A New York man was ambushed by federal investigators in his North Carolina hotel room after the feds mistook him for late vlogger Gabby Petito’s fiancé, Brian Laundrie, The New Yorker reported Monday.
A man was ambushed by U.S. Marshals in his hotel room after being mistaken for the missing Brian Laundrie
Severin Beckwith, of Ithaca, New York, had been hiking the Appalachian Trail with his girlfriend since late September, when the couple decided to take a break from the woods at the Lodge at Fontana Village Resort on the Fontana Reservoir in western North Carolina.
The couple settled into their hotel room for a midday nap when they were awakened by a few knocks before the door burst open, according to The New Yorker report.
“The next thing I see is a bunch of guys with riot shields with ‘US Marshals’ written on them,” Beckwith said.
“Guns pointed in my face.”
He added that he was still in his underwear when he was handcuffed and led down the hallway.
Beckwith recalled a time when he asked a Fontana Lake marina employee to use a phone to call a ferry to take them to the retreat two miles away. The sailor showed Beckwith a photo the clerk had taken of him with the phone, along with an image of Laundrie, The New Yorker reported.
“They had a little side-by-side,” Beckwith said, “It was Brian and then me on the phone calling to get the shuttle.”
Beyond the striking resemblance, Beckwith said there were more details that convinced the marshals that it could be Laundrie.
He said one of the marshals touched the side of his head and noted that I had “a notch on the top of my inner ear just like his.” Beckwith added that he and his girlfriend – both from New York, like Petito – booked their hotel with a credit card linked to their New York addresses, “which, I guess, was reason enough to get in,” he said.
But Beckwith didn’t have Laundrie’s hand tattoos, nor did his ID card have Laundrie’s name on it. He said the bailiffs fingerprinted him and suggested he shave his beard to avoid future encounters like this one.
