Unidentified Human Remains, Brian Laundrie’s Belongings Found At FL Park: FBI

NORTH PORT, FL — Partial human remains were found near items belonging to Brian Laundrie, a person of interest in the strangulation death of his fiancée, Gabby Petito, in a North Port park Wednesday. The remains have not yet been identified and FBI investigators will be at the site for several days, an official said.

The remains were found near a backpack and a notebook at Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park, Michael McPherson, special agent in charge with the FBI’s Tampa office, said during a news conference from the park.

He said the area where the remains were found was previously underwater when the area was searched in recent weeks.

The Sarasota County Medical Examiner’s Office told WFLA its personnel were called to Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park, which has been at the center of the search for Laundrie. A cadaver dog from the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office has also been called to the scene.

NBC News reported human remains were found in the vicinity of Laundrie's backpack Wednesday morning. The network said a senior law enforcement official told a reporter that what appears to be partial human remains were located in the Carlton Reserve at a site previously under water.

Authorities have not confirmed if the remains are Laundrie.

Steve Bertolino, the attorney for the Laundrie family, had no comment when asked by WFLA about the possibility of human remains found at the nature preserve.

Items of interest were located at the Carlton Reserve Wednesday morning in connection with the search for Brian Laundrie, the FBI office in Tampa tweeted. An FBI evidence response team is processing the scene. The reserve is closed to the public and no further details are available.

Laundrie and Petito, both Long Island, New York, natives living in North Port with his family, were traveling across the country visiting national parks this summer when she disappeared at the end of August. Her body was found near Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming on Sept. 19.

Laundrie, who returned to Florida without her Sept. 1, was reported missing Sept. 17, and authorities have been looking for him ever since.

His parents said they last saw him Sept. 13 when he said he was going hiking at the Carlton Reserve, which is connected to Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park by a 12-mile trail.
Laundrie, 23, left his parents’ car near the park, and days later they brought it home.

Authorities have searched both the park and the reserve for the past month, using various methods to comb the swampy reserve including K-9 dogs, ATVs, drones, helicopters, dive teams and airboats.

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Until Wednesday, there had been no signs of Laundrie, at least nothing that has been publicly disclosed by police or the FBI.

The park reopened to the public Tuesday, though the Carlton Reserve remains closed.

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The Laundrie family attorney told CNN that his parents let authorities know Tuesday night that they planned to search the park for him Wednesday morning.

Law enforcement met them at Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park on Wednesday and, after a “brief search,” they found some items belonging to Laundrie off a trail.

NewsNation Now reporter Brian Entin tweeted video footage of a second mobile command center from the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office arriving at the park Wednesday afternoon.

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