Alabama cops have said that investigations into multiple possible sightings of Brian Laundrie, who is wanted in connection with the disappearance of his fiancée Gabby Petito have not yielded any leads about his whereabouts, as rumors spread.
Internet sleuths had thought Laundrie could be in the Mobile, Alabama area, where people reported multiple sightings of a man fitting his description.
The city is more than 600 miles northwest of his home in North Port, Florida, where he had been staying with his parents before disappearing on Tuesday. Mobile County Sheriff's Office Captain Paul Burch told FOX 10 News he does not believe Laundrie, 23, had any connections to the area.
His parents reported him missing on Friday, claiming he went to a nearby nature preserve and never returned.
Rumors of his whereabouts have since flooded social media, with some speculating he may have been the body found in a dumpster outside of a Walmart in Mobile.
But police on Monday told FOX 10 News that they have been investigating the reports, but none of the reports turned up anything of substance.
The body in the dumpster, they said, belonged to an unidentified homeless man.
Still, Burch said he would never discourage people from reporting anything that might be useful.
'We will always check every one, because you may never know,' he said. 'I would not want to be the one that didn't send someone and it turns out to be him.'
Brian Laundrie, 23, right, is wanted in connection with the disappearance of his fiancée Gabby Petito
His parents reported him missing on Friday, claiming he went to a nearby nature preserve and never returned
Some on social media were speculating that Laundrie could be in the Mobile, Alabama area, but police there have said they did not find anything substantial from these reports
Florida police are investigating whether the man seen in this picture walking near his parent's home in North Port, Florida on Friday could be him
Authorities back in his hometown in Florida are also probing whether a cellphone picture taken Friday of a man cops say looks a 'heck' fa lot like Brian Laundrie is actually him.
The photo was taken just before 5 p.m. on Friday in North Port, just about two blocks from Laundrie's parents' home, according to the New York Post. It shows a bald-headed, clean shaven man with what officials suggest is a similar build to Laundrie casually walking in flip flops and sweatpants wearing headphones.
It was taken by Zachary Randazzo, who was driving by the area about an hour and a half before investigators from the North Port Police Department showed up at his parent's home, after their attorney called the FBI to report him missing.
The man in the photo, though, appears t have tattoos on his left arm, which Laundrie does not.
Other than that, though, Josh Taylor, a spokesman for the North Port Police Department, said, it 'sure as heck looks like him.'
Randazzo, 18, of Tampa, said he did a double take when he saw the man, who he claimed 'looks just like [Laundrie's] clone.
'We're not 100 percent sure,' he said, 'but it looks so close, I don't know how it couldn't be him.'
Meanwhile, officers called off their search of the wildlife refuge in Sarasota Laundrie's parents said he visited, noting on Monday they had 'exhausted all avenues in searching of the grounds there.'
They said, though, they would still investigate his whereabouts, as his attorney is expected to hold a news conference at 1 p.. on Tuesday to address Laundrie's whereabouts and the FBI investigation.
North Port Police had searched the nature preserve where his parents said he walked to on Friday before he disappeared
They called off the search on Monday saying they had 'exhausted all avenues in searching of the grounds there'
Authorities said, though, they will continue their hunt for Laundrie, 23
Investigators have also gained court permission to access the contents of an external hard drive they say was found in Gabby Petito's van while executing a search warrant of the van Laundrie had returned home from the couple's cross-country trek with on September 1, without Petito.
An initial filing said investigators believed there was probable cause that the hard drive contained 'evidence relevant to proving that a felony has been committed,' NBC News reports.
And according to the court filing approving the warrant, the court clerk said there was probable cause Petito was 'unable to care for herself due to her increased anxiety,' which only created circumstances further necessitating the search warrant.
The finding was based on a 'totality of the circumstances,' NBC reports, including a 911 call response to Utah where Petito was seen on body camera footage describing herself as suffering from high anxiety and having difficulty managing the intense emotions.
A 911 call obtained by DailyMail.com from the incident captured a
