Medical examiner and cadaver dog called to park where investigators found Brian Laundrie’s items
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By Taylor Romine, Eric Levenson, Leyla Santiago and Randi Kaye, CNN
The Sarasota County Medical Examiner and a cadaver dog were called on Wednesday to a Florida park where authorities found several items belonging to Brian Laundrie, the missing fiancé of Gabby Petito.
Laundrie’s parents, Chris and Roberta Laundrie, informed the FBI and the North Port Police Department Tuesday night that they intended to come to the park on Wednesday morning to search for him, family attorney Steven Bertolino said. Law enforcement met them there Wednesday morning, he said.
After a “brief search” off a trail Laundrie frequented, the family and law enforcement found “some articles” belonging to him, Bertolino said. He would not give any further information on what or how many items were found.
Bertolino said that law enforcement is now conducting a more thorough investigation of that area.
The Sarasota County Medical Examiner has been called to the scene, and Pasco County Sheriff’s office said a cadaver dog and two spotters were also on site. The Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office Emergency Response Team and the Lee County Sheriff’s Office are also now on scene along with a mobile unit and a tent.
North Port Police declined to comment.
The discovery comes amid an exhaustive search for Laundrie’s whereabouts that has now stretched over a month.
Nearly two months ago, Petito, 22, disappeared while she and Laundrie, 23, were on a road trip around the western US, documenting their travels on social media. Laundrie returned to their home in North Point, Florida, where they lived with his parents, without Petito on September 1.
Unable to get in contact with her, Petito’s family reported her missing 10 days later. Laundrie declined to cooperate with the investigation into her whereabouts, and soon after, he also went missing, and his family told investigators they believed he had gone to a nearby nature reserve.
Petito’s remains were found in a national forest in Wyoming on September 19 near where the couple had last been seen together. Teton County Coroner Dr. Brent Blue has ruled that she died by strangulation.
Laundrie has not been explicitly connected to Petito’s homicide, but he is the subject of a federal arrest warrant for unauthorized use of another person’s debit card in the days after Petito last spoke with her family.
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CNN’s Madeline Holcombe and Jon Passantino contributed to this report.
