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
Search for Brian Laundrie halted for the night
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.
Man captured on wildlife camera in the panhandle not Brian Laundrie
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.
Underwater recovery team dispatched to Carlton Reserve
The Sarasota County Sheriff's Office confirmed on Twitter Wednesday that its Underwater Recovery Force team has been dispatched to the Carlton Reserve near North Port, where the search for Laundrie is focused.
The sheriff's office, one of multiple law enforcement agencies involved in the search, did not elaborate on why the team was needed at the search site.
"We continue to respond to requests for mutual aid from neighboring law enforcement agencies & federal partners. To confirm, yes, members of our Sheriff’s Underwater Recovery Force have responded to Carlton Reserve," reads the agency's tweet.
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.
'Skeletal remains' recovered at Florida nature preserve
Apparent human "skeletal remains" were recovered Wednesday in a Florida wildlife preserve where the search for Brian Laundrie has centered, police told ABC News on Thursday.
“We have confirmed skeletal remains," said Josh Taylor, spokesman for the North Port, Florida, Police Department.
Asked of media reports describing portions of the remains recovered, Taylor said, "We have not said anything about a skull.”