With Brian Laundrie Dead, Where Would Gabby Petito Slaying Probe Go Next? Fiance's Attorney Details Days of His Abduction

With Brian Laundrie Dead, Where Gabby Petito Slaying Probe Would Go Next? Fiance's Attorney Details Days of His Abduction

(Photo : Octavio Jones/Getty Images)
Search Continues For Brian Laundrie, Wanted In Connection With Death Of Gabby Petito
NORTH PORT, FL - SEPTEMBER 20: An FBI agent talks with a North Port officer while they collect evidence from the family home of Brian Laundrie, who is a person of interest after his fiancé Gabby Petito went missing on September 20, 2021 in North Port, Florida. A body has been found by authorities in Wyoming that fits the description of Petito, who went missing while on a cross country trip with Laundrie. (Photo by Octavio Jones/Getty Images)

Where does the investigation into Brian Laundrie's murder of his girlfriend, Gabby Petito, move now that his decomposed remains have been discovered?

Petito, 22, was found murdered on the borders of Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming last month, one of the sites the young couple had visited during a cross-country van journey that concluded with Laundrie suddenly returning home to Florida alone in the van.

Attorney detailed days before Brian's remains was discovered

Laundrie, a "person of interest" in the investigation, had been missing for a month before his bones were discovered in a marshy wilderness area near his home on Wednesday. The case has sparked international interest and spawned a slew of internet theories from amateur true-crime investigators.

It's also brought attention to the other missing-persons cases affecting women of color, who don't get nearly as much attention as Petito, who is white. It's possible that the only way to find out is through a DNA match. For weeks, both sets of remains were exposed to the elements and animals, Republic World reported.

The FBI has not said whether there were any witnesses to Petito's death or the events that followed. Laundrie's usage of a debit card that didn't belong to him after Petito went missing is one piece of evidence.

The Laundrie family's attorney presented a clearer picture of what transpired in the days preceding up to the 23-year-old being reported missing only hours before forensic investigators definitively identified the human remains recovered Wednesday during the hunt for Brian Laundrie.

The attorney for Laundrie's family, Steve Bertolino, told 8 On Your Side's Mahsa Saeidi that he and the family reported Brian Laundrie missing the first night he went for a hike and didn't return.

Per Local SYR, Brian was classified a missing person on September 17. His parents informed authorities that on Tuesday, September 14, they last saw him leave home for a hike in the Carlton Reserve area. Bertolino later stated that the Laundries felt their son had left home to go hiking on September 13 following further conversation with the FBI.

Brian Laundrie's parents won't have funeral for their son

Bertolino said he informed the FBI on September 13 and 14 that Brian had not returned. He said he did not phone the FBI to inform them that Laundrie had not returned in the following days. He further said that the cops never contacted to see if Laundrie had returned home.

On October 20, more than a month after Brian's disappearance, partial skeletal remains were discovered in the Carlton Reserve. According to the FBI, the remains were recognized as Brian's on Thursday using dental records.

Both Chris and Roberta Laundrie were at the park with law enforcement the morning the remains were discovered among artifacts belonging to Brian, which reopened this week after being restricted to the public for several weeks.

Christopher and Roberta Laundrie, Brian's parents, left their house for the first time since authorities told them their son was dead in a Florida swamp on Sunday. After hunkering down inside their house for four days, the couple ran out to their red Dodge Ram pick-up vehicle at 9.50 am.

According to the family's lawyer, the Laundries have no plans to arrange a funeral for their son. Brian Laundrie's remains will be cremated and delivered to his parents "when the time comes," according to Bertolino.

Since two police officers arrived on Thursday to establish that bones discovered in the alligator-infested Carlton Reserve were the remains of his fleeing son, Christopher has only left the couple's house on rare times. On Saturday, he pounded "no trespassing" signs into his ground near the tribute to slain Gabby Petito, that mourners have built on his lawn, as per Daily Mail.