Photo via @cbenavidesTV/Twitter
September 20, 2021, 10:27 am
Local police are facing a national wave of criticism after the fiance of Gabby Petito, the camper whose body was likely discovered in the Bridger-Teton National Forest in Wyoming, disappeared soon after she was reported missing without being questioned.
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The home of Brian Laundrie’s parents was raided by the FBI Monday, first removing the couple from the house and placing them in a police van before they conducted the search, declaring the area a crime scene.
Laundrie reportedly refused to cooperate with police after Petito was reported missing by her family following his return to Florida without his fiance from a camping trip in their own van, in which they traveled together. The person of interest later disappeared and his parents said they hadn’t heard from him in several days when questioned on September 17. He is now presumed to be on the run from authorities as the autopsy on Petito’s presumed remains begins.
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Police in both Wyoming and Florida reportedly failed to locate and question Laundrie after his fiance was reported missing in spite of the fact that he was the last person to see her before she vanished and, as an intimate partner, should have been immediately considered a person of interest in the case. Now, with only Petito’s body to give them clues as to what happened with her, investigators are in a race against time after the body was left exposed to the elements for over a week in summer weather that reached temperatures over 90 degrees, resulting in rapid decomposition.
Another potential source of information is Miranda Baker, who claims that she gave Laundrie a ride after picking him up as a hitchhiker near the national park four days after the last time Petito spoke with her parents. Laundrie allegedly told Baker that Petito was staying behind in the van to update their social media pages about their camping adventures, though Petito’s parents have cast doubt on these claims.
After returning to his parents’ home in Florida, Laundrie reportedly refused to speak with police about his fiance’s disappearance. North Port police claimed on Thursday that they knew where Laundrie was located, but now it appears that he had vanished two days prior to this statement. They also claimed that they could not bring Laundrie in for questioning because there was no criminality suspected at the time, prior to when Petito’s body was discovered.
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Laundrie’s lawyer released a statement before their client’s disappearance saying that they had advised him not to speak with police to avoid self-incrimination.
“Many people are wondering why Mr. Laundrie would not make a statement or speak with law enforcement in the face of Ms. Petito’s absence,” said Steven P. Bertolino. “In my experience, intimate partners are often the first person law enforcement focuses their attention on in cases like this and the warning that ‘any statement made will be used against you’ is true, regardless of whether my client had anything to do with Ms. Petito’s disappearance. As such, on the advice of counsel Mr. Laundrie is not speaking on this matter.”
The Laundrie family’s lawyer now says that Brian is in hiding, not missing, as he fears that police will assume he is the culprit.
*First Published: September 20, 2021, 10:27 am
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