FBI Seizes Car and Boxes of Evidence During Search of Brian Laundrie’s Home

FBI agents searched Brian Laundrie’s Florida home on Monday as part of the ongoing investigation into his fiancée Gabby Petito’s death and Laundrie’s disappearance.

According to ABC7, authorities taped off the perimeter of the home and escorted Laundrie’s parents outside before they allowed them to re-enter about 10 minutes later. About four and a half hours later, authorities left the premises with multiple boxes of evidence and towed away Laundrie’s silver mustang, which had been sitting in the driveway. Laundrie’s mother was seen getting into a police vehicle as officers left the scene.

Laundrie was declared “person of interest” after Petito’s parents reported her missing to police on Sept. 11. The couple embarked on a four-month road trip in July, driving to national parks across the country in a white van. They were documenting their travels on social media until late August, when Petito dropped off communication. Her last reported dispatch came on Aug. 30 when she texted her mother that there was no cell service in Yellowstone National Park. Not long after, Laundrie returned to his Florida home without Petito.

Following a roughly week-long search, the FBI announced on Sunday that authorities had discovered human remains “consistent” with descriptions of Petito in Wyoming’s Bridger-Teton National Forest.

Laundrie so far has not cooperated with law enforcement’s investigation, and his parents said they haven’t seen him for days. Police conducted a search of a 24,000-acre Florida nature preserve over the weekend after Laundrie’s parents told police he might have gone there, but they were unable to locate him. Steven P. Bertolino, a lawyer for the family, told the press that his client wasn’t talking to investigators because “intimate partners are often the first person law enforcement focuses their attention on in cases like this.”

Bertolino reportedly plans to hold a news conference on Tuesday as Petito’s family focuses media attention on Laundrie and his parents.

“We called Brian, we called the mom, we called the dad, we called the sister, we called every number that we could find,” Petito’s father said in an interview that aired Monday. (The interview was recorded before Petito’s body was found.) “No phone calls were picked up, no text messages were returned.

“I hope they get what’s coming, and that includes his folks,” he continued. “Because I’ll tell you, right now, they are just as complicit, in my book.”