As the search for Brian Laundrie continues, a man who resembles Laundrie was recently ambushed while hiking the Appalachian Trail. As Mamas Uncut previously reported, recent unconfirmed sightings and other tips have led authorities to scope out the trail which Laundrie has been known to hike.
However, the hunt for the fugitive left one fellow hiker staring down the barrel of multiple guns. In an interview with the New Yorker, Severin Beckwith and his partner, Anna Brettmann, said they noticed people were starring at them while at the Lodge at Fontana Village Resort.
Man Forced to Stare Down the Barrels of Multiple Guns After US Marshals Believed He Was Brian Laundrie
It was after lunch when they received a knock at the door and it flew open revealing US Marshals with guns drawn. “Next thing I see is a bunch of guys with riot shields with ‘US Marshals’ written on them, handguns pointed at my face,” Beckwith revealed.
Before he knew it, Beckwith was in handcuffs and other federal agents were helping Brettmann get dressed. And while the moment was startling, Beckwith said he had an inkling as to why all of this was happening. “I really hoped I was right,” he quipped.
Beckwith seemingly knows he resembles Brian Laundrie and knew Laundrie frequented the trail he was on. Laundrie is still the only person of interest in the murder of his fiancée Gabby Petito.
Another similarity that Beckwith shared with the case is that because he and Brettmann are from Ithaca, New York, they booked their room with a credit card connected to the state. Petito is originally from Long Island.
Brian Laundrie is currently wanted for making unauthorized purchases with Petito’s Capital One card and debit PIN. Beckwith and Brettmann had been hiking the trail from Georgia to Virginia since late September.
One of the Marshals even reportedly touched the side of Beckwith’s head and noted that he had “a notch in the upper part of my inner ear just like his.”
After not sharing similar tattoos, revealing his ID, and being fingerprinted, Beckwith was cleared. However, in order to afford any further confusion and at the suggestion of the US Marshals, Beckwith did make the decision to shave his beard. He believes he was reported to the authorities by an employee working at the Fontana Lake marina, who had a strange reaction to Beckwith’s request to use their phone in order to call a shuttle.
As the Marshals told him, the employee took a photo of him while he was using the phone. The agents had placed the photo next to a photo of Brian Laundrie. “They had a little side-by-side,” Beckwith told the New Yorker. “It was Brian and then me on the phone calling to get the shuttle.”
As the agents left, they told Beckwith that now he has a fun story to tell. And that’s what he is doing. Beckwith told the New Yorker that he now goes by the name, “Not Brian.”
In the end, the lodge gave the couple a free night’s stay and a complimentary breakfast as an apology for all the commotion. “It was a buffet. We took as much as we could,” Beckwith said.