Sheriff Gives Update on Brian Laundrie Death, Reveals How He ‘Probably’ Died

The Brian Laundrie and Gabby Petito case has enthralled Individuals for practically two months and impressed many a far-flung conspiracy concept fomented within the minds of the hundreds of web sleuths who combed the couple’s social media accounts and dissected each piece of stories for clues as to what actually occurred.

Now, in a somewhat humbling flip of occasions, it seems that Laundrie was possible already deceased by the point his fiance’s physique was discovered within the Wyoming wilderness in addition to the overwhelming majority of the time that the high-profile manhunt to find out his whereabouts was underway.

On Friday, Sarasota County, Florida, Sheriff Kurt Hoffman revealed that it’s probably that Laundrie took his personal life whereas police nonetheless believed that he was at home together with his dad and mom, days earlier than Petito’s physique was discovered and earlier than Laundrie himself was reported lacking.

The 23-year-old’s skeletal stays were found on Oct. 20 on the Carlton Reserve close to his dad and mom’ house in North Level, Florida, in an space that had been underwater till just lately as authorities combed the park for any hint of the lacking man.

“That man went on the market and by all accounts most likely dedicated suicide and he was proper on the market the place we thought he was. There was 4 ft of water on the market on the time,” Hoffman stated throughout a regulation enforcement panel on the South County Tiger Bay Membership in Venice, Florida, in keeping with the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.

Laundrie and Petito, who had been courting since highschool and have been engaged, had been taking a prolonged tour of nationwide parks of their refurbished van when Petito’s household final heard from her on Aug. 25.

Though they didn’t report her lacking till Sept. 11, Laundrie returned house alone on Sept. 1, and the Petitos have stated they have been initially stonewalled by his household.

Chris and Roberta Laundrie reported their son lacking on Sept. 17, though he left their home to take a stroll on the reserve on Sept. 13 and by no means got here house.

The general public didn’t know that Brian was lacking because the Laundrie household launched a press release saying that on the recommendation of counsel he could be remaining within the “background” of the search for Petito, whose stays had not but been discovered.

Within the days between when Laundrie’s dad and mom say he initially went lacking and once they informed police that he’d by no means come house, the Petitos additionally launched an open letter to the household begging them to cooperate with police.

“Please, when you or your loved ones has any decency left, please inform us the place Gabby is positioned. Inform us if we’re even wanting in the suitable place,” the letter urged, in keeping with ABC News. “All we would like is Gabby to come back house. Please assist us make that occur.”

Sadly, it seems that as the Petitos made this heartbreaking plea, each their daughter and Laundrie have been already gone.

“Now, we all know that, by the point we turned the lead company, Brian had already left the home and presumably had already been deceased out within the Carlton Reserve,” North Level Police Chief Todd Garrison stated throughout Friday’s occasion alongside Hoffman.

The North Level police initially solely turned concerned as a supportive company as Petito’s dad and mom had filed their lacking particular person report in New York.

On Sep. 16, the division informed reporters it knew the place Brian Laundrie was, nevertheless it revealed final week that its surveillance workforce had mistaken Roberta Laundrie for her son when she drove to the reserve to retrieve his automobile.

“As a pacesetter, what do I do?” Garrison stated, in keeping with the Herald-Tribune. “Do I not inform the general public what’s occurring, can we conceal it, cowl it up?

“No, individuals need open, transparency and honesty from their law enforcement officials,” he defined. “Sure, we made a mistake it was human error, however I nonetheless stand behind my workforce.”

“Afterward, we came upon that Brian had left the home and now the dad and mom on Friday wished to report him lacking,” Garrison stated. “There was no person extra shocked about that than me.”

“Actually, when my officers went out to the home to do the report with the FBI, I sat with the deputy chief in my workplace, hoping that they’d discover Brian hiding in a again bed room,” he added. “I hoped, perhaps it was a ploy. It wasn’t.”

He went on to underscore that to his workforce on the time, their prime precedence was to search out Petito, and he stood behind the work of his officers that finally led to her remains being located within the wilderness of the Bridger-Teton Nationwide Park in Wyoming on Sep. 19. A coroner later decided the reason for demise had been strangulation.

Laundrie was by no means formally charged in Petito’s demise, though he remained the first particular person of curiosity and a warrant was finally issued for his arrest over his alleged unauthorized use of her debit card.

Authorities initiated an exhaustive search of the Carlton reserve after Laundrie was reported lacking, one that might go on for weeks.

On Friday, Hoffman stood by his police counterparts as effectively.

“We talked most likely 20 instances throughout that state of affairs and clearly we supported them out within the protect on the lookout for Brian Laundrie,” he stated. “I informed them; you guys have been proper – he and deputy chief have been proper.”

The sheriff then famous that it’s probably that every one alongside, Laundrie was possible already deceased and that he’d most likely taken his personal life.

Laundrie’s stays, that are believed to have been underwater for weeks, have been recognized by way of dental information by the Sarasota County coroner, who was unable to determine a cause of death. They’ve been despatched to a forensic anthropologist for additional examination.

This can be a sobering reminder that typically issues is perhaps simply what they appear at face worth — on this case, whereas we could by no means know the complete fact, it appears probably that Laundrie strangled his girlfriend to demise in a rage, returned to Florida with out her, and, fraught with the belief that he should face what he did ultimately as her household reported her girl lacking, took his personal life.

If one thing else occurred to Petito and Laundrie knew about it, we are going to possible by no means know now.

It might not be the neat, revelatory conclusion that many have been hoping for, however it’s a conclusion to this very unhappy story all the identical.