NORTH PORT, Florida, Sept. 24, 2021 (Gephardt Daily) — North Port police said Friday afternoon reports of gunshots outside Gabby Petito’s fiancé Brian Laundrie’s home are “false.”
A tweet from North Port Police Department at 4:45 p.m. says: “NPPD received a report of gunshots in the area of Brian Laundrie’s home from unknown. No injuries are reported. Right now, no evidence any shots were actually fired in the area. No reports from the large contingency of media who were standing outside the home, either.”
A follow-up Facebook post says: “Report this evening of gunshots around the Laundrie home are false.”
The post adds: “The major ground search in the Carlton Reserve has pretty much wrapped up for Friday night. Some members remain on scene. We will be back out throughout the weekend. Focusing on areas of more likelihood across the Reserve.”
On Friday morning, it was announced that a Tampa Bay, Florida, law firm is offering a $20,000 reward for information leading to the location of Laundrie.
Boohoff Law is offering the reward to the first person who offers information that directly leads to finding Laundrie.
Laundrie, 23, has been named a person of interest in Petito’s murder. 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 Gabby’s disappearance near the end of August.
Petito, 22, was reported missing on Sept. 11. Laundrie returned home on Sept. 1, to the North Port, Florida, residence they shared with his family driving Petito’s van, but without her.
He declined to cooperate with authorities and was reported missing one week ago, on Friday.
On Sunday, FBI agents found the remains believed to be those of Petito in an area where the couple had been camping in Grand Teton National Park. On Tuesday, the FBI confirmed the human remains were those of the missing woman, and her manner of death was homicide. The cause of death has not yet been released.
Officers have searched the Carlton Reserve in Florida for several days after learning from Laundrie’s family that he went missing on Sept. 14. The Laundrie family told authorities that their son had left to go hike at the reserve, prompting the search.
Boohoff Law, P.A. is asking anyone with information on Laundrie’s whereabouts to call 1-800-CALL-FBI.
On Thursday, a federal arrest warrant was issued for Laundrie.
According to a statement posted on Twitter by the FBI in Denver:
On Sept. 22, 2021, the U.S. District Court of Wyoming issued a federal arrest warrant for Brian Christopher Laundrie pursuant to a Federal Grand Jury indictment related to Mr. Laundrie’s activities following the death of Gabrielle Petito.
While this warrant allows law enforcement to arrest Mr. Laundrie, the FBI and our partners across the country continue to investigate the facts of Ms. Petito’s homicide. We urge individuals with knowledge of Mr. Laundrie’s role in this matter or his current whereabouts contact the FBI.
The grand jury indictment reads as follows:
From on or about Aug. 31, 2021, through and including on or about Sept. 1, 2021, in the District of Wyoming and elsewhere, the Defendant, Brian Christopher Laundrie knowingly and with intent to defraud, used one or more unauthorized access devices, namely a Capitol One Bank debit card ending in **** and a personal identification number for a Capitol One Bank card ending in **** and ****, and by such contact obtained things of value aggregating to $1,000 or more during that period, which affected interstate commerce.
Also on Friday, Gabby Petito’s father, Joe Petito, posted information about her memorial service on Instagram.
“Services for our sweet Gabby will be held at Moloney Funeral Home in Holbrook on Sunday, Sept. 26 from 12 p.m.-5 p.m. Thank to all for your support and love.”
Moloney Funeral Home, which is in New York, is also holding a candlelight vigil Friday night for the community to show love and support for Petito and her family.
