Gaby Petito news – latest: Family shares holiday tribute, saying ‘Live with love, laughter and gratitude’

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Brian Laundrie shot himself in head, family attorney confirms

The family of Gabby Petito have shared a number of Thanksgiving messages that pay tribute to the 22-year-old, more than two months after her remains were found in rural Wyoming by FBI investigators.

Her father, Joseph Petito, posted a moving Thanksgiving Day message to his daughter in which he said he missed his daughter, who “should be with us but now all we have are the pictures.”

Nichole Schmidt, her mother, also wrote: “Gabby will forever remind me to be grateful for every moment, every breath, and every memory. I will cherish what I’ve had, and have in the present, always. Live with love, laughter and gratitude”.

Both parents, as well as Ms Petito’s mother and stepfather, are founders of the non-profit Gabby Petito Foundation to help raise awareness and reunite families with their missing loved ones.

The touching Thanksgiving messages follow reports on Thursday that the whereabouts of the gun used in Brian Laundrie’s death remains unknown, days after a lawyer for the family revealed the results of an autopsy on the 23-year-old’s remains.

Mr Laundrie, who was the focus of a manhunt for more than a month as investigators searched for clues in the death of Ms Petito during their cross-country van trip together, was found to have shot himself in the head.

Key Points

• Brian Laundrie shot himself in the head, family attorney says
• Gabby Petito family waiting to see if others will be charged as Brian Laundrie lawyer reveals cause of death
• Brian Laundrie: Parents say they hope cause of death verdict ‘brings closure to both families’
• Florida police who lost Brian Laundrie charged 100k in overtime on the case

[25 November 2021 16:12 · Gino Spocchia]

What have North Port police said?

Todd Garrison, the chief of North Port Police Department, said after the second autopsy on Brian Laundrie:

“We are thankful that another step in finalizing this case has been taken. While this entire situation evokes nothing but sadness, we’re hopeful that all the work which went into the chaotic search for answers will help heal those impacted.”

[25 November 2021 16:37 · Gino Spocchia]

The family of Gabby Petito has said it is waiting to see if other individuals are charged over their daughter’s murder, after it was reported the suspect in her death had shot himself in the head.

As Andrew Buncombe writes, the family said it had been “made aware” of the results of the autopsy on Mr Laundrie, and said it could not comment further.

“The family was asked to not comment and let the FBI continue their investigation and allow the US Attorney’s Office make a determination on whether any additional individuals will be charged”.

It remains unclear who or what the additional charges could be, with Mr Laundrie having been identified as a person of interest inn the dissapearance of his fiancé, before going missing himself days later, in September.

[25 November 2021 17:02 · Gino Spocchia]

Steven Bertolino, the Laundrie family attorney, has defended Brian Laundrie’s parents after admitting that there was a missing gun from the home after he went missing in September.

“We didn’t want the public going into a frenzy on that,” Mr Bertolino told Fox News. “I don’t think they considered him dangerous to anybody he met on the street”.

He earlier said the Laundrie family had handed all of their firearms to police after their son went missing on 13 September, although it remains unclear when exactly this was.

And while the North Port Police Department have admitted to thinking Mr Laundrie was at home as late as 17 September, Mr Bertolino has said he told the FBI of the 23-year-old going missing as early as 13 September.

The reports come after an autopsy ruled that Mr Laundrie died via a gunshot wound to the head.

[25 November 2021 17:32 · Gino Spocchia]

Dismay at reports FBI knew gun was missing

The news that the FBI knew Brian Laundrie was likely armed while on the run from police has drawn anger, with people who followed the story closely voicing dismay that the bureau did not tell them that Mr Laundrie might be carrying a weapon.

As Andrew Naughtie writes, the chronology of events leading up to his fiancé, Gabby Petito’s, death remains unclear, and no further information has emerged since September.

As does the circumstances surrounding Mr Laundrie’s death remain unsolved, with an autopsy ruling his death via gunshot wound to the head.

Speaking to DailyMail.com, the Laundrie family attorney Steve Bertolino said that while the family noticed one of their guns was missing at the time that Mr Laundrie vanished, they and the FBI “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.”

[25 November 2021 18:02 · Gino Spocchia]

Case may never be solved, forensic expert says

Peter Massey, who heads the the Forensic Studies and Justice Program at the University of South Florida, has told WESH 2 News that the Petito and Laundrie cases may never be solved.

“Two people know what happened, both of them are now unfortunately deceased, therefore we are never going to come up with an answer,” said Mr Masey.

“Unless there is truly something maybe in that notebook or a recording or something that Brian Laundrie wrote or said to somebody,” he added.

[25 November 2021 18:32 · Gino Spocchia]

A former FBI agent has said that it would have been clear to anthropologists that Brian Laundrie died by a gunshot wound to the head, after the cause of death was revealed by his family’s lawyer on Tuesday.

“Examination of the skull, the cranium in particular, would have revealed a fracture of the bone,” said Lawrence Kobilinsky to News Nation Now.

“And people that know a lot about gunshot[s] understand that the type of fracture that you see in the cranium would clearly come from gunshot”.

It follows an earlier autopsy that could not find a concrete cause of death for the 23-year-old, whose body was found in a Florida nature reserve after a months long search.

[25 November 2021 19:02 · Gino Spocchia]

Reminder: What happened to Gabby Petito?

Gabby Petito, from Blue Point, Long Island, was last seen on 24 August when she checked out of a hotel in Salt Lake City, Utah, with her fiancé Brian Laundrie.

As The Independent reports, the couple were documenting their travel experiences and she would regularly FaceTime her mother from the road.

Mr Laundrie returned home to North Port, Florida, on 1 September without the 22-year-old, whose family reported her missing on 11 September.

She was found in rural Wyoming on 19 September, and a medical examiner ruled her death to be via strangulation.

Her fiancé had been ruled a person of interest by North Port Police, who apparently failed to track him as he left home on 13 September, on the 15 September.

His body was found on 20 October, and an autopsy on Tuesday ruled his death to be a gunshot wound to the head.

[25 November 2021 20:02 · Gino Spocchia]

Laundrie search cost North Port police $100,000 in overtime

The months-long investigation by North Port police into the disappearances and deaths of Gabby Petito and Brian Laundrie allegedly cost more than $100,000 (£74,000) in overtime pay.

A spokesperson for the North Port Police Department said on Monday that although it did not track how much it was spending on its investigations, the cost of paying overtime was over $100,000 (£74,000).

As Gino Spocchia writes, a spokesperson for North Port police told reporters for ABC7 and the North Port Sun that the $119,358 (£89,000) reflected more than 2,000 hours in overtime by North Port Police Department investigators.

That was about 30 times more than in September 2020, when 105 hours in overtime cost the force $3,800 (£2,800).

The department has faced criticism for failing to track Brian Laundrie during the week he went missing, believing he was at home when he had actually left for the Florida nature reserve where his body was found four weeks later.

That was despite the FBI allegedly being informed of him going missing on 13 September, and the 23-year-old being a person of interest in the disappearance of his fiancé, 22-year-old Gabby Petito.

[25 November 2021 20:32 · Gino Spocchia]

Reminder: Who are Brian Laundrie’s parents?

The Laundrie family home was besieged by protesters with loudhailers, by media, and makeshift memorials to Gabby Petito during the search for the 23-year-old last month.

Following the discovery of human remains that were later confirmed to be Brian, the family lawyer Steven Bertolino said the Laundries were being “tortured” in their own home.

But who are the parents? As Bevan Hurley writes....

[25 November 2021 21:02 · Gino Spocchia]

Another forensics experts speculates on gun evidence

Another forensics expert has suggested that investigators do in fact know of the whereabouts of the missing Laundrie family gun, although the FBI has not confirmed this.

Jennifer Shen, a forensics expert and former director of the San Diego Police Crime Lab, told The Sun that the announcement of the autopsy on Brian Laundrie meant that it was possible there was additional proof to any fracture of his skull.

“Because the cause of death released was suicide by gunshot wound to the head, it leaves one to believe there is additional evidence proving this,” Ms Shen reportedly said.

“Whether this is a weapon, traced to him, entries in his notebook, or information gleaned from his phone or laptop that would indicate his state of mind, information other than the damage to the skull would be required to conclude this was a suicide.

“It is likely if a weapon could be recovered, it already has been.”

The FBI have not commented on the matter, despite the Laundrie family attorney telling reporters that they handed all but one weapon to police when Mr Laundrie went missing in September, because it was also missing.

Steven Bertolino said that was to avoid a public “frenzy” about the 23-year-old and person of interest in his fiancé’s dissapearance going missing in Florida.