FBI, Florida police on hunt for Gabby Petito’s fiancé after family says he is ‘missing’
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On Saturday, police searched a vast wildlife reserve near the Gulf coast for Laundrie, who they said was a person of interest in the case but was not wanted for any crime
Florida police and the FBI are searching for the fiancé of the missing woman, Gabby Petito, after his family told the officials that they had not seen him in three days, further deepening the mystery surrounding the 22-year-old woman.
Petito and her boyfriend Brian Laundrie had been on a “van life” trip across the south-western US, living in their vehicle.
The case has been drawing attention across the US, partly due to Petito’s large following on Instagram. Her last post was dated August 25.
Petito’s family reported her missing on September 11, 10 days after Laundrie returned to Florida without her.
“The attorney for the Laundrie family called FBI investigators Friday night indicating the family would like to talk about the disappearance of their son. The family now claims that they have not seen Brian since Tuesday of this week,” Josh Taylor of the North Port Police Department said in a statement.
On Saturday, police searched a vast wildlife reserve near the Gulf coast for Laundrie, who they said was a person of interest in the case but was not wanted for any crime.
Dozens of North Port police officers, FBI agents and members of other law enforcement agencies searched the 24,000-acre Carlton reserve in the Sarasota area.
“His family says they believe he entered the area earlier this week,” North Port police tweeted.
Police said Laundrie’s family told officers they had not seen him since Tuesday, but had not told authorities he was missing for three days.
The conversation on Friday evening, police said, was the first time they had spoken to Laundrie’s family in detail, and came at the family’s request.
An attorney for the family called FBI investigators and said they wanted to talk, police said.
In a separate statement, police said the investigation was now a “multiple missing persons” case, they said.
(With inputs from agencies)