Parents of Gabby Petito breaks silence
It’s been 10 days since Brian Laundrie disappeared on the same day he was made a person of interest in the missing person case of his girlfriend Gabby Petito, whose body was subsequently found later that evening.
Dog the Bounty Hunter, real name Duane Chapman, told police he’d uncovered a lead suggesting Mr Laundrie’s family went camping at the Fort DeSoto campgrounds in Pinellas County, Florida. Police rejected the tip, saying there have been no reported sightings of anyone resembling Mr Laundrie in the area.
However, Steven Bertolino, the attorney representing Brian Laundrie’s family, confirmed on Tuesday that Mr Laundrie went on a camping trip with his parents after returning from his road trip. But the lawyer denied that his parents helped him go into hiding, insisting that all three Laundries came back from the campsite.
Records from the Pinellas County Parks department confirm that Mr Laundrie’s mother did check in to the Fort DeSoto campgrounds on 6 September and left on 8 September, three days before Petito was reported missing.
At a press conference, Ms Petito’s family said they would continue seeking justice for her and believed the FBI would find Mr Laundrie. They called on him to turn himself into law enforcement.
ICYMI: Gabby Petito family say they still haven’t received her remains or her possessions left in Florida
The family of Gabby Petito haven’t received her remains, which are in Wyoming, or her possessions, which are in Florida, her stepfather, Jim Schmidt, said at a family news conference.
It was not immediately clear if Ms Petito’s belongings in Florida were currently in the care of the Laundrie family or police, who have searched the missing man’s residence and taken away evidence.
A spokesman for the North Port, Florida police told The Independent after the press conference that he was not certain where the victim’s belongings were and was “unaware of any items of hers from inside the home,” positing that the couple could have rented a storage unit.
Ella Glover29 September 2021 10:13
ICYMI: Gabby Petito’s family holds press conference
Watch as Gabby Petito’s family break their silence at a press conference in New York.
Watch live as Gabby Petito family hold press conference
Ella Glover29 September 2021 09:22
Petito family calls for all missing person cases to be treated equally
Gabby Petito’s case has drawn enormous attention from both the media and the general public, highlighting female homicide rates and “missing white woman syndrome” (whereby cases of missing white women receive more urgency than Black, brown and indigenous women).
At a press conference, Gabby’s father called on reporters and law enforcement to treat all missing person cases equally.
He said: “I want to ask everyone to help all the people that are missing and need help. It’s on all of you, everyone that’s in this room to do that,” he said, pointing at reporters and cameras.
“And if you don’t do that for other people that are missing, that’s a shame, because it’s not just Gabby that deserves it.”
He added that the family is starting a foundation for other people searching for missing loved ones.
“We need positive stuff to come from the tragedy that happened,” He said. “We can’t let her name be taken in vain.”
Ella Glover29 September 2021 08:36
Petito case draws attention to female homicide figures
According to the CDC, homicide is the fourth leading cause of death for girls and women aged one to 19 years old, and the fifth leading cause of death for women aged 20 to 44.
An analysis of FBI homicide data by Violence Policy Center also reveals that “American female intimate gendered killings happen at a staggering rate of almost three women every day”.
Black women and girls are being murdered by male offenders at a rate of almost three times more than white women, the FBI data confirms.
And the analysis found that “of all female homicides accounted for in 2018 where the relationship between perpetrator and victim could be identified, 92 per cent of cases involved women or girls killed by a man they knew and 63 per cent of whom were killed by current husbands, ex-husbands or current boyfriends”.
Maroosha Muzaffar29 September 2021 07:00
Petito family lawyer sceptical that Laundries will help law enforcement agencies
Gabby Petito’s family attorney, Richard Stafford, is sceptical that Brian Laundrie’s family would help the FBI in finding him.
Mr Stafford on Tuesday said that the Laundries didn’t help them find Petito when she was reported missing and that “they’re sure not going to help us find Brian.”
Addressing the media for the first time, Gabby Petito’s family yesterday urged the public to pay attention to other missing persons cases in the country.
Mr Stafford also asked the “person of interest” Brain Laundrie to turn himself in to the FBI.
Maroosha Muzaffar29 September 2021 06:23
Dog the Bounty Hunter says won’t reveal information that will jeopardise the case
Duane Chapman, popularly known as Dog the Bounty Hunter, said that he will not reveal any information pertaining to the Brian Laundrie search that might “jeopardise the case”.
Chapman also claimed that he had received more than 1,000 tips relating to “person of interest” Mr Laundrie’s whereabouts and that he has reason to believe Mr Laundrie is hiding in a campsite 75 miles from his parents’ house in North Port.
Rubbishing speculation that he has arranged to meet Mr Laundrie, Chapman on Tuesday said that “we are cooperating with law enforcement. We will not reveal information that will jeopardise the case.”
He clarified that he has “not talked to the Laundrie family and we have not arranged to meet Brian Laundrie.”
Maroosha Muzaffar29 September 2021 05:44
‘Multiple’ sightings of Brian Laundrie in North Carolina being investigated
Multiple sightings of Brian Laundrie in Watauga County in North Carolina are being investigated, the Sheriff’s Office said but added that “nothing has been verified.”
The North Port Police has meanwhile rubbished Dog the Bounty Hunter’s claim that Mr Laundrie could be hiding in a campsite in Park De Soto Park in Pinellas County.
The 23-year-old is a person of interest in the Gabby Petito homicide case and is also a subject of a federal arrest warrant.
On Tuesday, the Petito family held a press conference and urged internet sleuths to pay attention to other missing persons cases in the country as well. The Petito family members have also gotten matching tattoos that “Gabby designed herself.”
Meanwhile, a lawyer for Petito’s family, Richard Stafford, called on Brian Laundrie to turn himself in and criticised his parents for not cooperating in the search.
Maroosha Muzaffar29 September 2021 05:20
Laundrie’s lawyer confirms Brian visited campsite with parents
Steven Bertolino, the attorney representing Brian Laundrie’s family, confirmed on Tuesday that Mr Laundrie went on a camping trip with his parents after returning from his road trip with Gabby Petito.
But the lawyer denied that his parents helped him go into hiding.
Mr Bertolino insisted that all three Laundries came back from the campsite. Dog the Bounty Hunter had claimed that he had a solid lead on Mr Laundrie’s whereabouts and said that he was hiding in Park De Soto Park in Pinellas County — almost 75 miles from his parents’ house in North Port.
Records from the Pinellas County Parks department confirm that Mr Laundrie’s mother did check in to the Fort DeSoto campgrounds on 6 September and left on 8 September, three days before Petito was reported missing.
Maroosha Muzaffar29 September 2021 05:01
Person of interest in Miya Marcano case was ‘infatuated’ with vanished teenager, family say
The family of Gabby Petito called on social media sleuths to pay as much attention to other missing person cases.
One of those includes Miya Marcano, who went missing on Friday. Her family said today the suspect in her disappearance, Armando Caballero, 27, was “infatuated” with her and “constantly texting”.
Caballero worked with Marcano at a student housing complex in Orlando, Florida and was suspected by police of entering her apartment using a master key just before she vanished last Friday. His was found dead on Monday from a suspected suicide.
“He was infatuated with her, he was in love with her,” Ms Marcano’s cousin Caili Sue told reporters. “I don’t know the very specifics, but he was constantly texting her.”
Read the full report.
Justin Vallejo29 September 2021 04:45
Brian Laundrie showed signs of domestic abuse, report says
An expert criminal profiler said Brian Laundrie showed signs of a domestic abuser in his erratic public behaviour, according to Fox News.
John Kelly, a psychotherapist, told the outlet that Laundrie may have flipped from “asocial” to “anti-social” before Gabby Petito died in Wyoming.
“Asocial is pretty much somebody that likes to be alone…they’re not hurting anybody,” he told the outlet. “Antisocial is when you strike out at society and have a lot of anger and resentment.”
“I see a projection of himself in his art, where he understands to some point that he has this monster inside of him, or he is a monster,” he added. “And this monster may have come out.”
Justin Vallejo29 September 2021 03:45
