FBI Now Searching For Gabby Petito’s Fiancé Brian Laundrie: PD

NORTH PORT, FLA — Brian Laundrie, a person of interest in the missing person case of former Long Islander Gabrielle Petito, his fiancée, left his parents' home on Tuesday and no one knows where he is, which has prompted a search, police said early Saturday.

Twenty-three-year-old Laundrie is now being sought by the North Port Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation after an attorney for the Laundrie family called FBI investigators Friday night “indicating the family would like to talk about the disappearance of their son,” police said.

“The family now claims that they have not seen Brian since Tuesday of this week,” a statement on the department’s Facebook read and included a picture of the engaged couple.

“We understand the community’s frustration,” the post read, adding, “We are frustrated too. For six days, the North Port Police Department and the FBI have been pleading with the family to contact investigators regarding Brian’s fiancée Gabby Petito. Friday is the first time they have spoken with investigators in detail.”

The department reiterated that it is important to note “Brian is a person of interest in Gabby’s disappearance, he is not wanted for a crime.”

North Port police made it clear the department is not currently working on a “crime investigation.”

Instead, they are now working a “multiple missing person” investigation, the statement concluded.

Laundrie is described as a white man standing at about 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighing about 160 lbs. He has brown eyes, short brown hair, and trimmed facial hair. He was last seen wearing a hiking bag with a waist strap, according to police.

Petito is described as a white woman who stands at about 5 feet 5 inches tall and weighs about 110 lbs. She has blonde hair and blue eyes, and several tattoos, including one on her finger, as well as one on her forearm that reads "let it be."

In a statement emailed to Patch late Friday, Rick Stafford, a spokesman for Petito's family, said all "want the world to know that Brian is not missing.’

“He is hiding,” he said. “Gabby is missing.”

Petito had been traveling by camper van with Laundrie on a cross-country journey making stops along the national parks system since early July. Laundrie returned to Florida, refused to speak with police, and has been filtering information out to investigators through a family attorney, frustrating them by hindering their investigation.

On Friday night, an attorney for Laundrie told reporters that he was not inside his parents' home, and has not been seen for days, according to The New York Post. Property was also removed from the home, the outlet reported.

The FBI went to the home with North Port police and searched the home earlier in the day as protesters were outside, according to reports.

"He is physically not inside the home and we do not know where he is," North Port police Chief Todd Garrison told CNN.

The Laundrie family asked police to come to their home on Friday and told investigators that they did not know where he is, North Port police's spokesman Josh Taylor told Chris Cuomo on Cuomo Prime Time.

"What the family knows we need to know from them," he said, adding that they might have more details that Laundrie possibly shared with them.

"Certainly we would love for them to share with us what he shared with them," he told Cuomo. "They still have not to my knowledge, sir."

Taylor said he could not release the full details of what transpired at the house, adding, "I think that will come out very shortly."

"We just want to get our ducks in a row a little bit," he said, adding. "This has been a very quickly developing situation."

The last time Petito spoke with her mother, Nichole Schmidt, was Aug. 25; and when Petito did not respond to a text conversation from late August, Schmidt became worried.

In a text at the end of August, Petito told Schmidt that she was headed to Yellowstone National Park. It is believed that before her last communication with the family that she was in Grand Teton Park in Wyoming.

Petito’s family filed a missing person report with Suffolk police last Saturday.

Investigators do have "an idea" for a timeline for Laundrie's travels in which was compiled by working with the FBI and local law enforcement, as well as tips from the public, and investigators are also working on locating Petito's phone, using every resource to find it, Taylor told Cuomo.

He said that if a crime was committed, it did not happen in the department's jurisdiction, and investigators are hoping for the best.

"But we have to plan for the worst," he said, adding, "and ultimately, that's probably going to bring down on some other community here in the United States," he added.

Petito's stepfather, Jim Schmidt, told Cuomo that the family had not yet had the chance to "fully digest" the news and said that he was happy that the family called the police in, which indicates they wanted to cooperate, but he was not going to speculate until he hears something more official from law enforcement.

He told Cuomo that the family has tried to reconcile with why Laundrie is not involved in the search for Petito, by going over it "and over again, adding, "I don't think anybody has an answer for that."

"This doesn't make sense," he said.

He said that he was not going to comment on the relationship between Petito and Laundrie anymore.

"All that matters is finding her, bringing her home," he said, adding, "We're still trying to get the word out there, and trying to find that one person that might have some details that we need."

The North Port Police Department says it is actively looking for Petito, Laundrie, and any information surrounding the case. Anyone with tips is urged to call 1-800-CALL-FBI.