A Louisiana man insists he saw Brian Laundrie near Yellowstone National Park days before Gabby Petito was declared missing. The man, Hunter Mannies, said he met and spoke with Laundrie at a local bar. Mannies, who was on a cross-country journey in late August, said he had an “extremely uncomfortable” conversation with a man who looked like Laundrie. Mannies said the man introduced himself to him as “Brian” at the local bar.
It was an odd encounter,” Mannies told Fox News. As it was before Petito’s disappearance, Mannies said he did not know who Laundrie was at the time. Mannies, with a friend, was traveling the country through Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana. After visiting the Tetons, the pair stopped at a bar in West Yellowstone, Montana, for refreshment.
“There was a guy by himself at the end of the bar,” Mannies said. “We really didn’t pay him much attention until he got kind of – he just seemed overly invested in our conversation and eventually ended up speaking up.”
Mannies and his friend were discussing hunting and other things before the subject turned political. Mannies told Fox News’ Steve Doocy that Laundrie abruptly jumped into the conversation with a comment about ‘stupid Southerners’ and some expletives about Republicans. Mannies, along with his friend, has since contacted the FBI and filed a report.
Mannies isn’t the first to have had an encounter with Laundrie before Petito’s disappearance. Two women have separately reported meeting with Laundrie while he was hitchhiking through Grand Teton National Park. One of the women, Norma Jean Jalovec, told Fox News that she had picked up Laundrie two days after Petito was last seen. The woman said she dropped Laundrie off at the Spread Creek dispersed camping area, where Petito’s body was found.
When Jalovec offered to drive him inside the campground, Laundrie asked her to drop him off at the gate. Laundrie then tried to get out of the moving car as the woman insisted. All three who have encountered Laundrie described his behavior as unusual.
