Hiker claims 'dazed' Brian Laundrie asked him for help on Appalachian trail
A Florida engineer is confident he spoke to Brian Laundrie on a deserted road in the Appalachian Trail in North Carolina Saturday morning, October 2.
Hiker Dennis Davis’ alleged encounter with the missing fugitive comes as police receive tips that Laundrie, 23, might be traversing the trail, known as the world’s longest footpath. Laundrie is wanted as a "person of interest" in the death of Gabby Petito, whose body was found on September 19 at a campground in rural Wyoming. Petito, 22, mysteriously disappeared while on a cross-country road trip with Laundrie, who is currently being sought in a nationwide manhunt.
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“There is no doubt in my mind I spoke to Brian Laundrie — none whatsoever,” Davis said. “Dog the Bounty Hunter’s daughter sent me an audio file of Brian’s voice and the voice was the same I heard.”
The 53-year-old said he was waved down by a lost and dazed man on Waterville Road, where the Appalachian Trail runs near the border of North Carolina and Tennessee. The area is understood to be familiar to Laundrie after reports that he once lived there "by himself for months." Davis said the man he believed to be Laundrie pulled up in his car to ask for directions to California using only back roads. He apparently refused Davis' suggestion to take the nearby Interstate 40 highway.
Davis said that the Laundrie 'lookalike' acted suspiciously and rambled about being in a fight with his girlfriend. The father of four said if the man was actually Laundrie, he was "wigged out" from being on the run due to the situation with his fiancee. “He said ‘Man, I’m lost.’ I said ‘what are you trying to find?’ and he said ‘I 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,'" Davis recounted. "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.”
Davis said he didn't immediately recognize the man until he pulled over and looked up photos of the missing fugitive on his phone. Consistent with the reportage surrounding the case, the man was allegedly driving a white or light-colored pickup truck resembling a Ford F-150 and wore a dark bandana on his head. Now, Davis is frustrated that there has been no response from law enforcement after he made three calls to the FBI and 911 calls in both North Carolina and Tennessee.
The avid hiker said the lights from both idle cars were sufficient to see the man at such close range despite the road being dark. “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,” Davis 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. We have this lead but no one’s doing anything, not even a phone call.”
Meanwhile, Laundrie continues to be a "person of interest" in the disappearance and death of Petito. According to his parents, he went missing on September 14 and they reported it to authorities only three days later. Authorities have an active arrest warrant against Laundrie on bank fraud charges for using a debit card said to belong to Petito around the time she disappeared.