Gabby Petito Disappearance Takes Strange Turn After Questionable Casey Anthony Rumor

09/24/2021 04:31 pm EDT

The family of Brian Laundrie, who is the person of interest in the death of Gabby Petito, will not be represented by attorney Jose Baez, despite Laundrie's parents recently visiting Orlando, Florida. Baez is best known for representing the infamous Casey Anthony and the late Aaron Hernandez in their trials. Both Baez and the Laundries' attorney denied the rumors.

Baez told TMZ he has not met with Laundrie or his family, "therefore, I do not represent him or anyone else related to the case." He added that his caseload would make it difficult to take on the case and he would likely not be available even if Laundrie's parents were interested. Their lawyer told TMZ the Laundries were in Orlando for business. They took a trip to Orlando, about two hours north of their home in North Port, on Thursday morning. Rumors that they were meeting with Petito only began because people on social media noticed the Laundries were near Baez's office during the day.

Petito's family reported her missing on Sept. 11, a few weeks after her mother last heard from her. Laundrie and Petito were taking a cross-country trip in a white Ford Transit Connect and chronicled the trip on YouTube until its abrupt stop in late August when they were traveling from Utah to Yellowstone National Park. On Sept. 19, officials found a body "consistent" with descriptions of Petito at Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. On Sept. 21, an autopsy confirmed the remains were Petito's, and the manner of death was homicide.

Laundrie drove the Ford truck back to Florida, arriving without Petito on Sept. 1. However, Laundrie's location is unknown and he has been missing since Sept. 14. On Sept. 22, the U.S. District Court of Wyoming issued a federal arrest warrant for Laundrie after a grand jury indictment. "While this warrant allows law enforcement to arrest Mr. Laundrie, the FBI and our partners across the country continue to investigate the facts and circumstances of Ms. Petito's homicide," FBI Denver Special Agent in Charge Michael Schnieder said in a statement Thursday. "We urge individuals with knowledge of Mr. Laundrie's role in this matter or his current whereabouts to contract the FBI. No piece of information is too small or inconsequential to support our efforts in this investigation."

Laundie was indicted for unauthorized use of a credit card on Thursday, reports the Orlando Sentinel. He allegedly made unauthorized withdrawals of over $1,000 during the same period when Petito went missing. The indictment did not say who the credit card belonged to.  

Disclosure: PopCulture. is owned by Paramount. Sign up for Paramount+ by clicking here.