Police Identify Brian Laundrie Lookalike Spotted In Baker, Florida As Gabby Petito Investigation Continues
The backpack seems like an exact match.
Sam Bass / Facebook / Instagram Gabby Petito’s disappearance has shocked millions of Americans, turning into one of the biggest missing persons cases in decades with national news headlines following every update.
New footage from someone’s trail camera in Baker, FL, captures a man walking past who looks eerily similar to Petito's boyfriend, Brian Laundrie.
Laundrie, who is a person of interest in Petito's disappearance, has reportedly not been seen by his family since September 14. They reported him missng on September 17.
Is Brian Laundrie in Baker, Florida?
The Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office released a statement confirming that the man in the footage is not Brian Laundrie.
"The OCSO has confirmed the man is an Okaloosa County resident who acknowledged he was the one walking on the deer trail carrying his backpack," they wrote on Facebook.
Police also noted the neck tattoos seen on the man which do not match Laundrie.
The original footage led many to believe Brian Laundrie was in the area.
A man named Sam Bass went to Facebook to share a possible sighting of Laundrie that he caught on his trail camera early yesterday morning.
“I’m not saying this is the guy but whoever was on my trail camera this morning in Baker, FL strongly fits the description of Brian Laundrie,” he says, “Authorities have been contacted but people in the North West Florida area be on the look out.”
The screenshot of the footage that was posted and has been floating around shows a side profile of a man with a shaved head, facial hair, an oversized t-shirt, long pants, and a backpack strapped on one shoulder.
RELATED: 911 Caller Saw Brian Laundrie ‘Slapping’ Gabby Petito But Police Still Claimed She Was The Aggressor
Internet sleuths all over Facebook and Twitter wrongly claimed that the mysterious man was Laundrie.
The man in the footage was carrying a backpack similar to one Brian Laundrie owns.
Laundrie appeared to own a similar backpack as it featured in a YouTube video posted to Petito’s channel during their roadtrip.
Not only that, but the last time Laundrie’s family saw him they said he had packed a backpack.
He reportedly told his family that he was heading out for a hike at the Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park.
Some believed Laundrie was headed north from the Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park, aiming for Alabama and passed through Baker, FL.
Police investigated the possible sighting of Brian Laundrie.
Originally, The Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office made a statement about the report and announced that they are investigating it.
They later added that nothing and no one of note was discovered in the area.
The most recent statement confirms that not only is this man not Laundrie, there is also no other evidence placing him in the area.
FBI officials and the North Port Police Department executed a court-ordered search warrant on Laundrie’s home the same day that the trail cam photo was taken.
Law enforcement seized the Mustang that Laundrie used to drive up to Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park as well as many boxes of evidence from the Laundrie residence.
One of Brian’s family members picked up the car from the park and drove it back to their home on Wassabo Avenue, officers said.
Isaac Serna-Diez is a writer who focuses on entertainment and news, social justice and politics.