Brian Laundrie, 23, died of single gunshot wound to the head, his lawyer says: Prime suspect in girlfriend Gabby Petito’s murder killed himself in Florida swamp – but what happened to the gun?
- Laundrie family lawyer Steve Bertolino announced the autopsy results Tuesday
- It’s unclear when he killed himself; he was last seen September 13 and his body wasn’t found until October 20
- Gabby Petito’s body was found in Wyoming on September 19; she had been dead several weeks
- The pair argued on their trip beforehand and were ordered apart for the night
- Laundrie’s remains were found in a Florida reserve on October 20
- He returned home to Florida on Sept 1 after killing Gabby then went into the Florida reserve where he killed himself without ever talking to her family
Brian Laundrie, the fiance of murdered hiker Gabby Petito, died of a single gunshot wound to the head, his lawyer has said.
The 23-year-old went missing in September after returning alone from a trip with Petitio, whose body was found in the Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming.
His remains were discovered in the Florida reserve near his parents house on October 20.
An initial autopsy was inconclusive but the Laundrie family lawyer, Steve Bertolino, said on Tuesday he had been told by the forensic anthropologist who took over that he died by a single gunshot wound to the head.
‘Chris and Roberta Laundrie have been informed that the cause of death was a gunshot wound to the head and the manner of death was suicide.
‘Chris and Roberta are still mourning the loss of their son and are hopeful that these findings bring closure to both families,’ he said.
Bertolino later told DailyMail.com that one of the family’s guns was missing when Laundrie vanished, but that they kept it secret because they didn’t want the public to panic. It remains unclear where the gun is now.
Brian Laundrie, the fiance of murdered hiker Gabby Petito, died of a single gunshot wound to the head, his autopsy has revealed. He is shown in police bodycam footage in August, during his trip with Petito
Laundrie with his fiancee, Gabby Petito, whose body was found in Wyoming on September 19
‘We didn’t want the public going into a frenzy on that. I don’t think they considered him dangerous to anybody he met on the street,’ he said.
Laundrie returned home to his parents house in Florida on September 1.
Gabby was not with him and he had no contact with her family, who were becoming increasingly worried that she hadn’t been seen or heard from.
On September 11, Gabby’s family reported her missing and two days later, Brian vanished from his parents home.
He told them he was going camping in the park.
On September 19, Gabby’s strangled body was found in Wyoming. Police say she had been dead for three or four weeks.
Police started searching the park for Brian in the hopes of finding him alive to question him over Gabby’s death.
Laundrie’s remains were found in a Florida swamp on October 20 two months after he is believed to have killed Gabby
Chris and Roberta Laundrie are shown arriving home in October after their son’s remains were found. They were widely criticized for not turning their son into police after Gabby was reported missing
The young couple had been on a cross-country van trip but it turned sour and in August, just a few weeks before she died, they were ordered apart for the night by police.
Witnesses had see them arguing in their van and were worried.
The police however ruled that Gabby was the aggressor.
Chris and Roberta Laundrie, Brian’s parents, have been widely condemned for not talking with Gabby’s family or turning their son into police when he returned home from his trip, especially after Gabby was reported missing.
He left their home on September 13, two days after Gabby’s worried family in Long Island, New York, reported her disappearance.
TIMELINE OF GABBY PETITO DISAPPEARANCE AND DEATH
July 1: Gabby Petito and her boyfriend, Brian Laundrie left Blue Point, New York for a cross-country road trip
August 12: Police in Moab, Utah respond to a domestic incident involving the couple
Aug. 17: Laundrie allegedly flies back to Florida to ‘clear out a storage unit’
Aug. 21: Petito’s father, Joseph Petito, has his last FaceTime video call with his daughter who was in Salt Lake City, Utah
Aug. 23: Laundrie flies back to Utah to ‘rejoin Gabby’ on their trip
Aug. 24: Petito is last seen at a hotel in Salt Lake City with Laundrie
Aug. 25: Petito makes final call to her mother, Nichole Schmidt, saying she was in Grand Teton National Park
Aug. 25 or 26: The couple chats with the owner of a shop called ‘Rustic Row’ in Victor, Utah for about 20 minutes
Aug. 27: Video of Petito’s van was taken by blogger Jenn Bethune around 6.30 pm at the Spread Creek Campground; Witnesses say they saw a ‘commotion’ with the couple at Merry Piglets Tex-mex restaurant in Jackson, Wyoming
Aug. 29: The day that Wisconsin TikToker Miranda Baker claimed that she and her boyfriend were approached by Laundrie at Grand Teton National Park and asked them for a ride at 5.30pm
Aug. 30: Schmidt receives the last text from Petito’s phone: ‘No service in Yosemite’
Sept. 1: Laundrie returns to his parents’ home in North Port, Florida in a van without Petito
Sept. 6-7: Laundrie and his parents visit Fort De Soto campsite in Florida
Sept. 11: Schmidt reports Petito missing to authorities in New York; Petito and Laundrie’s van was impounded by police in Florida that same day
Sept. 12: Grand Teton National Park rangers search for Petito
Sept. 13: Laundrie’s lawyer says on October 5 that his parents now ‘believe’ this was the day they last saw him heading for a hike
Sept. 14: Laundrie issues a statement about Petito’s disappearance through his lawyer; Laundrie’s parents claim on September 17 that Laundrie left his parents’ home for a hike this day and they hadn’t seen from him since
Sept. 15: Laundrie is officially named a person of interest in Petito’s case
Sept. 17: Laundrie family attorney confirms his whereabouts are unknown
Sept. 18: North Port police and the FBI start searching the Carlton Reserve in Sarasota County for missing Brian Laundrie
Sept. 19: Bethune realizes she has video of Petito’s van around 12am and submits the FBI with the footage 10 minutes later; Officials announce a body was found near Grand Teton National Park that matched Petito’s description in the afternoon
Sept. 21: Coroner confirms remains found in Grand Tetons belong to Petito. Her death is ruled a homicide but her cause of death is still under invesetigation
Sept. 20 – 22: FBI and North Port police continue search for Laundrie in Carton Reserve
Sept. 22: Neighbors say they saw the Laudrie family pack up their detached camper on the day Gabby was reported missing. DailyMail.com photos show the camper was back in the driveway two days later, on September 13
Sept. 23: FBI issues an arrest warrant for Laundrie for ‘use of unauthorized access device’ for fraudulently using a Capitol One Bank debit card that was not his between August 30 and September 1 to spend $1,000; A probe is launched into the police handling of the Utah police incident on Aug. 12; Laundrie’s parents visit their attorney in Orlando
Sept. 25: Dog the Bounty Hunter joins the search for Laundrie
Sept. 26: A funeral is held for Petito in Holbrook, New York, and her family launch a charity to help parents find missing children
Sept. 27: Manhunt for Laundrie in the Carlton Reserve is scaled back after 10 day search doesn’t find him. Dog the Bounty Hunter says Laundrie and his parents stayed at Fort De Soto Park from September 1-3 and September 6-8 – and that on the latter visit only the parents left
Sept. 28: Laundrie’s mom is accused of using a burner phone to contact her son Sept. 29: Documents reveal Laundrie’s mom canceled a reservation for the Fort De Soto Park campsite for two from September 1 to 3 and booked for three from September 6 to 8; FBI seizes surveillance footage from site; FBI investigates lead Laundrie bought a burner phone on September 14;
Sept. 30: Bodycam footage from a second officer at the August 12 incident is released showing a distressed Petito admitting Laundrie hit her; FBI agents collect more evidence from the Laundrie home
Oct. 1: It emerges Laundrie’s sister had contact with him after she said she did
Oct. 2: A hiker along the Appalachian Trail claims to have seen Laundrie near the border of Tennessee and North Carolina
Oct. 3: Investigators searched the area on the Appalachian trail for any signs that Laundrie had been there
Oct. 4: Laundrie’s sister told protestors outside her home that her family has been ignoring her after they rebuked her story and that she does not know where her brother is
Oct 5: Laundrie’s sister appeared on Good Morning America to say she would turn her brother in if she knew where he is;
Oct. 7: Laundrie’s father Christopher joins FBI agents on the search for his son at the Carlton Reserve but the search brings up no clues
Oct. 12: Teton County Coroner Dr. Brent Blue announces autopsy findings which show Petito died by strangulation; No specific date of death was given – only that she was dead 3-4 weeks before her body was found
Oct. 16: Petito’s parents are seen collecting her ashes from the Valley Mortuary in Jackson, Wyoming
October 20: Human remains found in Carlton Reserve
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