Remains of prime suspect found in murder that grabbed America's attention

Remains of prime suspect found in murder that grabbed America’s attention

Brian Laundrie's belongings and unidentified human remains found in Florida park

October 21, 2021

The apparent human remains that authorities found Wednesday in a Florida park most likely belong to Brian Laundrie, the missing man whose fiancée Gabby Petito was found fatally strangled last month, the Laundrie family attorney told CNN.

Investigators also found a backpack and a notebook belonging to Laundrie, 23, near the suspected remains while they were searching the Carlton Reserve in North Port, according to FBI Special Agent in Charge Michael McPherson.

The discovery came on Wednesday morning when Laundrie’s parents and law enforcement searched an area of the reserve that had been underwater but recently reopened to the public.

The remains and items were found in the same area that the parents had initially told the FBI to look, family attorney Steven Bertolino told CNN’s Chris Cuomo.

Bertolino said that “the probability is strong that it is Brian’s remains.”

The case generated enormous public interest but also raised uncomfortable questions over the unequal attention given to the hundreds of cases of Native American and other minority women missing or murdered across the United States, AP reported. Petito is white.

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