Duane “Dog the Bounty Hunter” Chapman claimed his personal hotline has been lit up “like crazy” with tips in the hunt for Brian Laundrie.
Mr Chapman, who joined the manhunt for Gabby Petito’s fugitive boyfriend last weekend, said he has received more than 2,000 calls on the case.
He said he had not shared information with the police or FBI as he and law enforcment “work differently”.
“I guess we kind of do the same thing but I really don’t pay too much attention, like they don’t pay too much attention to me,” he said in a Newsmax interview.
“After 45 years, I don’t call the police, they’re usually called on me – so I don’t know what they’re doing.
“I can’t call up and say, ‘Hey, G-Man, what’s going where’s your leads?’ And they don’t call me and say, ‘Hey, Dog, where’s your leads?’ – so I have no idea.”
About 20 per cent of the calls to his 833-TELLDOG hotline were “positive leads”, he said.
“The more information that I find out, I pass it on to the viewers, so they'll pass me on information and tips,” he said. “So we're getting calls like crazy, I think the success of this bounty hunt is gonna be the tip line.”
Mr Chapman's team said in a statement he “does not care who brings” Mr Laundrie in, so long as he is caught.
Police had already been searching for days for Mr Laundrie near his parents’ home in Florida when Mr Chapman joined.
Mr Laundrie had been travelling with Ms Petito on a road trip but returned without her on 1 September. She was reported missing on 11 September and later found dead in Wyoming.
Mr Laundrie was reported missing by his parents before Petito’s remains were found. He has been charged with fraud for allegedly using someone’s bank card around the time Ms Petito disappeared and is a person of interest in her disappearance and death.
