The body of Florida man Brian Laundrie, 23, was taken to be tested by a forensic anthropologist, family attorney Steve Bertolino told the Law&Crime Network’s Angenette Levy in an interview Friday. The cause and manner of death will not be released today; that information could arrive early next week, he said.
In other words, it will take a few more days before investigators conclude what Laundrie did after leaving his family on Sept. 13 — just two days after the family of his fiancee Gabrielle “Gabby” Petito, 22, reported Gabby missing.
NEW INFO: Steven Bertolino just told me on @LawCrimeNetwork
that the Sarasota Co. Medical Examiner has sent #BrianLaundrie‘s remains to a forensic anthropologist. There will be no determination on cause and manner of death today. That could come next week #gabbypetito— Angenette Levy (@Angenette5) October 22, 2021
Speaking on behalf of Laundrie’s parents, Bertolino also continued to dismiss speculation on social media as to why investigators found Laundrie’s body now rather than earlier.
“A lot of people have been asking, ‘How did they know where to go?’ and I keep repeating that this was the beginning of the trail right near the access of the trailhead and the parking lot to the park, and they started down that trail, and as they were able to go off into the woods, they did so, checking in a zigzag fashion, looking for certain items when Chris came across a light drybag, and about the same time, law enforcement came across a backpack and some remains,” the lawyer said.
Petito was last seen in late August, but Laundrie returned home to North Port, Fla., alone on Sept. 1, police said. He spent some time with his family but left amid the increasingly-well-publicized search for Petito, who was later found dead in the Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. The cause of Petito’s death was strangulation, and the manner of her death was homicide, said the Teton County Coroner Dr. Brent Blue. Investigators ended up seeking Laundrie for illegally using a debit card — presumably Petito’s — at an amount of more than $1,000. The discovery of Laundrie’s body on Wednesday near the entrance to the Myakkahatchee Environmental Park, which borders the Carlton Reserve, made the case involving the debit card a moot point.
[Screenshot via Nomadic Statik]
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