'Dog The Bounty Hunter' joins search for accused Brian Laundrie in Gabby Petito case

The death of Gabrielle (Gabby) Petito has sparked a manhunt for her missing fiancé Brian Laundrie. Besides police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), famed bounty hunter Duane "Dog" Chapman has decided to take the onus on himself. Chapman, who is dubbed as "Dog the Bounty Hunter" has launched an active search after he received "thousands of tip-offs" from people across the nation, he wrote on Twitter. According to Fox News, he walked right up to Laundrie's Florida home hoping to chat with his parents on September 25.

The reality-tv star-turned-investigator Dog and his team looked for the FBI-declared fugitive Brian Laundrie on an island near Fort De Soto Park in Pinellas County, FL. "K-9 teams have been brought in to assist. The search will continue into the evening," Duane wrote on Twitter. He also expressed gratitude to "everyone assisting & for the thousands of tips," he added. The private investigation team opened an anonymous tipline number to 833-TELL-DOG to receive any information regarding the case. “This has been a very different search,” Dog told Fox News.

How did Dog the Bounty Hunter get involved?

Diane's involvement in the frantic search of Gabby Petito's fiancé comes on the sidelines of FBI and Florida State police. According to Parade, he was updated about the homicide while he was in Florida with his wife Francie for a honeymoon. According to Global News, this particular case is of personal interest for the outspoken Chapman since he lost his daughter, who was of the same age as Petito, in a car accident in 2006. "I know what the victim feels like," he told Fox News. Confident Chapman has allotted himself six weeks to locate Laundrie. "I am chasing several leads... We are getting these every 10 minutes," Dog told the Daily Mail. During the interview, Chapman also urged Brian's parents to reach out to the investigating agencies in order to "capture the kid alive."

On September 29, Chapman uploaded a video on his Twitter handle stating updates about the targetted manhunt in the case. "Earlier today we launched an active and specific search in a key area based on the intelligence we are receiving and researching. Boat crews and ground teams have been called in and we have search and rescue dogs deployed," he wrote. In another post, he informed that the Dog team is cooperating with law enforcement. "We will not reveal information that will jeopardize the case," he asserted.

Where is Brian Laundrie?

It is to be noted that Laundrie's whereabouts in recent days are unknown as he had gone missing since September 18 after he went hiking at the Carlton Reserve in Florida last week. The North Port Police had carried out rigorous search operations for Laundrie, who is currently a "person of interest" in a debit card fraud that is assumed to be Petito's. In a press briefing, the agents updated the media by stating that they had searched over 25,000 acres of swampy forestland and all the investigators had "exhausted all venues" near Sarasota before they raided Laundrie's home on September 23.

On Monday, the FBI announced that they had discovered a body at the Moran Vista camping area of Wyoming park which resembled Gabby Petito. On September 22, the federal team, following an autopsy, confirmed that the human remains found were of the blogger whose sudden disappearance had rocked the United States. As per several media reports, Gabby last spoke to her mother Nicole Schmidt on August 11, sometime after she embarked on a cross-country trip with her fiancé, Brian. As per FBI updates on Twitter, Gabrielle "Gabby" Petito, who documented her road trip with her fiancé was last seen in Grand Teton National Park in late August. On September 11, Schmidt filed a missing report of 22-year-old Gabriella.

With inputs from AP

Image: @DuaneChapman_Twitter/Crime79_Instagram