Brian Laundrie manhunt: Tipster sends Dog the Bounty Hunter to Florida campground 75 miles from family home
Gabby Petito homicide: Timeline of disappearance & death
As we await an official cause of death on Gabby Petito, LiveNOW takes a look at some of the events leading up to where we are now. Investigators continue to comb the Florida wilderness for any signs of Petito's fiance, Brian Laundrie, who remains a person of interest in the case. Petito's death has been called a homicide, but how she was killed remains a mystery.
Duane "Dog the Bounty Hunter" Chapman is investigating a tip that alleges Brian Laundrie, the fugitive fiancé of Gabby Petito, went into a Florida campground 75 miles away with his parents in early September — but only two of them were seen leaving.
Chapman announced Saturday he was entering the search for Laundrie, and tips quickly poured in. He told Fox News he received a tip on Monday that Laundrie’s parents spent the night in Fort De Soto Park with their son twice in early September from Sept. 1-3 and Sept. 6-8.
RELATED: Gabby Petito update: Everything known about disappearance, death, autopsy
"They were registered, went through the gate. They’re on camera. They were here," he told Fox News exclusively on Monday evening. "We think at least if he’s not here right now, we are sure he was caught on camera as he went in the gate — that he was here for sure. Not over in the swamp."
He later added: "Allegedly, what we’re hearing, is two people left on the 8th. Three people came in on the 6th, and two people left on the 8th. I think he’s been here for sure."
A Fox News Digital reporter overheard a park worker say investigators had checked surveillance video on the grounds.
RELATED: Gabby Petito: Timeline of 22-year-old woman's disappearance, death
Conditions within park are "much easier" than some others, namely the T. Mabry Carlton Reserve, where local police and sheriff’s deputies have spent days combing through the dense, swampy terrain, Chapman told Fox News.
Fort De Soto Park is located in Pinellas County and is about 75 miles away from the Laundries’ home on Wabasso Avenue. It spans more than 1,130 acres and consists of five keys.
The tip gives renewed hope that authorities might soon reach a conclusion to what has become a costly weeks-long search for Laundrie and a quest for answers that has extended from coast to coast. The exhaustive manhunt that has extended nationwide and garnered massive attention.
Gabby Petito case: New update from Laundrie family lawyer & Petito family to speak with the media
Two updates out of the Gabby Petito case and the ongoing search for Brian Laundrie. The lawyer for the Laundrie family has released a new statement, and we're getting word of a press conference by Gabby's family, set for tomorrow.
RELATED: Brian Laundrie's mother called 911 on ‘Dog the Bounty Hunter’
Laundrie and 22-year-old Petito embarked on a cross-country journey in mid-June in a converted white Ford Transit van with the plan to visit national parks along the way. They had begun dating years earlier after meeting at their local Long Island, N.Y. high school and had moved to North Port, Florida, to live with Laundrie’s parents. fb
On Sept. 1, months after they began their trip, Laundrie returned to the North Port home in the couple's van, but without Petito, officials said. The young woman was not reported missing until 10 days later, on Sept. 11, when her mother filed a police report in Suffolk County, N.Y. Police seized the van from the Laundries' home on Sept. 11.
RELATED: Brian Laundrie's parents 'concerned' but 'do not know where Brian is,' family lawyer says
Laundrie was subsequently named a person of interest in Petito’s disappearance, and on Thursday, the FBI issued an arrest warrant for bank card fraud. Authorities alleged he used someone’s Capital One Bank card and the personal identification number during the time when Petito was missing. Neither investigators nor a spokesperson for Petito’s family have said whether the card belonged to Petito.
Fox News recently obtained the missing persons’ report for Petito, in which her mother, Nichole Schmidt, stated that her daughter was last seen at 7 a.m. on Aug. 30 at Grand Teton National Park. Schmidt wrote in the report that her Long Island home was a "probable destination."
But Laundrie also subsequently went missing, his parents claimed through their attorney.
RELATED: FBI takes items for 'matching' Brian Laundrie's DNA, family attorney says
After the Petito’s missing persons’ report was filed on Sept. 11, Laundrie would not cooperate with the police investigation, officials said. The Laundries’ attorney released a statement on Sept. 14, in which he announced he had advised his clients to remain "in the background." The family revealed three days later that they had not seen him since Sept. 14.
Charlene Guthrie, who lives directly across the street from the Laundrie family, told Fox News she saw Brian Laundrie mowing the lawn, riding his bike with his mother and appearing to go camping with his parents in the days after he arrived alone. Petito had previously been living with the family at their North Port, Florida, home.
RELATED: Gabby Petito funeral: Family uses empty urn during memorial service
Petito’s body was discovered near Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming on Sept. 19. A Teton County coroner ruled the death a homicide but has not yet announced the cause.
Friends, family and the public paid their respects during a Sunday ceremony on Long Island.
Speaking during the service, Petito's father, Joseph Petito, called his daughter "the most amazing person I've ever met."
"I want you to take a look at these pictures, and I want you to be inspired by Gabby," he said at the service. "If there’s a trip you guys want to take, take it now. Do it now while you have the time. If there is a relationship you’re in that might not be the best thing for you, leave it now."
Fox News' Paul Best contributed to this report.