After over a month of searching for fugitive Brian Laundrie, authorities confirmed Friday (October 21) that the human remains they found the day before alongside his personal belongings did, in fact, belong to Laundrie.
#UPDATE: On October 21, 2021, a comparison of dental records confirmed that the human remains found at the T. Mabry Carlton, Jr. Memorial Reserve and Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park are those of Brian Laundrie. @FBITampa pic.twitter.com/ZnzbXiibTM
— FBI Denver (@FBIDenver) October 21, 2021
Law enforcement officers weren’t the only people searching for Laundrie. America’s Most Wanted host John Walsh and Duane Chapman aka Dog The Bounty Hunter were on the list of those people. Chapman even showed up at the Laundrie residence in hopes of speaking with Brian’s parents.
The famous bounty hunter set up his own hotline for tips and told Fox that he received over 2,000 leads, which sent him to searching for Laundrie on the islands off the west coast of Florida.
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Now that Laundrie’s remains have been found and he’s confirmed dead, Chapman made an exclusive statement made to In Touch Weekly. He said that he believes “if the Laundrie parents had fully cooperated from the beginning, Brian Laundrie might still be alive.”
He added, “The positive ID of Brian Laundrie’s remains gives some measure of closure to this case, if not to Gabby’s family, who will likely now never know what truly happened. We are praying for Gabby’s family. As a parent who has also lost a child, I know there’s no ending to this story that brings Gabby back. But now the family can begin the process of grieving. Our thoughts are with them.”
Chapman also told Dr. Oz that he hopes that there is a confession in the notebook that was found. Only time will tell.