(WSVN) - As the FBI continues searching for Brian Laundrie weeks after his fiancée was found dead in Wyoming, a new lead has come in after a hiker said he spoke to a man he believed was Laundrie in North Carolina, a potential new lead in the search for Gabby Petito’s fiancé.
Dennis Davis said he was hiking early Saturday morning along the Appalachian Trail in North Carolina when a man driving a white Ford F-150 pickup truck stopped him and asked for directions.
“I said, ‘Well, I’m not from around here but what are you trying to find?’ and he said, ‘Man, I need to go to California’ and I was like, ‘Wow, well I don’t know the directions to California,'” said Davis. “He said, ‘Yeah, me and my girlfriend had a fight, and man, I love her, and she called me, and I need to go out to California to see her.'”
After the encounter, Davis said he looked up photos of Laundrie and said there’s no doubt in his mind that the man he talked to was the wanted fugitive.
“I’m absolutely, 100% sure that was the guy,” he said. “My heart was thumping, and I immediately called the FBI back, and I said, ‘Listen, I just called you guys but I’m telling you — this was the guy.'”
The Haywood County Sheriff’s Office said a few deputies were sent to the area but did not find Laundrie or the white truck.
Meanwhile, in North Port, Florida, protesters continue to gather outside the Laundrie family home, demanding the family be more transparent about their son’s potential whereabouts.
Video captured a protester yelling, “You guys have been lying since day one! We want the truth and nothing but the truth!”
Laundrie has a warrant out for his arrest on bank fraud charges and remains the only person of interest in the death investigation of Petito.
Copyright 2024 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.