Dog the Bounty Hunter speculated in a new interview that Gabby Petito’s fugitive boyfriend, Brian Laundrie, called his parents in Florida right after he allegedly killed the Long Island native on the cross-country trip.
The reality TV star told the Sun that he believes Laundrie — the sole person of interest in Petito’s case — was encouraged by his parents, Chris and Roberta, to return to their home in North Port right after her death.
“Of course he murdered her. I think he called the mom and dad right from the scene and said, ‘OMG!’” Chapman told the news outlet, offering no evidence.
“Now we have to remember that they lived — Gabby and Brian — with his mom and dad for almost two years,” the bounty hunter continued. “And the house, I was there, it’s not a huge house so I’m sure they heard, the parents probably heard Gabby screaming.
“I was told by a very close source that he was a gentleman,” he said. “I think he said, ‘Mom, she was screaming, she was screaming so I put my hand over her mouth, and I held my hand and she was screaming and when I took it away she wasn’t breathing and I tried CPR.’”
The 68-year-old speculated that Laundrie’s parents told him to rush back to the Sunshine State after Petito’s death, which has been ruled a homicide. A coroner in Wyoming, where her body was found, is expected to provide an update on her autopsy on Tuesday afternoon.
The family’s lawyer, Steven Bertolino, told the Sun that the parents would not comment on Chapman’s claims.
Petito disappeared in late August while on the ill-fated trip with Laundrie. She was reported missing by her parents in Suffolk County on Sept. 11, more than a week after he returned to his parents’ home without her.
Her remains were found in a remote camping site in Wyoming on Sept. 19.
Laundrie, 23, who hasn’t been accused of being involved in her death, has been on the lam for the last month and is being sought for allegedly using Petito’s credit card illegally around the time she was last seen alive.
Chapman also has speculated that Laundrie could be a serial killer, citing the kinds of disturbing books the fugitive has reportedly read.
On Monday, Chapman’s spokeswoman Jennifer Willingham told The Post in a statement that he is still hunting for Laundrie despite an ankle injury that has him back home to Colorado.
“Dog has not ended his search for Brian Laundrie,” she said. “Dog and Francie Chapman need to attend to a variety of matters at home in Colorado, including Dog’s ankle injury which occurred during the search.”
His daughter Lyssa Chapman is managing “logistics” and researching leads from Hawaii, while Greg Zecca does the same from Colorado, the spokeswoman said. She pointed potential tipsters to the TV bounty hunter’s hotline, 833-TELLDOG.
