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The results of the autopsy performed on the remains of Brian Laundrie, considered the only “person of interest” in the case of the disappearance of young Gabrielle Petito, found dead in September in a national reserve in the state of Wyoming, are inconclusive to determine the cause of death.
Laundrie’s remains were found last Wednesday in a Florida wilderness park, but the cause of his death has not yet been determined.
“I was told the manner and cause of death were not determined and the remains were sent to an anthropologist (for) further evaluation,” Steven Bertolino, an attorney for the Laundrie family, said in a statement.
The FBI confirmed last Thursday that, after a month-long search, the human remains found in Myakkahatchee Creek Park belonged to Laundrie, 23, who had been declared a “person of interest” in the disappearance of Petito, 22, before his body was found in the state of Wyoming.
According to the Tampa office of the FBI, the remains were found along with personal items, such as a backpack and notebook, belonging to Laundrie, Petito’s boyfriend and with whom she embarked on a trip through U.S. national parks last July.
“The family is grieving privately somewhere in Florida (…) There has been no update on the remains for the evaluation from the anthropologist”, added Bertolino.
Petito and Laundrie were traveling around the country narrating their trip on their van on social media, before Laundrie returned to his parents’ home in North Port (Florida) without her on Sept. 1 and then disappeared.
The young man was reported missing on Sept. 17 after his parents said he went for a hike on Sept. 13 and never returned home.
According to authorities, several items that would be Laundrie’s were found by the young man’s parents, who had reported that they would search the area of interest, in the Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park in the city of North Port, where they live.
This is an area where a family vehicle had already been found abandoned a few weeks ago and where officials, including forensic experts from Sarasota County, on the west coast of Florida, also went yesterday after the discovery of the human remains.
The young man was a fugitive from justice in a case of alleged fraud for the use of bank cards of the young woman after her disappearance.
According to Wyoming medical examiners, Petito died a homicide victim when she was strangled about a month before her body was found last September 19 after disappearing since the end of August.
The notebook found among the remains that belonged to Laundrie could now be a key piece in the investigation of her death.
