Is Dog the Bounty Hunter delaying justice? His hunt for Brian Laundrie dubbed stunt
NORTH PORT, FLORIDA: American television personality, bounty hunter, and former bail bondsman Duane Lee Chapman, better known as Dog the Bounty Hunter, has been famously looking for Brian Laundrie, the fiance of Gabrielle ‘Gabby’ Petito, who was found dead in September after the two went on a cross country road trip. But Chapman’s involvement in trying to apprehend Laundrie has been criticized. It has even been called “obstruction of justice”.
Bill Warner, who runs a PI service close to the search area in Florida, slammed Chapman’s involvement as "one big publicity stunt", claiming that he was taking legitimate tips away from the FBI. "He's doing a lot of harm here," Warner told The Sun.
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"He's telling people on social media to call him, that's obstruction of justice to call him instead of the FBI,” the PI said. “All over his wanted poster is 'call Dog the Bounty Hunter, I want to take care of this.' You can't do that. You're taking all the possible real, legitimate tips away from the FBI to Dog the Bounty Hunter. And what's he gonna do with them?"
Warner said he was glad to see that law enforcement wasn't "biting what he's giving out." He added, "I hope not. Because it's gonna cost a lot of money. I think this is all one big publicity stunt by Dog the Bounty Hunter. And that's outrageous. Outrageous that he's calling all this attention to himself and to Fort De Soto when Brian left there on the eighth of this month. He's not in the park."
According to Pinellas County documents, Roberta Laundrie, the mother of Brian Laundrie, a person of interest in the homicide of Gabrielle ‘Gabby’ Petito, checked into Fort De Soto Park on September 6. The documents show she checked out on September 8. Chapman had earlier said that a tipster sent him to the park in Florida to investigate the disappearance of Laundrie.
"They were registered, went through the gate. They’re on camera. They were here," Chapman told Fox News earlier. "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 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."
However, Warner refuted Chapman’s claims and said that there was a witness who saw Laundrie outside his home after this. Warner has claimed that he does not believe Laundrie is in Fort De Soto Park but has instead fled to the Appalachian Trail.
"There were several reports from eyeball witnesses who live across the street from the Laundrie home that Brian was there between the eighth and the fourteenth [of September]," he said. "And this is from a verified neighbor who lives directly across the street. So he [Laundrie] was there from the eighth to the 14th. He didn't stay at the edge of Fort De Soto park with his parents. He came back."