Brian Laundrie admitted he killed girlfriend Gabby Petito in a notebook entry he wrote shortly before he took his own life, the FBI revealed Friday in its final report on the case.
Laundrie also sent text messages between his and Petito’s cellphone in the days after Petito was strangled to death last summer in an attempt “to deceive law enforcement by giving the impression Ms. Petito was still alive,” the FBI Denver said in its final investigative update on the case.
All “logical investigative steps have been concluded in the case,” FBI Denver Division Special Agent in Charge Michael Schneider said in a statement.
“The investigation did not identify any other individuals other than Brian Laundrie directly involved in the tragic death of Gabby Petito.
“The FBI’s primary focus throughout the investigation was to bring justice to Gabby and her family,” Scheider said. “The public’s role in helping us in this endeavor was invaluable as the investigation was covered in the media around the world.
“On behalf of the FBI, I want to express my deepest appreciation to the public for the thousands of tips that were provided during the investigation, and to our local, state and federal law enforcement partners for their work throughout the investigation.”
Brian Laundrie confessed to killing Gabby Petito in a notebook found near his body, according to the FBI.InstagramThe FBI confirmed that only Brian Landrie was involved in the murder of Gabby Petito.Instagram
Richard Stafford, an attorney for the Petito family, thanked the FBI and its victim services.
“We truly appreciate the FBI’s diligent and painstaking efforts in this extremely complicated case,” Stafford said in a statement. “The quality and quantity of the facts and information collected by the FBI leave no doubt the Brian Laundrie murdered Gabby.”
Brian Laundrie is seen writing in a notebook.Gabby Petito/InstagramOfficials searched the woods for Brian Laundrie.WFLA-TV
Steven Bertolino, the lawyer for the Laundrie family, issued a statement after the release of the FBI report.
“Gabby and Brian are no longer with their families and this tragedy has caused enormous emotional pain and suffering to all who loved either or both of them,” Bertolino wrote. “We can only hope that with today’s closure of the case each family can begin to heal and move forward and find peace in and with the memories of their children.
“May Gabby and Brian both rest in peace.”
Gabrielle Petito speaks with police as they responded to an altercation between her and boyfriend Brian Laundrie on Aug. 12, 2021. Moab City Police Department/AFPGabby Petito and Brian Laundrie seen at Canyonland National Park in Utah on July 10, 2021.Instagram
Long Island native Petito, 22, vanished last summer during an ill-fated cross-country trip with Laundrie. She was reported missing Sept. 11, and her body was found Sept. 19 at a Wyoming camp ground, with an autopsy determining she’d been strangled.
When Laundrie, 23, returned to his parents’ North Port, Fla., home without her, he quickly became the sole person of interest in the case before he disappeared, too. A massive manhunt for him followed, until his remains were found at a nearby nature preserve Oct. 20.
A revolver, backpack and the notebook were found near his body, the FBI stated. Authorities determined he’d shot himself. Police had determined that between Aug. 30 and Sept. 1 Laundrie had used Petito’s debit card on his drive from Wyoming to Florida, the report said.
Brian Laundrie attempted to “deceive law enforcement” into believing Gabby Petito was still alive during her disappearance.InstagramChris and Roberta Laundrie’s home in North Port, Florida, where their son Brian returned following the disappearance of Gabby Petito.Daniel William McKnight
It isn’t clear what the notebook entry said, but the FBI’s review stated that it “revealed written statements by Mr. Laundrie claiming responsibility for Ms. Petito’s death.”
Brian Laundrie died from a gunshot wound to the head and his manner of death was suicide, according to his family’s attorney and a local medical examiner. His remains were found last month at a Florida reserve after a weeks-long manhunt following the disappearance and death of his fiancée, Gabby Petito.
“Chris and Roberta Laundrie have been informed the cause of death was a gunshot wound to the head and the manner of death was suicide,” attorney Steven Bertolino said in a statement Tuesday. “Chris and Roberta are still mourning the loss of their son and are hopeful that these findings bring closure to both families.”
The District Twelve Medical Examiner’s Office in Sarasota, Florida, later confirmed the statement. The office said its investigation included the examination of skeletal remains and consultations with forensic experts, including skeletal reconstruction and dental comparison for identification.
Petito, 22, was reported missing by her family on September 11 after her fiancée Laundrie returned from a cross-country trip at the beginning of September without her. Petito’s body was later found near Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming on September 19.
Last month, a coroner determined that Petito was strangled to death and that the manner of her death was a homicide. The coroner said he believed her body had been outdoors for three to four weeks.
Laundrie’s parents said their son on September 13 went for a hike and never returned home. He was reported missing days later on September 17. Laundrie’s skeletal remains were found on October 20 at the Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park in Sarasota County. The FBI identified the remains through a comparison of dental records on October 21.
Victoria Albert and Sophie Reardon contributed to this report.
Tori B. Powell
Tori B. Powell is a breaking news reporter at CBS News. Reach her at tori.powell@viacomcbs.com
The “probability is strong” that the human remains found in a Florida park on Wednesday belong to Brian Laundrie, a representative for the family said Wednesday night.
Laundrie family attorney Steven Bertolino made the shocking statement in an interview with CNN’s Chris Cuomo, but added “we are going to wait for the forensic results to come in to verify that.”
A backpack and a notebook belonging to Laundrie were also discovered in the park Wednesday on the same day Laundrie’s parents, Chris and Roberta, showed up to help search for their fugitive son.
Bertolino told Cuomo that the findings were made near a bridge that connects the Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park and adjoining Carlton Reserve.
“This is the very area of the park that we initially informed law enforcement on, I believe it was Sept. 17, that Brian would be most likely in the preserve in this particular area,” the lawyer said.
“It was quite near the entrance,” the lawyer said, “About 30 minutes in.”
The remains were discovered near a bridge connecting the Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park and Carlton Reserve, according to Bertolino.Getty ImagesA backpack belonging to Laundrie was found near the area where the remains were found.FoxNews
The parents filed a missing persons report on Sept. 17 after Brian apparently failed to return home after going for a hike in the park.
The FBI explained at a Wednesday press conference that the area where the remains and items were found had “up until recently been underwater.”
Brian, 23 has been the subject of a massive police and FBI manhunt since he went missing and was named a “person of interest” in the murder of his 22-year-old girlfriend Gabby Petito.
Roberta and Chris Laundrie at Carlton Reserve. FoxNews
The Laundries filed a missing persons report for Brian Laundrie on Sept. 17.Instagram
Petito’s remains were found on Sept. 19 in a Wyoming park and her death was later ruled a homicide by strangulation.
Laundrie’s parents left their North Port home about 7:15 a.m. Wednesday for the park.
Bertolino told Cuomo that he reached out to North Port police on Tuesday night to give them a heads up that the parents intended to help search the next morning.
Michael McPherson, chief of the Tampa FBI office, addresses the media during a briefing on Oct. 20, 2021, in North Port, Fla.APPolice search the reserve where human remains were found. WFTSBertolino added he’s waiting for forensic results to verify the remains.WXTL
The Laundries later discovered a white bag and another object after making their way through a thicket.
They could be seen putting the object into the bag and handing it over to an officer, Fox News reported.
The couple could be seen making and receiving phone calls before being joined by the officer, who patted Chris on the shoulder.
Bertolino said Wednesday night that Brian’s parents are “heartbroken” over Wednesday’s developments.
Brian Laundrie’s father emerged from his Florida home Saturday to remove a sign protestors left on his lawn next to a large photo of slain Long Island native Gabby Petito, pictures showed.
Chris Laundrie, 62, was seen ripping down a yellow sign reading “What if this happened to Cassie?,” a reference to his daughter and Brian’s sister.
Cassie Laundrie has said she does not know if her parents are involved in the disappearance of Brian, 23, who has been on the lam for more than a month.
“I would tell my brother to just come forward and get us out of this horrible mess,” she said on “Good Morning America” last week.
Chris said he would leave his North Port house and join the manhunt for his son 10 days earlier, although it’s unclear what his contribution to the search has been.
Protesters left the sign on the lawn of the Florida home.Kevin C. Downs
He declined to answer questions from a reporter Wednesday as he mowed the lawn around a makeshift memorial set up for the 22-year-old, who once lived with the family in the one-story, three-bedroom home.
Chris and his wife Roberta, Brian’s mom, have largely been holed up in the home, which has had a constant presence of protestors and reporters since Petito was reported missing on Sept. 11.
Brian vanished shortly after Petito was reported missing, two weeks after he returned to Florida alone in his girlfriend’s van following an aborted cross-country road trip.
Chris Laundrie has previously said he would help authorities in the manhunt to find his son.Kevin C. DownsCassie Laundrie said she does not know if her parents are involved in the disappearance of her brother.ABC
Petito’s body was found in Grand Teton National Park on Sept. 19. She had been strangled to death, the medical examiner determined this week.
Brian Laundrie hasn’t been accused of being involved in Petito’s death, but remains the sole person of interest and faces an arrest warrant for debit card fraud.
Dog the Bounty Hunter has some competition from a real canine in the search for Brian Laundrie – as a police K9 named Diesel has joined the massive manhunt.
The K9 unit at Pasco County Sheriff’s Office said Thursday that it is assisting North Port police, the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office and FBI in the search for Gabby Petito’s fugitive boyfriend in the 25,000-acre Carlton Reserve, Fox 13 reported.
Diesel, who is handled by a forensic investigator, is trained to detect human remains, officials told the news outlet.
“It’s important to note that the K9 trainer drives a vehicle that says ‘Arson Investigation’ on it, but they have not requested our arson K9 or investigators,” the sheriff’s office told Fox 13.
“This trainer simply helps train our HRD K9s,” the statement added, referring to High Risk Deployment.
The K9 unit will be assisting North Port police, the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office and FBI in the search for Brian Laundrie.Andrea Melendez/Naples Daily News via AP
Laundrie, 23, has not been named a suspect in Petito’s homicide, but is wanted on a federal warrant for unauthorized use of her bank card, which was used between Aug. 30 and Sept. 1.
Petito’s family traveled to Wyoming on Wednesday to reclaim the slain Long Island native’s remains.
The 22-year-old’s body has been in Wyoming since she was found at the Bridger-Teton National Forest on Sept. 19 after her ill-fated cross-country trip with Laundrie.
Brian Laundrie is wanted on a federal warrant for unauthorized use of Gabby Petito’s bank card.Instagram
Her remains were released this week following the completion of an autopsy, which determined she was manually strangled.
Campers are keen to help authorities search for Brian Laundrie — even though they fear for their own safety during a country-wide manhunt for him.
Authorities have been looking for Laundrie for weeks. He is considered a person of interest in the disappearance of his Long Island fiancee, Gabby Petito, who was found murdered at a campsite in Wyoming.
Hannah Lane, who is on a cross-country trip in a tour bus with her husband Cody, said she will do what she can to help police, who have been searching a nature reserve in Florida where they believe Laundrie could be hiding.
“We need to focus on his specific identifiers and markers. Not just him being a bald guy with a beard,” Hannah Lane told UK’s The Sun newspaper. “He has a folded ear that’s triangular and a tattoo on his finger.”
But Lane is scared, too.
Brian Laundrie is a person of interest after his fiancé Gabby Petito went missing last month. momandpaparazzi.com / SplashNews
“I have talked so much openly about Brian Laundrie and the things that he has done that now I’m paranoid that he’s going to come to my bus,” she told the outlet. “It is just so scary because you never know who you are near. You could be parked next to someone and the next thing you know you are on the news.”
Cody said she believed that Laundrie is somewhere on the Appalachian Trail where he has lived “off the grid” for months in the past.
“He’s hiding, he thinks he’s gotten away with it and his lawyer thinks the longer he’s out there, the more the media will die down but there are millions of us ready to be Gabby’s voice and won’t allow that to happen,” Lane told the newspaper.
Campers said they will help authorities search for Brian Laundrie.Instagram
NORTH PORT, Florida — FBI agents and police on Monday swarmed the family home of Brian Laundrie, searching the property and seizing a Mustang belonging to the missing man who is wanted for questioning in the death of Gabby Petito.
The court-authorized search warrant was executed at the North Port, Florida home where Laundrie lives with his parents.
Over the weekend, Petito’s body was apparently discovered at a Wyoming national park months after the couple set out in a van on a cross-country trek. Authorities said the remains discovered at Grand Teton National Park match Petito’s description but a full exam is still pending.
The FBI escorted Laundrie’s parents out of their home into a waiting van in their driveway at 10 a.m. Monday.
They were in the car for about 10 minutes before going back inside.
Investigators were inside the home with the family all day.
Around 2:30 p.m. they towed Laundrie’s silver Mustang from the driveway.
Laundrie and Petito had been living with his parents before making the trek on which she died.
Petito and Laundrie hit the road in July in a converted van to visit national parks in the West. They got into a fight along the way, and Laundrie was alone when he returned in the van to his parents’ home on Sept. 1, police said.
Laundrie has been named a person of interest in the case, but his whereabouts in recent days were unknown.
A cause of death for Petito remains undetermined.
“We continue to seek information from anyone who utilized the Spread Creek Dispersed Camping Area between the dates of August 27 and August 30. Anyone that may have had contact with Gabby, or her boyfriend or who may have seen their vehicle in that area, please share any new information with the FBI,” Jones said.
An attorney for the Petito family released a statement Sunday evening asking for privacy to grieve and also thanking the agencies that assisted in the search.
“Your tireless work and determination helped bring Gabby home to her parents,” the statement said. “The family and I will be forever grateful.”
Petito’s father Joseph, tweeted a heartbreaking message following the discovery, saying “she touched the world.”
The development came as a search for Brian Laundrie, Petito’s boyfriend, resumed in Florida.
Petito’s parents reported her missing on Sept. 11 after not speaking with her for two weeks.
Laundrie had been named by police as a “person of interest” in Petito’s disappearance. The 23-year-old Laundrie, who returned home more than two weeks ago without Petito and has refused to speak to police, has not been seen since Tuesday, according to law enforcement officials.
The Laundrie family attorney said in a statement Sunday evening, “The news about Gabby Petito is heartbreaking. The Laundrie family prays for Gabby and her family.”
Search resumes of ‘vast’ preserve for boyfriend of missing 22-year-old
A search for Laundrie resumed on Sunday in a 24,565-acre preserve in Florida.
North Port, Florida, police said a team of officers picked up the search for Laundrie in the Carlton Reserve north of Laundrie’s home in North Port. The search began on Saturday but was suspended overnight due to darkness. “A team of more than 50 looking for anything of note after his (Laundrie’s) parents say this is where he went,” North Port police said in a post on Twitter Sunday morning.
North Port police officers accompanied by FBI agents, drones, K-9 and bloodhounds are involved in the search for Laundrie, police said during a briefing Saturday afternoon. Authorities took clothing from the family home Friday to help canine units, North Port Police spokesperson Josh Taylor said.
Laundrie’s family told police on Friday that they last saw him on Tuesday with a backpack and he told them he was going to the massive preserve, which he would frequent for hikes, according to Taylor.
In response to the news that Laundrie’s whereabouts were unknown, a lawyer for the Petito family said in a statement: “All of Gabby’s family want the world to know that Brian is not missing, he is hiding. Gabby is missing.”
The search for Laundrie is the latest twist in the case that has grabbed national attention as the couple had been traveling across the country since June in Petito’s 2012 Ford Transit and documenting the trip on social media. Laundrie returned home in Petito’s van to North Port, on Sept. 1 without his girlfriend, according to police.
Taylor confirmed that investigators have spoken to Miranda Baker, a college student who posted a TikTok video over the weekend claiming she and her boyfriend picked up Laundrie around 5:30 p.m. on Aug. 29 as he was hitchhiking alone in the Colter Bay Village area of the Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. In the video, Baker said Laundrie offered her and her boyfriend $200 to drive him to Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
“He told us he’s been camping for multiple days without his fiancee. He did say he had a fiancee and that she was working on their social media page back at their van,” Baker said in the video.
She said that during the ride, Laundrie “freaked out” and demanded to be let out of the vehicle.
“He’s like, ‘Nope, I need to get out right now. You have to pull over,'” Baker said in the video and later in an interview with ABC’s “Good Morning America.”
Baker said she and her boyfriend let Laundrie out near the Jackson Lake Dam a little after 6 p.m. She said Laundrie had a backpack and was dressed in a long-sleeve shirt, pants, hiking boots and had a scruffy beard.
“For someone who was camping for multiple days, he didn’t look dirty. He didn’t smell dirty,” Baker said.
Asked about Baker’s purported encounter with Laundrie, Taylor told ABC News on Sunday, “We have spoken to her. Her timeline is plausible.”
The FBI specifically said it would like to talk to anyone who was at the Spread Creek Dispersed Camping Area from Aug. 27 to 30 and may have seen the couple or their van. The agency said it would not comment on the specifics of the information in its investigation.
Schmidt received two text messages from her daughter’s phone in the days after speaking to her, but it was unclear whether they were actually sent by Petito
“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,” the attorney representing the Laundrie family, Steven P. Bertolino, said in a statement last week. “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 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.”
NORTH PORT, Florida (WABC) — Police in Florida were continuing to search for Brian Laundrie on Monday after a body matching the description of Gabby Petito was found in Grand Teton on Sunday.
The tragic development came after the Teton County Coroner said authorities had responded to a body found at the Teton National Forest in Wyoming, the same general area where law enforcement had been searching for Gabby Petito.
FBI in Denver confirmed the discovery during a press conference Sunday night at the Craig Thomas Discovery and Visitor Center in Grand Teton National Park.
They say full forensic identification has not been completed and they do not know the cause of death yet. An autopsy was set for Tuesday.
“Full forensic identification has not been completed to confirm 100% that we found Gabby, but her family has been notified,” FBI Supervisory Special Agent Charles Jones said. “This is an incredibly difficult time for Petito’s family and friends.”
An undeveloped camping area on the east side of Grand Teton bordering national forest land will remain closed until further notice while the investigation continues, Jones said.
Petito’s father Joseph, tweeted a heartbreaking message following the discovery, saying “she touched the world.”
The Laundrie family attorney released a statement on Sunday night saying “The news about Gabby Petito is heartbreaking. The Laundrie family prays for Gabby and her family.”
The development in the Petito case comes as police in North Port concluded their search Sunday night for Brian Launderie, who remains missing.
North Port Police tweeted their condolences, saying they are “heartbroken to learn that Gabby has been found deceased.”
Saddened and heartbroken to learn that Gabby has been found deceased. Our focus from the start, along with the FBI, and national partners, has been to bring her home. We will continue to work with the FBI in the search for more answers.
— North Port Police (@NorthPortPolice) September 19, 2021
Just before the announcement by FBI, the North Port PD said they had nothing to report after another day searching a vast wildlife reserve for 23-year-old Brian Laundrie, a person of interest in the disappearance of his girlfriend, Petito.
Local and federal law enforcement combed through a massive county park known as the Carlton Reserve, which spans more than 24,000 acres and is located just north of the home in which Laundrie and Petito shared with his parents.
Police readied ATV’s to be able to comb through as much of the reserve as possible, and blocked off all entrances to the public.
Steven Bertolino, the Laundrie family attorney told ABC News on Sunday that the family picked up the car, Brian Laundrie was using, on Thursday morning from the reserve after going out on Wednesday to look for their son.
Laundrie left the family home on Tuesday morning with a backpack. Bertolino said that the family went out to the reserve on Wednesday to look for him and spotted a note from the North Port Police Department on the car saying it needed to be removed.
The family left the car overnight “so he could drive back,” the attorney said. When Laundrie didn’t come home Thursday morning, the family went back to retrieve the car.
The family then called police on Friday to file a missing person report, authorities said on Saturday.
Before the discovery of a body, FBI in Denver said they were conducting ground surveys at Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming, with help from the National Park Service and local law enforcement agencies, seeking clues to Petito’s disappearance.
They also tweeted a map, asking anyone who was around the Spread Creek Dispersed camping area near Grand Teton National Park between August 27 and August 30 to call the FBI.
If you were in the area of Spread Creek Dispersed Camping Area, as identified in the attached map, during the timeframe of August 27-30, 2021, and saw Gabby and/or her boyfriend or their vehicle, please provide that information to the FBI. pic.twitter.com/AN6KkxEeLl
— FBI Denver (@FBIDenver) September 19, 2021
Her last known contact with family members was from the national park known for its mountainous terrain.
The #FBIDenver Field Office and its Wyoming Resident Agencies, in coordination with the National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service, Teton County Sheriff’s Office & Jackson Police Department, have been conducting ground surveys at the Spread Creek Dispersed Camping Area. pic.twitter.com/95HjWcEuDU
— FBI Denver (@FBIDenver) September 19, 2021
Tips on the case began to pour in on social media like from Miranda Baker, who said in a Tik Tok video she and her boyfriend picked up Laundrie who was hitchhiking around Teton Park on August 29.
Former FBI agent, Brad Garrett, on the search for Gabby Petito, Brian Laundrie:
About 45 seconds into to the Tik Tok video, Baker says “He offered to pay us like 200 dollars to give him a ride like 10 miles so that was kind of weird … without his fiancé.”
WATCH | Chopper hovers over police search for Brian Laundrie at Carlton Reserve
Petito’s family claims Laundrie is not missing but is in hiding.
The Petitos released the following statement through their attorney overnight Saturday:
All of Gabby’s family want the world to know that Brian is not missing, he is hiding. Gabby is missing.
More than 50 police officers were accompanied by FBI agents, drones, K-9, and bloodhounds to search for Brian Laundrie, law enforcement said on Saturday.
Police shared new photos from the search for Laundrie around the Carlton Reserve area.
North Port, Florida police spokesperson Josh Taylor said at a news conference that a tip from the family drove law enforcement to the Carlton Reserve.
His family told police on Friday that they last saw the 23-year-old leaving on Tuesday with a backpack and told them he was going to the reserve.
Laundrie’s family told police about where he went after becoming “concerned about his whereabouts” and wanted to file a missing person’s report, according to Taylor.
He said that Laundrie’s vehicle was at the reserve and was found again at the family home but when pressed as to who or how the car would have gotten back without a sign of Laundrie, the spokesperson said “we are going by their family’s word.”
Laundrie’s family claims they have not seen Brian since Tuesday.
Investigators removed items from the Laundries’ house to assist in the search for him, according to his attorney Steven Bertolino.
RELATED | Gabby Petito disappearance timeline: What we know so far
Police said on Twitter that it was the first time the Laundrie family had spoken with them in detail about the case.
They reiterated that Brian is a person of interest in Gabby’s disappearance, but that they are “not currently working a crime investigation.”
Speaking to Good Morning America Saturday, North Port Police Public Information Officer Josh Taylor said police were “trying to corroborate everything they’ve been telling us.”
Taylor said detectives spoke with Chris and Roberta Laundrie in-person with their lawyer present over the phone.
“I wouldn’t say that it was, you know, a full conversation. Right now their focus was on us helping them find their son,” Taylor said.
Taylor said investigators were still working to piece together Brian’s trip from western states to their home in Florida.
“Certainly that truck did not drive from, you know, potentially, you know, the mountain west to here on one tank of gas so we know there were stops along the way. If people saw anything as far as those movements, we’re piecing that together, some parts of the time line we’ve solidified. We know her mother talked to her, saw her on facetime on the 25th of August,” Taylor said.
Watch the full GMA interview with Josh Taylor:
“We are happy they called the police in and they want to cooperate, but until…I’m not going to speculate, I don’t know what to believe,” said Petito’s stepfather, Jim Schmidt.
A spokesperson for the department appeared on CNN later Friday night and said the department does have more details but they cannot be released just yet.
“I think that will come out here, very shortly, we just want to get our, our ducks in a row a little bit,” the spokesperson said. “This has been a very quickly developing situation here in just the last hour really for the most part. So we’re working through that. We want to make sure that we are accurate in everything that we’re saying.”
Petito, a 22-year-old woman originally from Long Island, disappeared on a cross-country road trip with Laundrie.
The Florida couple were traveling to Oregon when Petito stopped communicating with her family somewhere in Wyoming in late August.
Laundrie, who has been named a person of interest by police in North Port, Florida — returned to their Gulf Coast home in Petito’s 2012 white Ford Transit van on September 1, 10 days before Petito was reported missing by her family in Blue Point.
Police in North Port held a news conference last Thursday during which Petito’s father begged for her safe return and for Laundrie to speak up and stop hindering the investigation.
“What I need from everybody is help,” Joseph Petito said. “That goal is to bring Gabby home safely. I’m asking for help from everyone here. I’m asking for help from everyone at home. I’m asking for help from the parents of Brian, and I’m asking for help from the family members and friends of the Laundrie family as well.”
MORE: Police body cam video shows Gabby Petito, boyfriend after 911 call
Petito’s mother, Nichole Schmidt, said the last video chat she had with her daughter was August 24 or 25, though they exchanged text messages for a few days following.
She has since said she is unsure if it was her daughter actually sending those texts.
The engaged couple had been documenting their trip on YouTube, and they were set to arrive in Portland in October.
Detectives are asking anyone with information on the case to contact Suffolk County police at 1-800-220-TIPS, the North Port Police Department at 941-429-7382, or the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI or 303-629-7171. Information can also be submitted online.
ALSO READ: ABC Exclusive: Full interview with Brian Laundrie’s sister on Gabby Petito
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