23rd September, 2021
The FBI has formally issued an an arrest warrant for Brian Laundrie, the boyfriend of hiker Gabby Petito found dead on Sunday.
The agency announced the warrant Thursday, following Laundrie’s indictment on federal charges in connection with Gabby’s death.
Laundrie is charged with one count of use of unauthorized access devices — namely a Capital One debit card, according to court papers.
The debit card belonged to Gabby Petito. Laundrie used it between 30 August and 1 September, after her homicide.
“On Wednesday, September 22, 2021, the US District Court of Wyoming issued a federal arrest warrant for Brian Christopher Laundrie,” a statement from the FBI Denver Division said.
FBI Denver Special Agent in Charge Michael Schneider urged people to come forward with any information about Laundrie’s whereabouts.
“While this warrant allows law enforcement to arrest Mr Laundrie, the FBI and our partners across the country continue to investigate the facts and circumstances of Ms. Petito’s homicide,” Agent Schneider said.
The wanted Laundrie has been missing for six days after returning home to North Port, Florida on Sept. 1 — without Petito — following their weeks-long cross-country trip.
Meanwhile, the frantic search for him in a vast Florida wilderness entered a sixth day on Thursday as the mystery deepened around a case that has engrossed Americans.
A team of divers joined police and FBI agents using boats and helicopters looking for the 23 year-old Laundrie, in the alligator-infested Carlton Reserve again on Thursday morning, a spokesman said.
As of Wednesday night, he said, they had “nothing” to show for their efforts so far.
Authorities have not said why they are convinced Laundrie may still be somewhere inside the more than 24,000-acre (9,700-hectare) wilderness preserve near his home in North Port, Florida, more than a week after he told family members he was headed there to hike alone.
North Port police say Laundrie’s parents did not report him missing until Sept. 14, three days after the family last saw him.
The Carlton Reserve has more than 80 miles (128 km) of hiking trails but is dominated by swampy water.
Many Americans have closely followed the case since Petito, 22, was reported missing on Sept. 11.
Ten days earlier, Laundrie had returned home to North Port without her from a cross-country road trip the couple chronicled in social media posts. read more
Petito’s body was discovered on Sunday in a remote corner of the Bridger-Teton National Forest in western Wyoming, less than 1,000 feet (300 m) from where, on the evening of Aug. 27, another pair of travel bloggers caught video images of the couple’s white Ford Transit parked on a dirt road.
In identifying her remains, Teton County medical examiners ruled Petito’s death a homicide but did not make the cause of her death public.