A new autopsy report on Brian Laundrie‘s death confirmed he died from a gunshot wound to the head and shed light on his final days hiding in the Florida wilderness. The 47-page report released Wednesday also confirmed several gruesome details about his final days and what happened to his remains while police searched for him. Laundrie was the fiancé of Gabby Petito, whose disappearance dominated headlines for weeks last summer before she was found dead at Bridger-Teton National Forest in Wyoming on Sept. 19.
After weeks of searching, authorities found Laundrie’s skeletal remains in late October in Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park in Sarasota County, Florida. Authorities used dental records to confirm that the remains belonged to Laundrie, 23. The initial autopsy was inconclusive, so the case was handed over to a forensic anthropologist. In November, it was reported that Laundie died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, but this was not confirmed until the new report, according to PEOPLE.
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The report includes the results of several scientific tests of the remains, but it does show what authorities found. A few pages within the report shed new light on exactly what was recovered in Myakkahatchee and the physical state he was in at the time of his death. One investigator at the scene where Laundrie was discovered reported that his “skeletal remains and personal effects were in plain sight and scattered upon the dirt,” according to the report, some with animal gnaw marks.
Alongside the human bones recovered were “a pair of green shorts with a green belt, two slip-on shoes, a backpack with unknown contents, a white metal ring, and an unknown type of handgun” further described as a snub-nose revolver. A secondary scene nearby reportedly contained nonhuman remains, a hat with the logo “MOAB Coffee Roasters,” and a “handwritten half note” – though the report does not specify what was written on the note. Also located in the park was a dry bag that he packed, which contained a journal and a wooden box. Inside the wooden box were photographs and a small notebook, the report says. A toxicology report included in the autopsy report shows Laundrie did not have any substances in his system at the time of his death.
The report also included interviews with Laundrie’s parents. They told an investigator that their son was healthy and did not have a history of medial issues or took any prescribed medications. His parents refused to talk about his social behavior though.
Back in January, the FBI said Laundrie admitted to killing Petito, 22, in the notebook found near his body. The FBI did not say specifically what Laundrie wrote. They also said Laundrie tried to fool investigators into thinking Petito was still alive after she was dead through text messages sent between their phones. “All logical investigative steps have been concluded in this case,” FBI Denver Division Special Agent in Charge Michael Schneider said in a statement at the time. “The investigation did not identify any other individuals other than Brian Laundrie directly involved in the tragic death of Gabby Petito.”
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