Brian Laundrie’s family attorney, Steven Bertolino, recently revealed why Brian Laundrie’s parents never spoke to the police about Gabby Petito.

Laundrie is a missing person of interest in the disappearance and murder of Gabby Petito, his girlfriend. The couple lived together in North Port, Florida.

  • Over the summer, the couple traveled to the western United States, visiting Utah, Idaho and Wyoming. But only Laundrie returned home to Florida on Sept. 1, driving Petito’s van. Laundrie and his family hired a lawyer and invoked their Fifth Amendment rights.
  • On Sept. 11, Petito was reported missing. Her was body later found in Wyoming having died by strangulation.
  • Laundrie was reported missing on FSept. 17. He allegedly left his home on Sept. 13. Since then, authorities have been searching for him at the Carlton Reserve, where he was known to hike.
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The Laundrie family, though, has remained quiet during the search, often not speaking with the public, the media or the police.

CNN’s Chris Cuomo asked Bertolino Wednesday night about why the family hasn’t spoken out about Petito, despite her murder.

  • “Now is not the right time to talk about the situation with Gabby,” he told CNN. “The family was following my directions. I told them not to talk with anybody, not to say a word, I was the intermediary between the family and law enforcement. 
  • “Everybody has the right to remain silent and that’s what I told my clients and that’s what they did,” he said. 

On Wednesday, the FBI in Tampa, Florida, said they found human remains — along with a backpack and other items that belonged to Laundrie — at the Carlton Reserve in Florida, as I wrote for the Deseret News.

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Bertolino said that the family will continue to monitor the ongoing situation at the park.

  • He told CNN “the probability is strong, that it is Brian’s remains” at the park.
  • “It’s quite sad, you can imagine as a parent, finding your son’s belonging alongside from the remains. That’s got to be heartbreaking. And I can tell you that they are heartbroken,” he told CNN on Wednesday.
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