Gritz

ANDREWS, North Carolina (CNN) -- A volunteer working with ex- Green Beret James "Bo" Gritz claims to have twice encountered either fugitive bombing suspect Eric Rudolph or a scout working on his behalf, Gritz said Monday.

The searcher, a man named Will from the state of Washington, first confronted the so-called intruder at about 9:30 p.m. ET Sunday outside one of three unoccupied rental houses near Rudolph's hometown of Andrews.

Gritz and a team of 40 volunteers began combing the dense woods of western North Carolina on Saturday in hopes of convincing Rudolph to surrender peacefully.

Gritz, who has mediated past FBI standoffs with right-wing militant Randy Weaver in Idaho and the anti-government Freeman in Montana, told about the sightings on his daily radio show Monday.

Gritz: Intruder was looking for food

Gritz said a three-man stakeout team using night vision surveillance equipment had seen an intruder "going in and out, taking food."

Members of Gritz's volunteer search team work in western North Carolina

When alerted by code of the sighting, one team member "came running across the creek and ... spooked the intruder, and the intruder rushed up a logging trail," Gritz said.

Then, about 4:30 a.m. Monday, Gritz said a man approached the same house and shined a flashlight on it, according to team members.

"We were going to let him try and get in the house," Gritz said, but the intruder suddenly encountered one of the volunteers outside.

"Our member, Will from Washington state, stood up and said, 'I'm unarmed. I'm part of Bo Gritz's team. I'm here to help you.' And he said the guy bolted and ran down around the deck and took off up the trail," Gritz said.

On his radio program, Gritz speculated that the intruder may have been sent by Rudolph to survey the situation.

"This could have been a test, and the fact is if it was, we passed it perfectly," he said. "He saw we had no weapons and we were not there to apprehend him."

Gritz said the volunteer did not see the man's face, but later suggested the intruder may have been Rudolph himself.

Asked what made him think it was Rudolph, Gritz said, "If it wasn't, it was an excellent impostor. They say it's a young man with a ponytail."

Rudolph

Volunteers say locals are helpful

On Monday, the duty officer for the Southeast Bomb Task Force, made up of federal agents, state and local law enforcement agencies, said it was the first he had heard of any suspected Rudolph sightings by Gritz's volunteers.

The task force has been searching the same hills for Rudolph for six months now.

The 31-year-old former carpenter is charged with bombing an abortion clinic in Birmingham, Alabama, in January, killing an off-duty policeman. He also is a suspect in a series of Atlanta bombings and is on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list.

Gritz also said Monday he had spoken to three property owners who claimed to have seen a young man with a ponytail taking food from their rental units.

"They said he didn't take anything except some cans of food and maybe a sleeping bag," Gritz said. "They said, 'If it's Eric Rudolph, let him do it.'"

Gritz spokesman Gene DeWalt said the volunteer group is receiving tips and information from local residents "who are not helping the government."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.