‘99% Sure It’s Him:’ Hiker’s 911 Call Reporting Brian Laundrie Sighting in NC Is Released

It has been exactly three weeks since Brian Laundrie, Gabby Petito’s fiancé and the FBI’s prime person of interest in her disappearance, vanished after allegedly telling his parents he was going for a hike in a sprawling Florida nature preserve.

Calls have flooded law enforcement offices from Canada to Alabama, Montana and most recently North Carolina as the public aims to help law enforcement solve the mystery of what happened to the 23-year-old man from North Port, Florida.

One of those 911 calls was released late Monday. It was made by a man who claimed he saw Laundrie driving a newer model white truck, and that the two spoke. The caller said that the man he believed to be Laundrie drove up and was waving his arm out of his window, seemingly to ask the man to slow down and talk.

The caller said the man in the truck “was talking wild, he said that his girlfriend loved him and that he had to go out to California to see her.” He asked how to get to California before taking off. The caller said he wasn’t sure what Laundrie looked like, but after looking at a photo, said he was “99 percent sure that was him.”

The local North Carolina sheriff’s office says it got multiple calls like that one this past weekend. All of them reported possible Laundrie sightings along parts of the Appalachian Trail, according to media reports. None of them panned out.

“We will continue to respond and fully investigate all calls for service related to the nationwide search for Mr. Laundrie within our jurisdiction,” the Haywood County Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook post.

There have been no confirmed sightings of Laundrie since he disappeared on Sept. 14, at least as far as the FBI is publicly aware.

Scores of law enforcement hours, federal, local and state, have been spent searching the unforgivable terrain of the Carlton Preserve, which Laundrie’s parents said he told them he was going to visit just before he went missing.

Again, there have been no signs of Laundrie’s visit, leading a growing number of people captivated by Petito and Laundrie’s story to wonder if the young man is still alive. And if he is, where could he be now?

It took a little more than a week for investigators to find the remains of Petito in a Wyoming park she and Laundrie had visited before he returned to Florida alone in the white van the couple had taken on a cross-country road trip.

The young woman’s death has been ruled a homicide, meaning she was killed by another person, but how exactly she died remains a question pending further study.

It could take weeks before final autopsy results are issued — and possibly longer before the public is permitted to be aware of the findings.

Laundrie does have an outstanding federal arrest warrant out for him — one that charges him with a single count of unauthorized debit card usage but one that would allow law enforcement to hold him for a period of time if they can find him.

While law enforcement hasn’t publicly speculated on whether they believe Laundrie to still be alive, Petito’s family hasn’t stopped direct pleas to him: “Turn yourself in.”

The 22-year-old woman’s mother issued that same plea once again this past weekend as Petito’s family joined Twitter to share emotional messages and photos — part of their bid to keep her memory alive and propel her “light” forward.

Mom Nichole Schmidt wrote simply, “Mama bear is getting angry! Turn yourself in!”

The FBI continues to solicit tips by phone and online regarding the potential whereabouts of Laundrie or any other details on the couple.

Relevant information may be submitted to the FBI here or by calling 1-800-CALL-FBI or 303-629-7171. Photos & videos may be uploaded to: http://fbi.gov/petito.      

It has been 16 days since Gabby Petito’s fiancé, Brian Laundrie, allegedly told his parents he was going for a hike in a sprawling Florida nature preserve. It’s set of a massive manhunt – but one seasoned US Marshal says he doesn’t think Laundrie was ever there. This week on The Debrief, retired U.S. Marshal Craig Caine gives his take.