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Residents of Brian Laundrie’s hometown have spoken about the experience of having the world descend upon the small neighbourhood in the wake of Gabby Petito’s disappearance, and one bizarre celebrity who showed up to search for her.
The case of Petito, who was killed by her fiancé Laundrie in the middle of a ‘van-life’ trip across America, has become a focus again after a new Netflix documentary came out.
The documentary is called American Murder: Gabby Petito, and has been full of controversy, revelations, and weird AI recreations of Petito’s voice.
What the documentary did not cover, however, is one of the most bizarre chapters of the story.
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Brian Laundrie returned to his parents’ home in North Port without Gabby, sparking a nationwide search for Petito.
This led to the world descending upon North Port, including a semi-celebrity – Dog the Bounty Hunter.
One recent Reddit post on r/Sarasota, the subreddit for the local county, asked people what it was like when Brian Laundrie returned home and refused to leave his parents’ home for days on end.
One comment however reminded people of Dog arriving to search for Gabby, with the vigilante TV star even knocking on the Laundrie’s house with a ‘warrant’.
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The TV personality’s real name is Duane Chapman, a former bail bondsman, who became famous for his show Dog the Bounty Hunter.
The Reddit comment said: “Remember when Dog the Bounty Hunter came to aid in the investigation?
“I’m a bartender in the area and he would come in to our restaurant for dinner.
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“He would point at me when he walked by the bar and say 'Aloha!' Made me smile.”
After Brian Laundrie went missing, with his body eventually being found, Dog knocked on Chris and Roberta Laundrie’s door, with the couple eventually calling 911 on him.
Speaking to Fox news he would later say: “The police said we were welcome to knock on the door so we did.
“I wanted to tell the Laundries that our goal is to find Brian and bring him in alive.”
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Another comment on the r/Sarasota thread summed up how the sad situation was such a uniquely odd one for the North Port community, saying: “So I don’t know the family but live near by the parents.
“It was very upsetting for the community but despite the killer and accomplices being from here, Gabby wasn’t herself.”
Gabby Petito, despite being engaged to Laundrie, was herself from New York.
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It went on to say: “There was a lot of outrage toward the Laundries but there wasn’t as much sadness because no one here really knew her, beyond the standard sadness when someone is taken too early.
“It wasn’t as personally to our community as it was for where she was from in any I imagine.
“Also traffic around the parents house was absolutely horrible with protesters and news constantly at the parents house, its off a one lane each way main road we use to get around.
“That probably sounds horribly selfish but in the end that’s how I and most were affected as no one here knew her.”
Topics: Celebrity, Gabby Petito, Netflix, TV, TV and Film, Reddit
Michael Slavin