Dog the Bounty Hunter is notorious for finding lost loved ones, but he’s not jumping into following through on tips of Kiely Rodni, a 16-year-old girl who’s been missing for weeks. Rodni vanished near the Lake Tahoe area. She was last seen leaving a high school grad party near the Lake Prosser reservoir in Nevada County, CA. An estimated 200-300 people were at the same event. Only she has been declared missing.
Dog’s rep tells TMZ that he’s hesitant to be fully involved due to the blowback he got over his interest in helping the family and others in the Gabby Petito missing persons/turned murder investigation. The rep says the tipsters have given vague clues, but even with such, Dog has had success, eventually developing solid leads. Dog has also received emails from people who just want him to jump in because of his track record in finding missing persons.
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People may remember how Dog became involved in the Petitio case. When cops were setting their sights on her fiance Brian Laundrie, Dog was honeymooning near the Florida home where Brian’s sister lived and he took action. The video of Dog knocking at the sister’s door made the rounds online and he was heavily criticized, with many saying he had no business doing police work. Laundrie died by suicide. A note he left revealed his confession of murdering Petitio. At the time of her murder, the two were on a cross-country trip in an RV. Her family became suspicious when he returned home without her.
Now, Dog’s rep says he will not get involved in a missing person’s investigation unless he’s invited by a family member or law enforcement to get involved, or 21 days have passed since the person was declared missing. Dog says the 21-day stipulation is due to cases typically going cold after that time frame.
