The search for Brian Laundrie “will be scaled back” as the FBI will lead the search for Gabby Petito’s boyfriend, the North Port police department said Monday.
The police told me in an email that the FBI will continue to lead the search for Laundrie, which “will be scaled back and targeted based on intelligence. Hopefully, water will lower in areas hard to currently access.”
“I don’t think you’re going to see those large scale types of efforts this week,” North Port police department told me.
The search for Laundrie has been isolated to the Carlton Reserve, a 25,000-acre park, in Sarasota County, Florida. Laundrie was reported missing on Sept. 17 by his family, who said he had left days beforehand.
North Port police spokesperson Joshua Taylor told the Deseret News in an email last week that the search will not extend to Utah or Wyoming.
“Just here,” he said.
Laundrie was a person of interest in the disappearance of Gabby Petito. Petito and Laundrie went on a cross-country road trip this summer, but only Laundrie returned to North Port on Sept. 1. Ten days later, Petito was reported missing.
On Sept. 19, the FBI said it had found human remains in Wyoming that were consistent with Petito’s description. On Tuesday, Sept. 21, Teton County Coroner Dr. Brent Blue confirmed that the remains were Petito, who, he said, died by homicide.
Last Friday, the U.S. District Court of Wyoming issued a federal arrest warrant for Laundrie, saying he used an “unauthorized access device” — specifically a Capitol One Bank debit card — in the days after the death of Petito.