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Daily Mail
Boyfriend of missing Gabby Petito breaks his silence to say 'he hopes she is reunited with her family' and 'understands a search has been organized in Wyoming'
By Rachel SharpPeter BelfioreBrian Stieglitz For Dailymail.Com,
2021-09-14
The fiancé of missing Long Island woman Gabby Petito has finally broken his silence to say 'he hopes she is reunited with her family' and 'understands a search has been organized in Wyoming'.
Brian Laundrie issued a statement through his attorney Steve Bertolino on Tuesday, after it emerged he had lawyered up and has been refusing to speak to police about his girlfriend's whereabouts.
Laundrie said in the statement, obtained by ABC7, he hopes the search for Petito is 'successful' but did not provide any explanation as to why he returned from their cross-country trip alone.
'This is an extremely difficult time for both the Petito family and the Laundrie family. I understand that a search has been organized for Miss Petito in or near Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming,' he said.
'On behalf of the Laundrie family, it is our hope that the search for Miss Petito is successful and that Miss Petito is re-united with her family.
'On the advice of counsel, the Laundrie family is remaining in the background at this juncture and will have no further comment.'
Petito was reported missing by her mom in Suffolk County, New York, on September 11 after the family hadn't heard from her in 13 days.
She had been traveling on a cross-country trip with Laundrie since July in their campervan on an adventure they were documenting on YouTube..
Petito last spoke to her mom on August 25 from Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming and her last confirmed sighting was the day earlier when she was spotted with Laundrie at a hotel in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Laundrie returned alone to their home in North Port, Florida, where the couple moved two years ago, driving the couple's 2012 Ford Transit van. It is not known when he arrived back in the state.
North Port Police confirmed to DailyMail.com Sunday they had recovered the vehicle from Laundrie's family home and were poring over it for possible clues as to Petito's location.
Police were seen dropping off a pink envelope outside Laundrie's home Tuesday, the New York Post reported.
North Port police spokesman Josh Taylor told Dailymail.com Monday that Laundrie's parents refused to let authorities interview their son at their home Saturday and admitted that the sudden disappearance of the 22-year-old is 'odd.'
'We have not talked with him, we would love to talk to him,' he said.
'He is under no obligation to talk to us – and he has not. And we don't even know yet if a crime happened.'
Asked if police had turned up at the home of Laundrie's parents to speak with him, Taylor replied: 'Of course.'
He added: 'We did not actually talk to him. We talked to his parents. And they did not want to make him available to do that.'
Laundrie's father, 62-year-old Christopher Laundrie, was seen mowing his lawn on Monday, and refused to comment on his son's whereabouts.
Taylor told Fox13 authorities were hopeful that nothing 'sinister' had happened.
'We're hopeful that she's out there somewhere, sometimes people just don't want to communicate so that's certainly still a viable option but we have to prepare for something more sinister,' he said.
While the hunt for the missing 22-year-old continues, it was revealed that Laundrie posted a mysterious 'til death do us part' message on Instagram about Petito around a year before she disappeared.
'My biggest fear is that one day I'll wake up and it will have all been a dream, because that is what every second has felt like since the moment we found each other,' Laundrie wrote in a July 2020 post.
The post included a photo of the couple and appeared to be celebrating their engagement.
'Till death do us part or until I wake up, I'm so happy the answer was yes, Love you hunny,' the post continues.
On Monday, Petito's father, Joseph, vowed to do whatever it takes to find her.
'We still don't know where she is. Pride isn't an issue right now. My only daughter is missing,' he told WPTV.
'I'm going to do anything I can. The family, Gabby's mom, we're going to do anything we can to find her.'
He spoke from his home in Vero Beach, Florida - where he had moved to be closer to his daughter - pleading for help in finding her.
Joseph said the couple first drove from Florida to her mom's home in Blue Point on Long Island's south shore for the graduation of Petito's brother, before leaving July 2 for their cross-country trip.
'The trip started from there so it went to some various places,' he said.
'[They] stopped over in Colorado, worked their way up to Utah and were going up to Wyoming and she was going to end in Oregon.'
Petito's last Instagram, posted on August 25, shows her visiting the Monarch Wall in Ogden, Utah with the caption 'Happy Halloween'.
The pair were heading from Ogden to Yellowstone National Park, just north of Grand Teton.
Also on Monday, Petito's mother, Nicole Schmidt said that she is trying to stay optimistic, telling reporters in a press conference pleading for the public's help: 'I believe she's gonna come home.'
Schmidt was teary-eyed as she held a picture of her daughter during a press conference, saying: 'We are looking for her. We are not focusing on anything else, but finding her... I believe she's gonna come home.'
Petito's stepfather, James, added: 'If anyone else has any information, if anyone has seen her, we ask that they call the tip lines and just please, just give any information you have,' as he joined his anguished wife.
'We just want her home safe with us.'
Schmidt said the last time she spoke over the phone with her daughter was on August 25 - and cast suspicion on the texts received from her adventure-seeking girl over the next five days.
She said she texted Petito on August 27 and 30, but now says she isn't sure if her daughter was on the other end of the exchange because it wasn't verbal and she didn't share any photos of herself, Schmidt told Fox News.
She said: 'It was just a text. I did not verbally speak to her,' she said. 'I can't say much, but she's no longer with the van.
'I don't want to say anything more than that but for people looking for her, I want them to look for her now, not look for that van anymore.'
Asked about her doubts over the texts at the press conference, Schmidt again said: 'I can't comment on that.'
She also declined to share the content of those texts.
Neither parent would comment on their thoughts regarding Laundrie.
Multiple law enforcement agencies across the US are now searching for Petito.
Suffolk County Police Department in New York launched an investigation after the missing person report was filed and is leading the probe.
North Port Police are also investigating, with a spokesperson saying the department is working with the FBI on the case.
Grand Teton National Park spokesperson CJ Adams told Jackson Hole News and Guide the park authorities are working with 'multiple law enforcement agencies' to try to determine Petitos' whereabouts.
'We are conducting, with multiple law enforcement agencies, this part of the investigation into Gabrielle Petito's whereabouts,' said Adams.
'As the investigation is ongoing, we do not have any further information to provide at this time.'
Anyone with information about Petito's whereabouts is asked to contact Suffolk County police at 800-220-8477
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