While Gabby Petito‘s family mourned her death in New York, FBI agents continued their investigation into her fiance, Brian Laundrie Sunday. Two agents visited the North Port, Florida home Laundrie shares with his parents to pick up personal items to help with “DNA matching,” his parents’ attorney said. Laundrie’s parents have not seen him since Sept. 14.
“The FBI requested some personal items belonging to Brian Laundrie to assist them with DNA matching and Brian’s parents provided the FBI with what they could,” Laundrie’s parents‘ attorney, Steven Bertolino, told Fox News Sunday. The agents were seen walking into the Laundries’ home with a clipboard. They left with a paper bag at around 11 a.m. FBI agents previously took several boxes and suitcases from the Laundrie home last week.
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Petito and Laundrie began a cross-country trip in a white 2012 Ford Transit Connect van in New York in early July. They planned to chronicle their trip on YouTube and Instagram as they made their way to the West Coast. However, Petito went missing in late August and Laundrie arrived back at his parents’ home on Sept. 1 without Petito. On Sept. 19, authorities found human remains in Bridger-Teton National Forest in Wyoming, and the remains were identified as Petito’s three days later. The autopsy’s preliminary determination on the cause of death was a homicide.
Meanwhile, Laundrie, 23, has not been seen by his parents since Sept. 14 and was reported missing on Sept. 17. He is considered a person of interest in Petito’s death. On Sept. 23, the FBI office in Denver announced that the U.S. District Court of Wyoming issued a federal arrest warrant for Laundrie, as he was indicted on debit card fraud. He allegedly used a card to obtain $1,000 between Aug. 30 and Sept. 1. Authorities spent last week searching Carlton Reserve, a swampy preserve 15 miles from the Laundries’ home.
“We’re looking through wooded areas, we’re looking through bodies of water, we’re looking through swampy areas,” North Port Police Commander Joe Fussell said in a video on Friday, reports CNN. “And we’re deploying the resources to be able to do that. We have air units, we have drones, we have the swamp buggies, airboats, multiple law enforcement agencies, we have ATVs, we have UTVs and we have officers on foot as well.” A North Port Police spokesperson said that, unless “something of note” is discovered, they would not share frequent updates on the search this weekend.
In Holbrook, New York Sunday, Petito’s friends and family gathered to remember the 22-year-old. Her father called her a “happy girl” who went out of her way to make others feel welcome and loved being outdoors. “I want you to be inspired by Gabby, that’s what we’re looking for,” he said, reports CNN. “If there’s a trip that you guys want to take, take it now. Do it now while you’ve got the time. If there’s a relationship that you’re in that might not be the best thing for you, leave it now.” Petito’s stepfather, Jim Schmidt, said she was an “example for all of us to life by… to enjoy every moment in this beautiful world, as she did – to love and give love to all like she did.”
