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Chet Hardwood: Man claims to search for Brian Laundrie in bizarre YouTube videos

Chet Hardwood, in one video filmed from the Appalachian Trail, was heard saying, 'Brian, where are you? I just wanna talk, son. I found your organic juice and your vegetable cookbook'

As authorities are not leaving any stone unturned to find Brian Laundrie in the homicide case of Gabby Petito, several people are also trying or claiming to contribute to the search efforts. One such person is Chet Hardwood, who is also reportedly searching the Appalachian trail — "a marked hiking trail in the Eastern United States extending between Springer Mountain in Georgia and Mount Katahdin in Maine" — to catch the 23-year-old boyfriend of Gabby Petito, who was found dead after going on a cross-country trip with him.

About Hardwood’s alleged search operation, a person named Matt Walsh, whose Twitter bio reads: “Singer-Songwriter/Guitarist/Filmmaker/Actor from Statesville NC”, posted about it on his Twitter account. The recent update from his account read, “BREAKING - #ChetHardwood plans to confront #LaundrieParents today! Be sure 2 subscribe 4 updates http://youtu.be/jwaCJQQR82E #BrianLaundrie #BrianLaundriespotted #BrianLaundrieHiding #BrianLaundriesearch #BrianLaundrieMissing #dogthebountyhunter #Laundrie.”

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Walsh also shared about Hardwood’s reported efforts on his YouTube channel. The title of his October 1 video posted on YouTube read, “Searching For Brian Laundrie with Chet Hardwood,” and description notes: “Chet Hardwood is actively searching for Brian Laundrie on the Appalachian Trail. Please subscribe and get notifications for future updates and if you see or have a tip about Brian Laundrie call 833-CALL-DOG or 1-800-CALL-FBI. I suggest the former.”

Who is Chet Hardwood?

No information exists about him on the Internet. But one of the YouTube videos of Walsh has referred to him as a "musician". A video shared on September 7 with the title, Chet Hardwood - The Girl From Im-Pha-Mama [Official Music Video], states: “Chet’s debut album ‘Slow Burn’ will be released November 2021 on Full Bloom Records ‘The Girl From I’m-Pha-Mama’ written by Chet Hardwood Video: Filmed by Nadine Stutts Edited by Matt Walsh Copyright 2021 Full Bloom Records / Chet Unlimited www.mattwalshmusic.net www.fullbloomrecords.com.”

Walsh has posted a total of four videos with Hardwood apparently showing him looking for Brian. The latest one showed him yelling Brian’s name while carrying what seemed like a real gun in the woods. He can be heard saying, “Come out here,” also later in the video adding, “come out, let’s have a conversation.” Another video from the same YouTube account showed Hardwood walking in the wild and then zooming on a book that was lying on the ground. The book’s name read, “The Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening.” In the same video, he also claimed that he’s a friend of Dog the Bounty Hunter, Duane Chapman. Hardwood then went on to pick a bottle of a "Savia Aloe Vera Peach Drink". He claimed that it’s a drink that Brian likes to have.

Hardwood was also heard saying, “Brian, where are you? I just wanna talk, son. I found your organic juice and your vegetable cookbook. Where are you?” He then turned his camera towards the sky and pointed to what appeared like a helicopter and said, “Duane is up there in the sky. I have called him up and reported the findings and we’re about to bust this mother******.” In the video, Hardwood also made a bizarre claim that most women abusers eat vegetables.

Hardwood’s apparent stunts to find Brian did not succeed to impress people on the internet as a user tweeted, “is this a joke??? -rolls eyes-.” The second one wrote, “Who is Chad Parkwood?  Never heard of this person. Does he work at the juicing company with them?” A tweet stated, “what an idiot, trying to be funny can get clout off a tragedy.” Another one added: “Click bait. Can’t believe people out here trying to have a comedic take on a women’s murder. You should be ashamed.”