Police in North Port reported late Friday that Laundrie’s parents had told them they hadn’t seen him since Tuesday. The family requested that police speak with them.
Gabrielle Petito, Laundrie’s 22-year old girlfriend, set off in July on a trip that took them to West national parks. Her family reported her missing on September 11th and she is currently the subject of a nationwide FBI search.
Investigators claim that Laundrie drove in the van back to North Port, Florida on September 1. They have identified him as a person in interest in the case.
Police said that the investigation now involves a case of multiple missing persons and they are not looking into a crime.
Steven Bertolino (an attorney for Brian Laundrie) did not respond to a request from the Associated Press for comment on Friday night.
Petito’s family had pleaded with the Laundrie family earlier in the week to tell them where their son was last seen. Petito and Laundrie met as childhood sweethearts while growing up in Long Island. His parents moved to North Port (about 35 miles (55 km) south of Sarasota.
The Moab Police Department released video of the officer pulling the van over after the vehicle was speeding up and hitting a curb close to Arches National Park. The bodycam video shows Petito sitting in a police cruiser as officers questioned Laundrie.
Laundrie claims that the couple had a minor fight on video. He said that Petito was the aggressor and he didn’t want to face a domestic violence case against him.
He said to the officers that he didn’t intend to press charges against her because he loved her. It was just a squabble. “Sorry it had to go public,” Laundrie explains on the video.
Moab police ultimately decided not to file any charges against the couple and instead separated them for the night. Laundrie checked into a motel while Petito stayed with the converted sleeper van.
After North Port chief Garrison publicly lamented Brian Laundrie’s inability to help him on Wednesday, Garrison called for Laundrie’s lawyer to have an official conversation. The police chief tweeted earlier that “Two people went on a trip, and one person returned!”
Their journey in the Fort Transit van started in July, from Long Island, New York. According to their social media accounts Petito and her husband intended to reach Oregon by Halloween, but she disappeared in late August after last contact with family. She was reported missing from Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming.
Police said that Laundrie drove the Ford Transit van from Florida to Florida on September 1 by herself. Petito’s family filed an absence report with the police in Suffolk County, New York last Saturday.
Petito’s parents sent a letter to Laundrie’s family through their attorney Thursday asking them to help locate Petito despite their instincts to protect their son.
Bertolino, Laundrie’s attorney, stated that the Laundrie family hopes for Petito’s safe return but that he had requested them not to talk with investigators.
Garrison stated that they are still trying to find geographic areas. “There is a lot of information that we are looking at. We are focusing on Gabby.”
A sheriff in Utah stated Friday that detectives had determined no connection between Petito’s disappearance and the slayings of two women at a Moab campsite, Utah, where Petito and Laundrie had their fight, in which police intervened.
Six days after Petito and Laundrie were stopped for speeding, the bodies of both women were discovered by their respective owners on Aug. 18. Crystal Turner, 38, and Kylen Schulte (24), told their friends that they were afraid of a creepy man they saw nearby.
Steven White, Utah’s Grand County Sheriff, stated that the cases were not related.
