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Police said they no longer knew the whereabouts of Brian Laundrie, whose fiancee of 22-year-old van life influencer Gabrielle Petito has been missing since returning from a trip across the country without her. weeks ago, and officials are actively looking for him.
Law enforcement officers, including the FBI, said on Saturday they were searching for laundry in the Carlton Reservation, a sprawling 25,000-acre park in Sarasota County, Florida.
An attorney for the Laundrie family contacted investigators Friday evening “indicating that the family would like to discuss their son’s disappearance,” police said in a statement. declaration. “The family now claim they haven’t seen Brian since Tuesday of this week.”
North Port Public Information Officer Joshua Taylor told BuzzFeed News that police believed Laundrie was at his family’s house after returning home alone from the trip with Petito.
Police have sought to question Laundrie for nearly a week starting last Saturday night at her family’s home, where the couple lived before their trip. But they had no news from the family until Laundrie’s disappearance on Friday, according to the police statement.
“For six days, the North Port Police Department and the FBI begged the family to contact investigators about Brian. [fiancée] Gabby Petito. Friday is the first time they have spoken in detail with investigators, “the statement said.
Police also reiterated that although Laundrie is a person of interest in Petito’s disappearance, he is not a suspect. Officials said the investigation was being treated as a missing persons case, not a criminal case.
Richard Stafford, a lawyer representing the Petito family, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Saturday. But Stafford told CNN, “Gabby’s whole family wants the world to know Brian isn’t missing, he’s in hiding. Gabby is missing.”
The development further deepens the mystery surrounding Petito’s disappearance.
The couple had documented their months-long trip across the country on their individual social media accounts, where they amassed a large following. Petito’s one and only YouTube video, featuring clips from their trip, was uploaded on August 19.
Laundrie returned from the trip in a white van owned by Petito on September 1 and Petito’s family said he had made no contact with them regarding his disappearance. On September 11, Petito’s family reported his disappearance, saying they had not heard from him since the last week of August.
The couple had traveled to the western United States and were believed to be in Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming before Petito disappeared. Previously, they were in Utah, where Moab City Police were called in about a possible domestic dispute between the couple on August 12.
Police wrote in a report that Petito had “cried uncontrollably” upon their arrival, and in body camera footage released by the department, officers were seen discussing whether to charge Petito for hitting the laundromat.
“Both the man and the woman said they were in love and engaged to be married and did not desperately want to see anyone charged with a crime,” the report said.
Officers concluded it was a “mental health crisis” rather than a domestic assault, and recommended that the couple spend the night separately. No charges were laid in the incident.
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