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:
The FBI Tampa office tweeted Monday evening that they ended their search of the Laundrie residence North Port, Florida.
"No further details since this is an ongoing investigation," the office tweeted.
Details of a search warrant executed last week by Florida investigators looking into into Gabby Petito's disappearance were revealed Monday.
This warrant, filed by the North Port Police Department this past Wednesday, wasn't associated with the FBI activity at the Laundrie family’s North Port home Monday.
Police say that after they searched the 2012 Ford Transit van, crime scene technicians found an external hard drive that they believed "may contain viable digital forensic data that could assist in the location" of Petito, court documents said.
A detective said Petito’s mother received an "odd text" from the 22-year-old, on Aug. 27, -- making it likely the last communication from Petito, according to court documents.
The text asked Petito's mom, "Can you help Stan, I just keep getting his voicemails and missed calls,” referring to Petito’s grandfather, who she “never” refers to as Stan, according to her mother.
The Grand County, Utah, Sheriff's Office released on Monday a 911 recording from August in which a caller claimed he witnessed Brian Laundrie allegedly "slapping" Gabby Petito and chasing her up and down a sidewalk hitting her.
In the recording of the 911 call from Aug. 12, the caller, whose name was not released, claimed he saw an apparent domestic dispute unfold on Main Street in Moab between a young couple driving a white van with Florida license plates.
"We drove by, and the gentleman was slapping the girl," the caller told a 911 dispatcher. "And then we stopped. They ran up and down the sidewalk. He proceeded to hit her, hopped in the car and drove off."
Moab Police Department Chief Bret Edge said last week that his officers responded to the incident, located the van and pulled the couple over. Moab police released body camera footage of the traffic stop and wrote in a report that the couple, identified as Laundrie and Petito, admitted to arguing and that Petito had slapped Laundrie.
The couple also stated to police that Laundrie did not hit Petito, according to the report.
After speaking to Petito and Laundrie separately, the police allowed the couple to go on their way. Edge said "insufficient evidence existed to justify criminal charges."
A Ford Mustang convertible authorities believe Brian Laundrie used to purportedly drive himself to the Carlton Reserve near North Port, Florida, was parked in the driveway of his family's home when FBI agents served a search warrant there on Monday.
Laundrie's parents told authorities he went to the nearly 25,000-acre preserve on Tuesday, which is the last time they claim they saw him, according to the family's attorney.
Steven Bertolino, the Laundrie family attorney, told ABC News that the family picked up the car on Thursday morning from the reserve after going out on Wednesday to look for Laundrie.
Laundrie left his family's home on Tuesday morning with a backpack, Bertolino said. He said that when family members went to the reserve to look for him, they spotted a note left on the car from the North Port Police Department saying it needed to be removed.
Bertolino said the family left the car overnight “so he [Laundrie] could drive back." When Laundrie didn’t come home Thursday morning, the family went back to retrieve the car, the attorney said.
The family called the police on Friday to file a missing person report, authorities said.
