not seen their son in a couple of days and report him missing.
- September 18 - Police announc. Police announce they have not found anything.
- September 19 - Authorities in Wyoming say . The FBI announces the body was believed to be Gabby's but a full forensic identification needs to be completed first to confirm.
- September 20 - Police execute a search warrant on Laundrie's home, seizing and a hard drive that may contain "evidence relevant to proving that a felony has been committed."
- September 21 - Officials announce they will be on the remains found in Wyoming to confirm whether or not they belong to Gabby. Police also resumed their search for Laundrie, this time on the Venice side of Carlton Reserve.
- September 21 - The FBI announced the body found in Wyoming was identified as Gabby's. The cause of death was not yet revealed.
- September 21 - The Teton County Coroner's office said was still pending but the initial manner of death is homicide.
- September 22 - Police continue to scour for a trace of Laundrie but yield no leads. A specialist dive team is called in to assist with the hunt.
- September 23 - Officials announced a for Brian was issued.
- September 26 - Gabby'swas held on Long Island, New York.
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