Brian Laundrie speaking to police in Utah following an incident between he and Ms Petito on September 8. Photo / Supplied
Brian Laundrie speaking to police in Utah following an incident between he and Ms Petito on September 8. Photo / Supplied
The full and frantic 911 call from a hiker claiming he was "99.9 per cent sure" he spotted Brian Laundrie has been revealed, as authorities ramp up their search.
The full and frantic 911 call from a hiker, who claims he was "99.9 per cent sure" he spotted Brian Laundrie at a remote national park 12 hours north of where he was last seen, has been revealed.
Dennis Davis, from the US state of Tennessee, called 911 on Saturday moments after he spotted a man he believed to be Laundrie near the Appalachian Trail.
Davis spoke to a number of media outlets about the sighting with the full audio of his 911 call backing up the comments he made to journalists.
Brian Laundrie and Gabby Petito. Photo / Instagram
Davis had been hiking at the Appalachian Trail in Tennessee, near the North Carolina border, when he claims to have spotted Laundrie.
Local police, the FBI and bounty hunters are involved in a nationwide search for Laundrie after he vanished from his home in North Port, Florida just days before the body of his murdered girlfriend Gabby Petito was found.
The couple had been roadtripping across the US when they stopped at a remote campground in Bridger-Teton National Park in Wyoming.
Laundrie returned alone to Florida in early September, with Petito's van.
Petito was reported missing on September 11 with her body being found on September 19.
Laundrie disappeared from his family's home on September 14 with nothing but a backpack and hasn't been seen since.
The 911 call from Davis is the most concrete sighting of Mr Laundrie in weeks, with Davis telling the operator he was "sure" he had spotted the 23-year-old.
"He was driving a truck and I stopped and talked to him," Davis said, describing the truck as a white Ford and a "newer model".
"It wasn't an old beater," he added.
Davis was questioned why he thought the man was Laundrie.
"I was making a U-turn in the road and he came up behind me and he slowed down and flashed his lights kind of 'go ahead' then as I turned back around he started waving outside of his truck for me to slow down," Davis recounted.
As he pulled up, Davis said the man he believed to be Laundrie was "talking wild".
"He said his girlfriend loved him and he had to go out to California to see her," he said.
The man then asked for directions to California but when Davis told him to jump on the Interstate-40, a major highway in the US that runs from east to west, the man ignored him.
"He said 'no I think I can go this way and kind of left'," Davis recounted.
Brian Laundrie speaking to police in Utah following an incident between he and Ms Petito on September 8. Photo / Supplied
"He was acting funny and I wasn't sure what he looked like and then I went and parked and pulled up photos of him and I'm 99.9 per cent sure that was him."
The 911 operator says she'll let her sergeant know about the tip, with Davis again saying he was sure he had seen Laundrie.
"I'll meet somebody out there if they want to, I'm telling you it was him," he said.
North Carolina Police issued a statement yesterday, saying they had sent officers to the Appalachian Trail but nothing had been found.
"We have received a number of calls regarding the sighting of Brian Laundrie over the past several days, each one being investigated thoroughly and areas of concern searched, but all to no avail," Haywood, North Carolina, Sheriff's Office Public Information Officer Christina Esmay told Fox News.
"We will continue to respond and fully investigate all calls for service related to the nationwide search for Mr Laundrie within our jurisdiction."
While Laundrie has not been named a suspect in the murder of his girlfriend, an arrest warrant has been issued for him over allegedly using Petito's credit card.
Despite that, David Aronberg, the state prosecutor for Palm Beach County in Florida, said it was "extremely likely" Laundrie would face more charges if and when he's found.
"That's coming," Aronberg told News Nation Now, referring to more charges being laid.
"At trial, his flight can come back to haunt him because the prosecutors can point to that.
"In fact, it's even in some jury instructions that says that if you flee, that is consciousness of guilt and juries hate it when you flee."
