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SARASOTA COUNTY, Florida, Oct. 20, 2021 (Gephardt Daily) — Partial human remains and items believed to have belonged to missing suspect Brian Laundrie have been located in a Florida camping area, NBC is reporting.
The scene is off a trail Laundrie frequented at the Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park, near his family’s home in Florida on Wednesday, according to his family’s attorney, who was commenting on the discovery of belongings, prior to word remains had been discovered.
Steven Bertolino said Chris and Roberta Laundrie went to the park Wednesday morning to search for Laundrie. The FBI and the North Port Police Department were informed last night of the Laundries’ intentions to visit the park, and law enforcement met them there Wednesday morning, he said.
After a “brief search” off a trail Laundrie frequented, the family and law enforcement found “some articles” belonging to him, Bertolino said. He would not give any further information on what or how many items were found.
Law enforcement officials have not released comments on the development, but the Sarasota County Medical Examiner’s Office has confirmed on social media that members of its team have been called to the scene. According to CNN, one or more cadaver dogs were also sent to the scene.
It was announced Tuesday that the Myakkahatchee Environmental Park had reopened after being closed for nearly a month due to the search. The Carlton Reserve, also in Sarasota County, Florida, which has been the other hub in the search for Laundrie, remains closed.
On Friday, Sept. 17, Laundrie’s parents, Chris and Roberta Laundrie, told the FBI that their son went to the Carlton Reserve that Tuesday, Sept. 14, but never returned home. They later said that, in fact, they last saw their son Sept. 13.
Since then, the North Port Police Department and the FBI have been searching the 24,565-acre nature reserve for the 23-year-old man.
Laundrie is the only person of interest in the murder case of 22-year-old Gabby Petito. The couple, who shared a home with Laundrie’s parents in Florida, had been traveling across the western U.S., including stops in Utah, before Petito’s disappearance near the end of August.
On Tuesday, Oct. 12, it was determined that Petito died of strangulation, Teton County Coroner Dr. Brent Blue announced.
“We find the cause of death by strangulation, and the manner is homicide,” Blue said at a news conference.
Blue said his estimate is that Petito, 22, died three to four weeks before her body was found. Three to four weeks before Petito’s body was discovered would have been in the approximate time period of Aug. 21 through 28.
Laundrie returned home on Sept. 1, driving Petito’s van, but without her. Petito was reported missing on Sept. 11.
Laundrie declined to cooperate with authorities, as did his parents.
On Sept. 19, FBI agents found the remains believed to be Petito’s in an area where the couple had been camping in Grand Teton National Park.
Officials confirmed on Sept. 21 the human remains found in Grand Teton National Park were those of the missing woman.
Though authorities have not explicitly connected Laundrie to Petito’s death, they’ve been looking for him, in part over a federal arrest warrant accusing him of illegally using another person’s debit card. That card belonged to Petito, investigators say.
Anyone with information in this case is asked to call 1-800-CALL-FBI.
Gephardt Daily will have more on this developing story as information is made available.
