Audio of the 911 call from the hiker who believes he spoke to Brian Laundrie has been released, with the recording claiming the fugitive had been 'acting funny' and 'talking wild'.
Laundrie, who is a 'person of interest' in the disappearance and death of his partner Gabby Petito, has been missing since 14 September.
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Dennis Davis, 53, believes he recently met Laundrie while on a deserted road near the Appalachian Trail in North Carolina.
Davis, an engineer from Florida, said a man waved him down on Waterville Road, where the trail runs close to the border of North Caroline and Tennessee - telling the New York Post he had 'no doubt' he had spoken to Laundrie.
Last night (Monday 4 October), the audio from his 911 call was released, with Davis heard saying that he was '99.9 percent sure' he had encountered Laundrie.
Speaking to the Haywood County Sheriff's Office dispatcher, Davis said in the call: "I'm on the highway right now but I ran into Brian Lauer just a little while ago."
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He added: "He was driving a truck, and I stopped and talked to him."
Davis said he thought Laundrie was driving a new 'Ford F150', saying: "I was making a U-turn in the road and he came up behind me and he slowed down and kind of flashed his lights, like telling me 'Go ahead and go and I'm going to wait for you', and as I turned around and I'm coming back by him he's waving his arm out of his truck like for me to slow down.
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"I pull up next to him [...] He was talking wild. He said that his girlfriend loved him and he had to go out to California to see her, and he was asking me how to get to California."
On the phone for more than four minutes, Davis went on to say the man was 'acting funny'.
"I went and parked, and pulled up to the photographs of him and I'm 99.9 percent sure that was him [Laundrie]," he said.
A statement from Haywood County Sheriff's Office, issued yesterday, said: "The Haywood County Sheriff's Office has received a number of calls regarding the sighting of Brian Laundrie over the past several days, each one being investigated thoroughly and areas of concern searched, but all to no avail.
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"We will continue to respond and fully investigate all calls for service related to the nationwide search for Mr. Laundrie within our jurisdiction."
Speaking to the New York Post at the weekend, Davis claimed Laundrie had asked for directions to California using only back roads, and refused his suggestion to take the nearby Interstate 40.
"He said 'Man, I'm lost'," Davis recalled.
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"I said 'What are you trying to find?' and he said 'Me and my girlfriend got in a fight but she called me, told me she loves me, and I have to get to California to see her'.
"I said 'Well, I-40 is right there and you could take it west to California' and he said 'I'm just going to take this road into California'.
"He was worried and not making sense."
Featured Image Credit: Instagram/@gabspetito