Gabby Petito Case: 'Dog the Bounty Hunter' Follows Laundrie Sightings To Appalachian Trail As Obstruction, Accessory Raps Floated Vs. Laundrie Parents

As the manhunt for Brian Laundrie enters its third week, a Florida engineer has claimed the 23-year-old is alive and on the run after he spoke with him near the Appalachian Trail in North Carolina on Saturday morning.

According to Dennis Davis, 52, the alleged encounter with the boyfriend of Long Island woman Gabby Petito, 22, comes as police were alerted that he may be traversing the trail, the New York Post reported.

“There is no doubt in my mind I spoke to Brian Laundrie — none whatsoever,” Davis, who is currently hiking the Appalachian Trail, said adamantly. “Dog the Bounty Hunter’s daughter sent me an audio file of Brian’s voice and the voice was the same I heard.”

He further claims that a seemingly lost and dazed Laundrie waved him down on Waterville Road, where the Appalachian Trail runs near the border of North Carolina and Tennessee, to ask for directions to California using only backroads.

However, the trail is believed to be a familiar area to Laundrie amid reports he once lived there alone for months.

Davis would add that the fidgety Laundrie look-alike refused to follow his advice to take nearby Interstate 40 as he rambled about being in a row with his partner. The witness also believes the man in question “wigged out” from being on the lam following Petito's death.

“As a father with a daughter, I want to do whatever I can to help the 'victim's] family find closure and get [Laundrie] off the streets,” he added.

Duane Chapman, also known as Dog the Bounty Hunter, claims Laundrie was last seen with his parents in Fort De Soto in Florida before his disappearance on Sept. 14.

Police are now raising questions about how Brian managed to elude them for nearly a month amid suspicions that his parents, Chris and Roberta, may have been assisting him, according to Fox News.

While the man and wife have not been accused of any wrongdoing, critics pointed out the Laundrie family remained tight-lipped in the weeks following the disappearance of their former future daughter-in-law, who had lived with them for some two years before her remains were recovered at a Wyoming campsite she shared with their son.

Police also branded Brian a "mastermind" for strategically leaving behind his wallet, ID, driver's license, and credit cards, as if he is "well aware of law enforcement tracking techniques," The U.S Sun noted.

Meanwhile, the search of the Carlton Reserve continues amid concerns from Laundrie's parents that he went there to harm and kill himself.