Body Found In Area of Gabrielle Petito Search Area: Reports

NORTH PORT, NY — A body has been found in the area near where the search for Gabrielle Petito has been underway in Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming, but there is no confirmation on the identity of the person, Fox News is reporting.

Teton County Coroner Brent Blue arrived in the Bridger-Teton National Forest, and about 10 minutes after the coroner arrived, search dogs participating in the search left the search area, Fox News Digital confirmed.

Petito is one of three people who are missing in the park, according to The New York Post.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation's Denver Field Office, National Park Service, and other law enforcement partners plan to hold press conference this evening to provide an update into the investigation of Petito's disppearance.

Meanwhile, NBC 2 is reporting Brian Laundrie drove a Ford Mustang to a Florida nature preserve where North Port police officials say it is possible that he may have hurt himself at the park.

Laundrie took his backpack to the Mykkahatshee Creek Environmental Park on Tuesday and has not been seen by his family since then, and his family picked up the car and drove it back from the park to their home, the outlet reported. It is not known if the muscle car is registered to Laundrie, or if anyone was with him when he went to the park.

The Laundrie family attorney, Steven Bertolino of East Islip, told ABC News the family picked up the car, Laundrie was using on Thursday morning from the reserve after going out on Wednesday to look for him.

The family went out to the reserve Wednesday to look for him and spotted a note from the North Port Police Department on the car saying it needed to be removed, but the family left the car overnight in case Laundrie needed to drive back home, Bertolino told ABC. The family went back to get the car when he did not come back on Thursday, the outlet reported.

A team of over 50 law enforcement personnel set out on Sunday searching for Laundrie — a person of interest in the disappearance of Petito — in a roughly 25,ooo-acre nature reserve in Florida on Sunday, police said.

The team is "looking for anything of note" in the Carlton Reserve in Venice, FL, "after his parents say this is where he went," the department tweeted, adding, "We continue to corroborate all info in the search for him and Gabby."

Laundrie's parents reported to investigators "that he was last seen Tuesday when he went for a hike there," a statement on the department's Facebook read, adding that he was reported missing by his parents three days later on Friday.

Police investigators, along with the Federal Bureau of Investigation are now working to corroborate that story, according to police.

Authorities called off their search in Florida for Laundrie Saturday night due to the dark, police said.

North Port police, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and other agency partners began a search of the reserve for Laundrie, on Saturday morning, but did not find anything.

The department said there were false reports of a body being located where investigators were searching, and noted that they are "completely fake."

Channel 8 News in Florida reported there is a massive law enforcement presence at the reserve and that K-9 units are being used. Amphibious vehicles were called in to help with searching the property, which is infested with alligators, Fox News reported.

Laundrie was named a person of interest in Petito’s missing person case earlier this week. He returned home alone to North Port, FL, where he had lived with her and his parents before embarking on a months-long trip, in which the couple had taken to the road in a camper van. Petito was reported missing on Sept. 11 and Laundrie has refused to speak with investigators based on the advise of his attorney.

His silence has drawn criticism from not only Petito’s family, but the general public. Protests have been held outside his home and his Instagram page has been flooded with comments from followers demanding to know where Petito is.

Police have repeatedly said that Laundrie is not part of a criminal investigation.

Meanwhile, the search for Petito continues in Wyoming.

The FBI Denver Field Office announced late Saturday that the Spread Creek Dispersed Camping Area in the Bridger-Teton National Forest, on the east boundary of Grand Teton National Park, has been closed to the public and will remain closed until ground surveys that are related to the search for Petito are completed.

Petito is described as a white, 5-foot-5 and about 110 pounds. 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."

Laundrie is described as white, 5-foot-8 and 160 pounds. He has brown eyes, short brown hair, and trimmed facial hair. He was last seen wearing a hiking bag with a waist strap, police said.

They were traveling in a white 2012 Ford Transit van that had a variety of stickers on the back and the Florida plate QFTG03. The van has been recovered, but authorities are urging anyone with information about Petito or Laundrie to call 1-800-CALL-FBI.

Additional reporting by Jacqueline Sweet.