Police: Missing LI Native’s Boyfriend Is 'A Person Of Interest’

BLUE POINT, NY — The lack of information from Brian Laundrie, the boyfriend of former Long Islander Gabrielle Petito, has been accused of hindering the investigation and investigators have now set their sights on him as a person of interest in the probe into her disappearance, police said.

City of North Port police has several detectives working “around-the-clock” piecing Petito’s missing person case together and they have learned that Laundrie, 22, returned to the home that he shared with her and his parents on Sept. 1, according to a statement posted to the department’s Twitter account on Wednesday. Petito, who grew up in Blue Point, moved to North Port with Laundrie two years ago, according to family.

Laundrie has not made himself available or has not provided any helpful details to detectives working the case, which is not considered criminal at this point, police said.

“As a father, I can imagine the pain and suffering Gabby’s family is going through,” Chief Todd Garrison said. “We are pleading with anyone, including Brian, to share information with us on her whereabouts in the past few weeks. The lack of information from Brian is hindering this investigation.”

“The answers will eventually come out,” he said, adding, “We will help find Gabby and we will help anyone who may be involved in her disappearance.”

The camper van that Petito and Laundrie had been traveling in was fully processed for evidence along with FBI agents on Tuesday night, police said. The van is a 2012 Ford transit van and has the license plate QFTG03.

The white van had various stickers, including one for Bunger Surf shop in Sayville on the back.

North Port police are now heading up the case as the lead agency and are continuing to work with Suffolk police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Police have released new photographs of the van and are asking members of the public who may have seen it to come forward.

The couple had been documenting their journey on YouTube, as well as Instagram. Police said they are looking into why Petito’s Instagram page has been taken down.

In a statement, Laundrie’s attorney, Steven Bertolino of East Islip, said “many people are wondering why Mr. Laundrie would not make a statement or speak with law enforcement in the face of Ms. Petito's absence.”

“In my experience, intimate partners are often the first person law enforcement focuses their attention on in cases like this and the warning that ‘any statement made will be used against you’ is true, regardless of whether my client had anything to do with Ms. Petito's disappearance,” Bertolino said, adding, “As such, on the advice of counsel Mr. Laundrie is not speaking on this matter.”

Bertolino said he has been informed by police that his client is a person of interest, but the “formality has not really changed the circumstances of Mr. Laundrie being the focus and attention of law enforcement and Mr. Laundrie will continue to remain silent on the advice of counsel.”

Rick Stafford, a spokesman for Petito’s family, said that as each day goes on, they become more desperate and are “frantically searching” for answers and information in their daughter’s disappearance “while Brian sits in the comfort of his home.”

He took a shot at Laundrie whose attorney released a statement Tuesday saying he would remain in the background, saying he claims “he wants to sit in the background while we search for Gabby in the wilderness of the Grand Teton and Yellowstone national parks.”

“Brian left Gabby in the wilderness with grizzly bears and wolves while he sits in the comfort of his home,” he added.

Stafford went on to question how Laundrie could do that and “selfishly remain silent.”

“Brian, your silence is reprehensible!” Stafford said, adding, “We beg you to do the right thing and help us bring Gabby home. Brian, whatever happened in Wyoming, happened. The only thing you can control is what you do now. Tell us where Gabby is. You tarnish your love for her with your silence.”

Petito had been traveling by van with Laundrie on a tour of the national parks system since early July. She was reported missing to Suffolk police by her family on Saturday after they had not heard from her in over a week. The last time she spoke with her mother, Nichole Schmidt, was Aug. 25, and when she did not respond to a text conversation, she 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 family that she was in Grand Teton Park in Wyoming.

Moab Chief of Police Bret Edge told Fox News Tuesday that his officers responded to an incident involving the couple in Utah on Aug. 12, but neither was “the reporting party.”

“Officers conducted an investigation and determined that insufficient evidence existed to justify criminal charges,” he told the outlet.

Suffolk police advised the press that they are encouraging members of the public that if they have any information on Petito’s disappearance, to call 1-800-CALL-FBI, which is 1-800-225-5324, instead of the county’s tip line.