The FBI in Tampa said Monday that it would be executing a court-ordered search warrant for the Laundrie residence in North Port, Florida — and new details have emerged.
According to the FBI, the warrant was issued in relation to the Gabby Petito case. Petito, 22, was reported missing on Sept. 11 after she did not return home from a cross-country road trip with her boyfriend, Brian Laundrie, who returned home to North Port on Sept. 1.
On Friday, Sept. 17, Laundrie’s family told police that Brian had gone missing. His whereabouts are still unknown.
On Sunday, Sept. 17, the FBI in Denver said officials found human remains in Wyoming that were consistent with the description of Petito. The cause of death was not determined. A full forensic analysis will be done this week, as I wrote for the Deseret News.
Now, the FBI is searching Laundrie’s house for clues.
Per WFLA, the warrant said police can search “any and all external storage device(s), commercial software and hardware, computer disks, disk drives, tape drives, disk application programs, data disks, system disk operating systems, electronic mail, system storage devices, tape systems and hard drive and other computer-related operation equipment, in addition to computer photographs, graphic interchange formats and/or photographs, or other visual depictions.”
- WFLA reports that police can also look into “any digital documents, notes, passwords, encryptions or data security devices which might keep them from accessing the hardware, software, or data on the devices, as well as all data and files associated with the external device.
- And the police can review “data files, password-protected files, images, texts, files that show emails, text messages, and internet browsing history as well as computer files showing who owned, possessed or used the computers, and storage devices to include but not limited to email associated files,” according to WFLA.
Now, the search continues for Laundrie. The North Port police said in an email to the Deseret News that they will continue to look for Petito’s boyfriend, Laundrie. However, the search has moved away from the Carlton Reserve, where officials were searching over the weekend.