How the search for Brian Laundrie, boyfriend of Gabby Petito, unfolded
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:
Key events
- Police find apparent human remains, personal items belonging to Laundrie
- Cadaver dog team called to scene
- Brian Laundrie's father joins police in search for son: Attorney
- Brian Laundrie left parents’ home to hike day earlier than parents originally told investigators
- Second Moab Police body camera footage shows Gabby Petito claim Brian Laundrie grabbed her face
- FBI ends search at Laundrie residence
- Car Brian Laundrie last used was parked in parents' driveway: Authorities
Remains found at park, not clear if human
A law enforcement source told ABC News remains were found at a Florida environmental park. The source said investigators are working to determine whether the remains are human and whether the remains and other discovered articles are linked to Laundrie.
-ABC News' Jack Date
FBI confirms 'items of interest' found
The FBI said "items of interest" in connection to the search for Laundrie were found at the Carlton Reserve Wednesday morning and an evidence response team is processing the scene.
Cadaver dog team called to scene
A human remains detection team was requested by North Port Police to go to Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park to assist in the search for Laundrie, the Pasco County Sheriff's Office told ABC News
The team consists of one dog, a handler and two spotters.
-ABC News' Aaron Katersky
Articles belonging to Laundrie found in Florida nature park: Attorney
Articles belonging to Brian Laundrie were found Wednesday by his parents, said Stephen Bertolino, an attorney for Laundrie's family.
Bertolino said the articles were found while his parents searched off a trail that Laundrie frequented in the Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park in North Port, Florida, a nature park that's been the center of the search for Laundrie.
Law enforcement is now searching the area, Bertolino said.
The medical examiner’s office in Sarasota has been called to the preserve, a spokesperson for the office told ABC News.
2nd witness corroborates domestic dispute between couple
The Moab, Utah, police department has released a report from a second witness claiming he saw Gabby Petito and Brian Laundrie engaged in a domestic dispute in Moab on Aug. 12.
The witness told police he observed a man and a woman, later identified Petito and Laundrie, arguing over a cellphone about 4:30 in the afternoon outside a grocery store in Moab, according to a statement from police.
"They were talking aggressively @ each other & something seemed off. At one point they were sort of fighting over a phone -- I think the male took the female's phone. It appeared that he didn't want her in the white van. He got into the driver's seat & she followed him. At one point she was punching him in the arm and/or face & trying to get into the van," the witness wrote in the police report.
The witness, according to the statement, said the woman eventually climbed over the driver to get into the passenger seat and that she was overheard saying, "Why do you have to be so mean"?
"I wasn't sure how serious this was -- it was hard to tell if it was sort of play fighting, but from my point of view something definitely didn't seem right. It was as if this guy was trying to leave her, and maybe take her phone? Not sure but wanted to help out," the witness wrote.
Around the same time, a 911 caller told a Grand County, Utah, Sheriff's Office dispatcher that he witnessed Laundrie allegedly "slapping" Petito and chasing her up and down a sidewalk hitting her, according to a recording released by the sheriff's office.