Family lawyer Brian Laundrie cancels press conference in connection with FBI investigation

A lawyer for Brian Laundrie’s family has abruptly canceled a press conference scheduled for Tuesday – as authorities step up a criminal investigation into the probable death of Laundrie’s girlfriend Gabby Petito.

“According to my conversation with the FBI tonight, there will be no press conference tomorrow,” attorney Steven Bertolino told The Post.

But Bertolino said it was “not true” that the FBI advised him to cancel.

“It’s not in the best interest of my clients,” he wrote in a text message.

The press conference was reportedly held on the same day as the autopsy of the female human remains found in Wisconsin who authorities say are 22-year-old Petito.

FBI agents and local police raided the home of Laundrie’s parents in North Port, Florida on Monday, calling it an “active crime scene”. Laundrie, 23, was reportedly last seen by his family last week, before the remains were found.

Bertolino had invited members of the press to a Hyatt Regency Long Island in Hauppauge for the conference, but canceled a few hours later. It would have been a rare public statement on behalf of the family and the first direct media access since Petito, from Long Island, was reported missing on September 11.

Petito and Laundrie got on a van across the country this summer for a national parks tour documented by social media, but the trip was never over. Petito’s family lost contact with her at the end of August, and Laundrie returned to her parents’ house in the van – without Petito.

Laundrie refused to speak to the police after Petito went missing. A search warrant request indicated that her parents, Christopher and Roberta, had directed police to their lawyer for questions.

As a nationwide effort was unleashed to track down Petito last week, the laundries sat on the sidelines, issuing a statement through Bertolino supporting the search but saying they would remain “in the background”.

Christopher and Roberta reported Brian’s disappearance last week, three days after that statement – and three days after they last heard from him.

After Petito’s probable remains were recovered over the weekend, Bertolino issues another statement calling the news “heartbreaking”.

“The Laundrie family are praying for Gabby and her family,” the statement read.

No probable cause of death has been published for Petito.