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By Travis Caldwell and Kristina Sgueglia, CNN
As the search for Brian Laundrie continues in a florida nature reserve, police said on Friday they had yet to find any physical evidence of laundry in the vast wilderness area.
Laundrie, whose fiancé Gabby Petito was found dead in Wyoming nearly three weeks ago, has been the subject of intensive research on the Carlton Reservation near his family home in North Port, after his parents told police he was planning to hike there.
North Port Police spokesman Josh Taylor told CNN’s Randi Kaye that although nothing related to the laundry was found inside the reserve, their efforts will continue until that they have better information.
North Port Police confirmed this week that an abandoned vehicle notice was placed on a Ford Mustang owned by the Laundrie family on September 14 outside a park that serves as the entrance to the reserve.
The parents, Chris and Roberta, went to the park that day looking for their son and saw the quote, according to Laundrie family attorney Steve Bertolino, a day after he said Laundrie told them that ‘he was heading towards the reserve. His parents brought the vehicle home on September 15.
The search was driven entirely by information from Laundrie’s parents, Taylor told CNN, and while the police department has received plenty of advice from the public, police say none has been successful so far.
Laundry has not been charged in the death of Petito, but is the subject of a federal arrest warrant for unauthorized use of another person’s debit card in the days following his last conversation with his family.
Police say the laundry was under surveillance before he went missing
Petito, whose body was discovered on September 19, was reported missing eight days earlier by his family who had not heard from him since the end of August.
When the police, as part of the investigation into Petito’s disappearance, visited the Laundrie family’s home on the night of September 11, he was not seen and was not given the opportunity to talk to him, Taylor told CNN.
Although Laundrie was not wanted for arrest at the time, he was to be watched by police – as the best authorities could legally do – before her disappearance, Taylor told CNN, and authorities said they never spoke to Laundrie before her disappearance.
On September 17, when police spoke with Laundrie’s parents after reporting his disappearance, they refused to discuss Petito’s disappearance or answer questions about him, which police described as “strange,” Taylor said. Laundrie’s parents, who had their lawyer on speakerphone, spoke only of their missing son.
Laundrie and Petito had ventured on a summer road trip to the Western National Parks, but Petito was last seen at the end of August in a restaurant in Wyoming and Laundrie returned to Florida alone on September 1.
Almost a week after Laundrie returned, he and his parents went camping for a brief stay at a site about 120 kilometers from their home, lawyer Bertolino told CNN.
In late September, Laundrie’s parents released a statement through their lawyer, stating: “Chris and Roberta Laundrie don’t know where Brian is. They worry about Brian and hope the FBI can locate him. Speculation from the public and some in the press that the parents helped Brian leave the family home or avoid arrest under a warrant issued after Brian had already been missing for several days is simply untrue.
Father participated in the research this week
Chris Laundrie was seen on Thursday morning entering the Carlton reservation, after being invited by law enforcement to support them in their research, according to Bertolino.
“Chris was asked to list any trails or favorite spots Brian could have used on the reserve,” the lawyer said. Although the family provided the information they knew earlier, “it is now believed that on-site assistance could be better,” he said.
“The reserve has been closed to the public and to laundries as well, but the parents have been cooperating since the start of the research,” Bertolino said.
“There were no findings, but the effort was helpful to everyone,” he said.
Police denied Thursday that a campground had been found on the reserve during previous searches. The confirmation came after a source close to the Laundrie family told CNN they were told by investigators that police made a discovery. The source insisted on Thursday that the Laundrie family had been informed that a campsite had been found.
“Is it possible that they thought there might be a campsite there or something they could see from the air, but when they got to the ground that’s not what it turned out to be. Of course I think that’s a possibility, ”said Taylor, spokesperson for North Port Police. “Ultimately, investigators tell me that no campsites were found there.”
As the search continues, Laundrie’s parents believe he is still on the reservation, Bertolino said, and therefore any public appeal they made for him to surrender to authorities would not reach him. .
“In short, the parents believe Brian was and still is on the reserve so there was no reason to argue on media he doesn’t have access to,” the attorney said.
The-CNN-Wire
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CNN’s Randi Kaye, Leyla Santiago, Sara Weisfeldt, Melissa Alonso, Gregory Lemos, Chris Cuomo, Jon Passantino, Dakin Andone, Christina Maxouris, Taylor Romine, Joe Sutton, Susan Chun and Anne Clifford contributed to this report.
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