The FBI has taken over the search for Brian Laundrie, the boyfriend of murdered travel blogger Gabby Petito, after he vanished from his family home in North Port, Florida. The 23-year-old has not been seen since 14 September, when he told his parents he was going for a hike in the Carlton Reserve, a “vast and unforgiving” nature area. His disappearance came on the same day investigators named him as a person of interest in Ms Petito’s death.
Local police have been scouring the alligator-infested reserve, while the FBI has executed a search warrant on the Laundrie family home. The manhunt intensified after Ms Petito’s body was discovered in Wyoming’s Grand Teton National Park on 19 September. Dog the Bounty Hunter also tipped off authorities about a possible sighting at Fort De Soto Park in Pinellas County, where the Laundrie family camped days before Ms Petito was reported missing.
A detailed timeline shows that Mr Laundrie returned alone to Florida on 1 September in Ms Petito’s Ford Transit van, without her. He went camping with his parents at Fort De Soto Park on 6 September. On 11 September, Ms Petito’s mother filed a missing person report, and the couple’s van was seized by the FBI. Mr Laundrie and his family refused to cooperate with police, referring them to their attorney.
Earlier in their trip, on 12 August, police were called to a domestic dispute in Moab, Utah. A witness reported seeing Mr Laundrie slapping and hitting Ms Petito. Officers separated the couple for the night but did not press charges. Ms Petito was last seen alive on 24 August, and her final phone call with her mother was on 25 August. Subsequent text messages from her phone were described by her mother as “fake”.
