The doppelgänger and Brian Laundrie
(Picture: Facebook/Handout)A man bearing an uncanny resemblance to Brian Laundrie was stunned when he was unexpectedly awoken by US Marshals holding him at gunpoint.
Authorities are still on the hunt for Laundrie, the sole person of interest in his girlfriend Gabby Petito’s homicide, who has been missing since last month. Since his dissapearance, many have been on the lookout for a possible sighting of Laundrie.
New York couple Severin Beckwith and Anna Brettmann were at a Lodge at Fontana Village Resort on the Appalachian Trail, where Laundrie frequented, and were napping in their room before the cops busted in their door.
“Next thing I see is a bunch of guys with riot shields with ‘US Marshals’ written on them, handguns pointed at my face,” Beckwith told the New Yorker.
Sign up to our new free Indy100 weekly newsletter
The doppelgänger hiker believed to be Laundrie was immediately handcuffed by cops who noticed even more unusual similarities between Beckwith and the fugitive. Beckwith told media that one of the agents touched the side of his head and said the lookalike had a “notch in the upper part of my inner ear just like his.”
Beckwith drew another comparison to Laundrie as he booked the room with a credit card linked to a New York state ID, which is where Petito was from.
Luckily, Beckwith was able to clear his name with marshals after he showed his ID revealing that they had caught the wrong guy. Moreover, Beckwith does not have Laundrie’s giveaway tattoos.
In response to their mixup, authorities are said to have released Beckwith and suggested that he shave his beard to avoid being mistaken again. Beckwith has since taken the advice, though he says he regrets because he has “much less of a chin than Laundrie does.”
The lookalike believes that it was actually an employee at Fontana Lake that had taken a picture of him and submitted a tip to authorities. Beckwith said he and Brettmann had asked to use the worker’s phone in an effort to call a shuttle from the Fontana Lake marina earlier in the day.
Beckwith said the employee 'responded strangely' to his request and, without Beckwith's knowledge, had photographed him. The U.S. Marshals reportedly presented the photo to him during questioning.
In an effort to compensate the couple’s trouble, the lodge the couple with a free night’s stay and a complimentary breakfast.
“It was a buffet. We took as much as we could,” Beckwith said.
