Dog the Bounty Hunter Partially Blames Brian Laundrie's Parents for What Happened, Says He May Still Be Alive if They Cooperated Sooner

Dog the Bounty Hunter, whose real name is Duane Chapman, said Brian Laundrie's parents were partially to blame for what happened to their son.

Chapman told InTouch on Thursday that Laundrie "might still be alive" if his parents had fully cooperated with authorities sooner.

"I believe if the Laundrie parents had fully cooperated from the beginning, Brian Laundrie might still be alive, the 68-year-old reality star said.

Accompanied by Laundrie's parents, authorities found their son's backpack and notebook, along with the human remains, in Florida's Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park on Wednesday.

The "skeletal" remains were confirmed to be Gabby Petito's fiance after a review of dental records. Dog the Bounty Hunter said he hopes the discovery of Laundrie's remains will bring "closure" to Petito's family.

"The positive ID of Brian Laundrie's remains gives some measure of closure to this case, if not to Gabby's family, who will likely now never know what truly happened," Duane Chapman noted.

"We are praying for Gabby's family... As a parent who also lost a child, I know there's no ending to this story that brings Gabby back. But now the family can begin the process of grieving. Our thoughts are with them," the reality star added.

Dog the Bounty Hunter told Fox's "The Dr. Oz Show" on Thursday that the contents of Laundrie's notebook could be vital to the case. Duane Chapman said he hoped that Laundrie confessed and had a "kind of a suicide note" in the notebook.

Dog the Bounty Hunter has started a high-profile search for Gabby Petito's fiance late last month. He then called it off after officials confirmed that the remains found in the Florida park belonged to Laundrie.

Brian Laundrie's Parents Could Face Legal Challenges

Known criminal defense lawyer Mark Geragos said Laundrie's parents could face legal consequences under certain situations now that authorities have discovered their son's remains.

Geragos told Fox News that the "potential liability" would be after the federal warrant was issued, there was "some assistance" given while their son was a fugitive.

That would mean that Laundrie's parents would likely be only accused of a crime for actions committed after the U.S. District Court of Wyoming issued a federal warrant for their son.

Court documents showed that Brian Laundrie "knowingly with intent to defraud" used a debit card belonging to Gabby Petito in the amount of at least $1,000 between August 30 and September 1.

Geragos further noted that if Laundrie confessed to his parents before he fled, that could also potentially be "problematic."

Laundrie Family Attorney Disputed Claims of Parents Planting Their Son's Remains in Florida Park

Questions surrounding the timeline of events between Brian Laundrie's parents telling authorities they were going to search for their son and the discovery of his belongings have been raised recently by many people.

Geragos said, "supposedly, within a very short period of time, they (Laundrie's parents) found not only a backpack and a notebook but his remains... That to me is going to reignite suspicion as to what their involvement may or may not have been."

Former chief of detectives Robert Boyce of NYPD earlier told ABC 7 that it's quite strange that the elder Laundries went "to this exact spot" and found the backpack and the notebook in this particular area.

Boyce noted that there were just too many strange turns that Laundrie's parents have not been involved in it "to not believe that something is amiss here."

"So, they go to this one remote location, all of a sudden we found something, we found the remains... There's a lot of things here that don't add up to coincidence, so you wonder how they got there and what they knew all along," Boyce said.

But Laundrie family attorney, Steve Bertolino, disputed claims that the elder Laundries could have planted their son's remains and personal items, calling it "ludicrous."

"Do you really think that the Laundries has skeletal remains of their son, you know, in a plastic bag, and brought them to present to the [Carlton Reserve]," Bertolino told NewsNation Prime.

He added: "Do you realize how ludicrous that is... How aggravating, how maddening it is to even hear those things?"

Bertolino then said that both Petito and Laundrie's parents are grieving the loss of their children, adding that anyone with a child or a "sense of humanity" can understand the frustration both families feel.

Gabby Petito disappeared on a cross-country road trip with Brian Laundrie. The couple was traveling to Oregon when the YouTuber stopped communicating with her family in Wyoming in late August.

Laundrie was named a person of interest by North Port police after returning home on September 1 or 10 days before Petito was reported missing by her family.

Gabby Petito's body was found at the Spread Creek Dispersed Campground near Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming on September 19. A Teton County, Wyoming coroner said she was strangled to death by a "human being," and the manner of death was homicide.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Joshua Summers

WATCH: Brian Laundrie' Grieving' Before Gabby Petito's Body was Even Found - From CNBC Television