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NORTH PORT, Florida – When Gabby Petito disappeared and news broke that her fiance Brian Laundrie had driven across the country without her in his van, people across the country tuned in to find out where she might be.
Next, the FBI discovered her remains at a Wyoming campsite, and Laundrie snuck into the night – raising more questions and revealing few answers.
Duane “Dog” Chapman, also known as Dog the Bounty Hunter, joined the search last week after friends, fans and family urged him to get involved, he said.
Dog the Bounty Hunter searches for an island off Fort De Soto Park, near St. Petersburg, Florida.
(Michael Ruiz / Fox News)
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But something came out when he looked into the case. Her daughter, Barbara Katy Chapman, died in a car crash in Alaska near her Fairbanks home in 2006 – when she was 23. Petito was 22 years old.
“Because I lost a daughter around the same age, I know how the parents feel,” Chapman told Fox News. “And you want a justification. You want the guy behind bars.”
Francie Chapman, the bounty hunter’s wife, also noted that she and her husband were widowed and said this played an emotional role in their involvement in the case.
GABBY PETITO HOMICIDE: FOR DOG THE BONUS HUNTER, BRIAN LAUNDRIE’S RESEARCH IS PERSONAL
“Dog and I got to say goodbye to Bob and Beth when they were sick, and we knew they were going home,” she told Fox News. “We got closure – even though we still had to go through the grieving process, and we always had grief and our lives saved – we have to say goodbye to each other.”
She said the thought of not being able to say goodbye to a loved one is heartbreaking.
“If we can help them have some closure and be able to start getting their lives back together, we want to be able to do that,” she said.
They work long days – from sunrise to sunset – sniffing out tips, checking rumors and physically in the field with search teams of volunteers looking for clues to Laundrie’s movements. Earlier this week, Chapman and a private K-9 unit searched a pair of islands off Fort De Soto, where Laundrie may have been in hiding.
Passers-by will call and Chapman greets them warmly but gets back to business.
THE LAUNDRIE FAMILY SPEND NATIONAL GIRLS ‘DAY AT THE TEST DURING THE FUNERAL OF THE PETITO PLANS
“I can’t speak now, we are working,” he will say to a dumbfounded cyclist or a group of people leaning over the back of a yacht. “But aloha and God bless you.”
Despite the hype surrounding the case, Chapman has a long record of successful catches. And he says he holds the record for most arrests with 8,000.
With the help of secret sources and advice from the public, the bounty hunter uncovered two key leads that led to major developments in the case.
He was the first to lead reporters at Fort De Soto Park in St. Petersburg, Florida, where records show the Laundrie family camped September 6-8. Officials said the FBI seized surveillance footage this week.
And he was the first to share proof that Cassie Laundrie, Brian Laundrie’s sister who doesn’t live with the parents, met the family at the campsite.
Chapman has said he aims to capture Laundrie alive – but he is in contact with the FBI as well.
And he asks the public to continue to share all possible leads in the matter, which have been helpful so far.
“Please everyone keep their eyes open and thank you for providing all the leads we get,” he said on Saturday morning. “Aloha.”
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Chapman has his own anonymous phone line at 833-TELL-DOG for people who are reluctant to call authorities directly. .
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