The father of Brian Laundrie is expected to leave hiding and join authorities in their massive manhunt for his fugitive son, the family’s lawyer says.
Law enforcement on Wednesday requested the help of Chris Laundrie — and the father happily consented, though he wasn’t part of the day’s search, according to the lawyer, Steven Bertolino.
It was not immediately clear when the father will begin assisting.
The North Port Police Department emphatically denied requesting Chris Laundrie’s assistance, but Bertolino is adamant that “law enforcement” wants the family’s help and suggested it may have been the FBI that made the request.
The FBI declined to comment.
Brian’s parents believe their son is somewhere within the vast, 25,000-acre Carlton Reserve in Sarasota County, Florida. He reportedly left to go hiking there on Sept. 13 and never returned to his parents’ nearby North Port home.
“Since the preserve has been closed to the public, Chris has not been able to look for Brian in the only place Chris and Roberta believe Brian may be,” Bertolino said in a statement to The Post.
Brian’s parents have kept a low profile, holing up inside their home since their son vanished.
According to Bertolino, it would be pointless for Laundrie’s parents to issue a public appeal for their son to turn himself in because they believe he is isolated in remote wilderness.
“The parents don’t believe he is watching the news in any way, shape or form,” Bertolino said.
“They believe he’s in the preserve or some other type of wilderness area if he has left the preserve. So putting out a public plea and getting scrutiny for that is not necessarily in their best interest,” the lawyer said.
Bertolino also revealed on Wednesday that Laundrie’s parents Chris, 62, and Roberta, 55, spent between four and five hours searching for their son on Sept. 13, four days before they reported him missing.
It comes a day after the Laundrie parents changed their story about when they last saw their son, claiming he last left their home to go hiking on Monday, Sept. 13, not Tuesday, Sept. 14, as they initially claimed.
Brian, 23, is the sole person of interest in the disappearance of his slain 22-year-old girlfriend, Gabby Petito.
He had returned home early from the couple’s cross-country trip on Sept. 1 without Petito. Federal authorities in Wyoming issued an arrest warrant for Laundrie on Sept. 23 for allegedly fraudulently using Petito’s debit card.
Petito had been reported missing on Sept. 11 and her body was found Sept. 19 at a remote campsite at the Bridger-Teton National Forest in Wyoming, with a coroner later declaring her death a homicide.
