Brian Laundrie Update: New Cell Phone Seized, Neighbor Shoves Protester, Campsite Found

NORTH PORT, FL — There's speculation about a new cell phone purchased by Brian Laundrie, 23, a person of interest in the death of his fiancée, Gabby Petito, about 10 days before he disappeared. The phone was seized by the FBI earlier in their investigation.

Steven Bertolino, the Laundrie family’s New York-based attorney, told Newsday that Laundrie bought the new phone at an AT&T store near his family’s North Port home on Sept. 4.

"Brian Laundrie needed to purchase a phone," Bertolino said. "His mother took him to the store to purchase a phone. The FBI is in possession of that phone. It’s the very phone that the FBI is in possession of following their search warrant of the Laundrie property."

The attorney told Fox News he doesn’t know the whereabouts of Laundrie’s old phone, which he had on the monthslong, cross-country road trip he took with Petito.

Laundrie’s new phone was purchased just a few days after he returned home without Petito, a 22-year-old Long Island native who had lived with his family for the past two years.

The couple was traveling throughout the western United States in her converted camper van this summer, visiting national parks, when she disappeared. Her family last heard from her at the end of August.

Petito's body was found weeks later, on Sept. 19, near Wyoming's Grand Teton National Park in the Spread Creek Dispersed Camping area, which is part of the Bridger-Teton National Forest. Her death has been ruled a homicide, though no cause of death has been released.

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Laundrie returned home from their trip alone in her van Sept. 1. A week and a half later, Petito was reported missing by her family to Suffolk County police on Sept. 11.

That same evening, North Port police recovered Petito’s van from the Laundrie home. The family refused to speak with investigators, directing them to reach out to their attorney instead.

His parents later reached out to police Sept. 17 to report their son missing. They told investigators that they hadn’t seen him in days, since Sept. 14, when he left their home to go hiking at the Carlton Reserve in Sarasota County. They said he left their home without his wallet or cell phone.

Laundrie’s Neighbor Arrested

Protesters, often with bullhorns, and media have gathered outside the Laundries’ Wabasso Avenue home since Petito was reported missing, even before Laundrie was declared a person of interest in her disappearance and death.

Many protesters have left flowers and signs to honor Petito and have called for the Laundrie family — especially Brian Laundrie — to speak with police.

Tensions in the neighborhood boiled over Wednesday when a neighbor of the Laundries – 48-year-old Angelo Zappacosta — was charged with battery and assault after being accused of shoving and throwing a punch at a protester, according to a North Port police probable cause affidavit.

According to the affidavit, just before 7 p.m., Zappacosta confronted a man, whose name isn’t being released under Marsy’s Law, and a woman, Andra Griffin, who were handing out wanted posters in the area, and accused them of coming onto his property two days earlier.

The man told police Zappacosta charged at him while screaming, and shoved him in the chest with both hands, causing him to stumble backward.

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He claimed the neighbor attempted to punch him, taking a swing at him but missing. Zappacosta just grazed the side of the victim’s ear as his arm came down, according to the police report.

The altercation took place in front of multiple media outlets waiting outside the Laundrie home, and the incident was captured on video.

When Zappacosta went back into his home, the man looked up his name online and called North Port police, who arrested Zappacosta.

Fresh Campsite Found On Shell Key

The manhunt for Laundrie has led to tips pouring in from all over the country — and the world. Authorities, as well as Duane Chapman, the reality TV star known as Dog the Bounty Hunter, and John Walsh of "America's Most Wanted" fame, have looked into reported sightings of Laundrie in Alabama, northern Florida, Canada, the Bahamas, Mexico, the Appalachian Trail and other locations.

Authorities in Florida have been searching the Carlton Reserve in Sarasota County since Sept. 18. Various methods have been used to comb the swampy 25,000-acre nature reserve, including K-9 dogs, ATVs, drones, helicopters, dive teams and airboats. It's estimated the search has cost taxpayers about $150,000 a day; however, the FBI, which took over the investigation in the reserve, has scaled back the search in that area.

Chapman joined the search for Laundrie over the weekend after a federal arrest warrant was issued for him in connection with the unauthorized use of an unnamed person's debit card to withdraw more than $1,000 at ATMs.

When the bounty hunter knocked on the front door of the Laundrie home over the weekend, Laundrie's parents called 911 to complain Chapman was on their property.

In recent days, Chapman has focused his search on southern Pinellas County after confirming that Laundrie and his parents reserved a campsite at Fort De Soto Park in Tierra Verde, just south of St. Petersburg, for Sept. 6-8. The historic park is about 75 miles north of their North Port home.

Pinellas County records show Laundrie’s mother checked into their campsite Sept. 6. Bertolino, the family’s attorney, said they headed home Sept. 7, not Sept. 8, despite their reservation. The FBI is reviewing video footage from the campsite to see if Brian Laundrie left with them.

The bounty hunter searched Egmont Key and Shell Key — secluded southern Pinellas County islands just southwest of Fort De Soto Park and only accessible by boat — with boat crews, ground teams, and K-9 search-and-rescue dogs.

During his search, Chapman found a fresh campsite and Monster Energy drinks in the woods of Shell Island, Fox News reported.

And as they searched the island, a plane flew overhead carrying a banner that read, “Aloha Brian Laundrie – Dog.”

Chapman shared a picture of the plane to his Instagram page, posting, “Frankly, I wish I had thought of that, but it wasn’t our team. I’d love to shake the hand of whoever is behind the banner, I’ll tell you that.”

His daughter, Lyssa Chapman, who is running the tips command center from Hawaii, tweeted Thursday, “Yesterday was a good day. Today we will process evidence and intelligence. (Sharing all of such with [law enforcement.]) The hunt continues.”

She added, “Keeping tight lips today.”

Once everything they found on Shell Key is reviewed, their team will decide what its next steps will be, her father posted on Instagram Thursday.