Brian Laundrie is a person of interest in the death of his girlfriend.
A massive search for Brian Laundrie, the boyfriend of slain 22-year-old travel blogger Gabby Petito, took a dramatic twist Thursday with the announcement that human remains found in a Florida nature preserve are those of the wanted fugitive, according to the FBI.
The remains were recovered Wednesday, nearly five weeks after Petito's body was recovered in the Bridger-Teton National Forest in Wyoming. The Teton County Coroner ruled her death a homicide by strangulation.
The search for the 23-year-old Laundrie was centered around North Port, Florida, where investigators said he returned to his home on Sept. 1 without Petito but driving her 2012 Ford Transit.
Laundrie had been named by police as a "person of interest" in Petito's disappearance and a federal warrant had been issued for him alleging unauthorized use of Petito's credit card.
He refused to speak to the police and vanished on Sept. 13. His parents told investigators they believed he was headed to the Carlton Reserve in North Port.
The case grabbed national attention as Laundrie and Petito had been traveling across the country since June, documenting the trip on social media. Petito's parents reported her missing on Sept. 11 after not hearing from her for two weeks.
Here is how the weekslong search for Laundrie unfolded:
North Port Police shared a short video of their morning briefing with various agencies and search teams at the start of their Thursday search for Brian Laundrie at Florida’s Carlton Reserve.
Relatives told police he claimed he was heading to the 25,000-acre preserve near North Port, Florida, when they last heard from him on Sept. 14.
Authorities have been scouring the area throughout the week.
Nina Angelo opened up to “Good Morning America” on Thursday about purportedly seeing Gabby Petito and Brian Laundrie at the Merry Piglets restaurant in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, on Aug. 27, three days after her last known sighting.
The Blue Collar Restaurant Group told ABC News it believes Petito and Laundrie were at its Merry Piglet restaurant and have notified the FBI. However, its security cameras don’t go that far back so there is no footage of the duo allegedly inside the eatery.
Angelo described Laundrie in vivid detail as "aggressive" and "angry".
She said the couple was in an angry confrontation with restaurant staff.
“He was just very visibly angry. [Petito] was really upset, she was crying and he immediately went to the hostess stand and was just going in on the hostess and waitress, then eventually the manager,” Angelo said.
“I think she was being apologetic towards the restaurant staff for his behavior. She just kind of wanted to diffuse the situation. She was like, ‘I’m sorry, come on, let's just go.’ But she was visibly upset. She was crying,” Angelo said. “You could feel his temper. He was he was angry."
Authorities previously said the last time Petito was seen was Aug. 24.
Aug. 27, the day of the alleged restaurant sighting, was the same day Petito’s mom said she received a strange text from her daughter in which she referred to her grandfather as “Stan.” Petito’s mother said her daughter “never” referred to him as Stan.
North Port, Florida, police announced Wednesday evening that they ended that day's search for Brian Laundrie with no updates on his whereabouts.
The department said it will resume its search Thursday morning.
The Okaloosa County, Florida, Sheriff’s Office said Wednesday afternoon that a man whose image was captured on a wildlife camera in the Florida Panhandle this week is not Brian Laundrie.
The sheriff's office said deputies tracked down the individual, who is a local resident.
The owner of the wildlife camera told ABC News that the image was taken on a wooded trail in Baxter on Sept. 20 and that he alerted the sheriff's office because the man, who was walking with a backpack, resembled Laundrie. Baxter is about 500 miles northwest of where authorities have focused their search for Laundrie in the Carlton Reserve near North Port.
Several Okaloosa County sheriff's deputies who viewed the image recognized the individual from his neck tattoo, enabling authorities to locate and speak to him, the sheriff's office said.
The report of the trail camera image set off an extensive search of the area in Baxter on Tuesday, the sheriff's office said.
