Dog the Bounty Hunter has some competition from a real canine in the search for Brian Laundrie – as a police K9 named Diesel has joined the massive manhunt.
The K9 unit at Pasco County Sheriff’s Office said Thursday that it is assisting North Port police, the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office and FBI in the search for Gabby Petito’s fugitive boyfriend in the 25,000-acre Carlton Reserve, Fox 13 reported.
Diesel, who is handled by a forensic investigator, is trained to detect human remains, officials told the news outlet.
“It’s important to note that the K9 trainer drives a vehicle that says ‘Arson Investigation’ on it, but they have not requested our arson K9 or investigators,” the sheriff’s office told Fox 13.
“This trainer simply helps train our HRD K9s,” the statement added, referring to High Risk Deployment.
Laundrie, 23, has not been named a suspect in Petito’s homicide, but is wanted on a federal warrant for unauthorized use of her bank card, which was used between Aug. 30 and Sept. 1.
Petito’s family traveled to Wyoming on Wednesday to reclaim the slain Long Island native’s remains.
The 22-year-old’s body has been in Wyoming since she was found at the Bridger-Teton National Forest on Sept. 19 after her ill-fated cross-country trip with Laundrie.
Her remains were released this week following the completion of an autopsy, which determined she was manually strangled.