A North Port, Florida police spokesman told People Magazine on Wednesday that there is a “very good possibility” Brian Laundrie, 23, died two days after Gabby Petito was reported missing (on September 11).
Officially deemed missing himself on September 17, the skeletal remains of the lone ‘person of interest’ named in the disappearance, then homicide of his girlfriend Gabby Petito, 22, were found on October 20 in Florida’s Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park.
The Carlton Reserve-connected area was supposedly already surveyed by search teams much earlier, but had been underwater. A notebook and backpack tied to Laundrie were recovered at the scene and brought in as police evidence, with dental records later confirming the remains as his. A water bottle connected to Petito was also found in the same area by a TikTok user soon thereafter, per The New York Post.
Petito and Laundrie, the formerly-engaged Blue Point natives who spent the past summer on a cross-country expedition, first made news last month when Laundrie was reported to have returned to his family’s Florida home in the van he and Petito shared, without Petito.
Initially refusing to cooperate with the investigation through a family attorney, Laundrie was later revealed to have vacated his home to hike in hiding as the case, through the court of public opinion, grew stacked against him.
Though never ruled a suspect in Petito’s death by “manual strangulation” according to the Grand Teton coroner’s findings, the FBI eventually issued a warrant for Laundrie’s arrest on September 23 in connection with his illegal use of a credit card not belonging to him (presumably Petito’s) weeks earlier.
Autopsy results conducted on Laundrie’s remains came back inconclusive, per reports; they have been sent to an anthropologist for further examination.
“No manner or cause of death was determined,” Laundrie family attorney Steven Bertolino told NBC News.
The extensive coverage of the case inspired a wave of self-appointed Internet detective to take up the investigation; some, namely a married pair of web series hosts who noticed Petito and Laundrie’s white van in the background of their own footage filmed weeks prior, even aided licensed authorities in pinpointing the precise Grand Teton, Wyoming location where Petito’s remains were ultimately found.
Misinformation and disruptive conspiracy theory rhetoric notwithstanding, mass interest in the form of a still-trending #JusticeForGabby online campaign brought forth substantial headway, leading to the discovery of Laundrie; albeit, before concrete answers could be found, not merely speculated, well before expectation, based on similar cases in recent years.
A nation continues to mourn the loss of Petito, seeking someone to blame. When not directed at Laundrie, or at his parents, the Moab, Utah police department has borne the brunt of scrutiny. Officers intervened, though not enough in hindsight, according to the collective unrest, as seen in the August 14 bodycam footage shot under the suspicion of domestic violence having occurred between the two.
Exceptional sorrow and resonance has been felt on the local front as well. Petito’s funeral services were held at Moloney’s Funeral Home of Holbrook last month.
“I want you to be inspired by Gabby, that’s what we are looking for,” Petito’s father, Joseph Petito, spoke to those gathered in attendance at his late daughter’s funeral. “If there is a relationship you are in that may not be the best thing for you, leave it, now.”
