Dog the Bounty Hunter: ‘50 percent of the time’ parents know where kids are
Dog the Bounty Hunter, who plans to set up camp in Florida in his search for Brian Laundrie, said in a new interview that he is eager to speak with the fugitive’s dad — noting that “50 percent of the time,” parents know where their kids are.
The reality TV star — whose real name is Duane Chapman — told Dr. Oz on Tuesday that parents typically claim they have no clue where their children are after the kids are accused of a crime, the Sun reported.
“And after, they say, ‘Dog, I couldn’t, I knew,'” he said.
About “50 percent of the time,” parents know where their children are, Chapman said, adding that “35 percent of the parents help.”
The 68-year-old said he hoped Laundrie’s folks, Chris and Roberta, will fall into that category. They have denied any knowledge of or involvement in the 23-year-old’s disappearance.
Chapman — who joined the hunt for Laundrie on Saturday — was seen banging on the door of his parents’ home in North Port, Florida, before Roberta called the cops on him, despite the fugitive chaser’s vow to find their missing son.
“Well, you know, I wanna talk to his dad and explain the difference between involuntary manslaughter and murder one out of Wyoming,” he told Dr. Oz, according to the Sun.
“In murder one, you’re facing the death penalty. Manslaughter is a life sentence with the possibility of parole,” he said. “I wanted to explain to him, ‘I know exactly what you’re going through right now. As a matter of fact, I personally went through it.’ So, I just wanted to talk to the dad.”
In 1976, Chapman was convicted of first-degree murder, and sentenced to five years in a Texas prison. He had been waiting in a getaway car when he fatally shot a 69-year-old man in a fight over marijuana.
Chapman interrupted his honeymoon with his new wife, Francie Frane, on Saturday to jump into the search for Laundrie, who was with Gabby Petito on a cross-country trip when the Blue Point native vanished last month.
She was later found dead at a remote Wyoming campground.
Laundrie returned home without her and was named a person of interest in the case, but has since vanished and is now the subject of a massive FBI manhunt.
Authorities have been scouring a swampy, 25,000-acre reserve near Laundrie’s parents’ home but have come up empty after nearly two weeks.
On Monday, Chapman said he has a lead on Laundrie that puts him miles away at the Fort De Soto Park in Pinellas County, where he said Laundrie and his parents were seen as recently as Sept. 8.
Laundrie, who has not been charged in Petito’s death, was indicted last week for allegedly using someone else’s bank card in the early days of her disappearance.
