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 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.
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.
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.