Dog the Bounty Hunter is determined to make a difference in the manhunt for Brian Laundrie.
Dog, whose real name is Duane Chapman, joined the search last week. He's working independently of authorities, although he's passing all relevant information along to local police and the FBI, who have taken charge of the search.
Dog is even adding to the award for the discovery of 23-year-old Laundrie, who is wanted on financial fraud-related charges. Though Laundrie is publicly speculated as the prime suspect in the murder of Gabby Petito, no charges have been filed against him in that matter.
On September 25, Dog the Bounty Hunter arrived in Florida and made his presence known. He visited the Laundrie family home in North Port after being touched by Gabby's story and wanting to help get justice for the Petito family.
Brian Laundrie's mother, Roberta, called 911 and reported a man knocking on their front door. Dog retreated after the knocks went unanswered and posed no issue to law enforcement on the scene.
Early into their search, Dog and wife Francie Frane received a tip about a possible campsite linked to Laundrie. Dog alerted authorities to the campground site, which both Dog and authorities were able to link to parents Roberta and Chris Laundrie.
Later, the Laundrie family attorney, Steven Bertolino, confirmed that Brian, Chris, and Roberta Laundrie were at the campground on September 6 and 7.
The FBI has since gotten surveillance video from the visit to the campsite at Fort De Soto, though they have not publicly commented on it. Several people have indicated the video shows three people arriving and just two leaving, though there's been no confirmation of these details.
Dog and his team have remained in the Fort De Soto park area, investigating the outlying islands with boats. There are also K-9 units aiding in the search. On September 30, he saw signs of a fresh campsite and shared the new information on Twitter, while emphasizing he'd never share anything that would jeopardize an investigation but also wanted to keep rumors from spiraling.
"We're here at the island. This would be and could be the perfect spot for him to hide. Not too many people out here but there's a lot of environmental things that we're going to fight," he shared.
"So here we go. The search now is really on. The search has just begun."
That's not all Dog has done. He's also donating $10,000 to the reward pot for any information that lead to Laundrie's arrest. Along with the donations of other anonymous individuals supporting the Petito family, the reward is up to $180,000.
Dog's team is also investigating reports that an individual who looks like Brian has been spotted on the North Carolina portion of the Appalachian Trail. Officials in North Carolina are aware of the tip, and Dog's team has put out a public call for more information. Sources have indicated that Laundrie lived on the trail alone for three months during a prior period.
