Items related to Brian Laundrie found in Florida park – Boston Herald

By CURT ANDERSON

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) – Objects believed to belong to Brian Laundrie were found Wednesday in a wilderness park in Florida, while the search continued for clues in the murder of Gabby Petito, according to the FBI and a lawyer in the Laundrie family.

Laundrie’s parents, Chris and Roberta Laundrie, joined the search Wednesday with the FBI and police from North Port, Florida, more than a month after Laundrie was reported missing after heading to the large Carlton Reserve Park.

“After a brief search for a clue where Brian visited some articles that belonged to Brian was found,” attorney Steven Bertolino said in a text to the Associated Press. “Right now, law enforcement is conducting a more thorough investigation into this area.”

The FBI field office in Tampa also issued a statement on Twitter confirming that “points of interest” were found in the Laundrie search, but did not elaborate.

An FBI Evidence Response team is handling the scene. The reserve is closed to the public and no further information is available at this time, ”the statement said.

The Sarasota County Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed that it had been called to the reserve, but would not comment further.

Laundrie, 23, is a person of interest in the murder of Petito, who was reported missing September 11 by her parents while the couple was on a cross-country trip out of the West.

The case created huge public interest, but also raised unpleasant questions about the unequal attention given to the hundreds of cases of Native American women and other minority women being missed or murdered throughout the United States. Petito is white.

Petito’s body was found on September 19 on the edge of Wyoming’s Grand Teton National Park, which the couple had visited. Doctors there concluded that she died of suffocation and her body had been where it was found for three or four weeks.

The couple was stopped on August 12 by police in Moab, Utah, after a physical altercation, but no charges were filed.

Laundrie returned home alone September 1 in the Ford van the couple took on their journey. He was reported missing after telling his parents on Sept. 14 that he was going on a hike in the Carlton Reserve, a nature reserve in Sarasota County that has been a central area of ​​the search for several weeks.

The activity on Wednesday was focused on the nearby Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park, where television news reports showed several law enforcement vehicles arriving and a tent set up inside the forest. The location is where a Ford Mustang was found, which Laundrie drove to the desert.

Laundrie is charged in a federal Wyoming indictment with unauthorized use of a debit card, which would allow authorities to arrest him if he is found alive.

It alleges that Laundrie used a Capital One bank card and a person’s personal identification number to make unauthorized withdrawals or charges worth more than $ 1,000. It does not say to whom the card belonged or what type of charges were made.