BRIAN 'SHOT HIMSELF'
Family lawyer reveals forensic conclusion
Brian Laundrie, the sole suspect in the death of Long Island native Gabby Petito, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, a lawyer for his family said Tuesday.
“Chris and Roberta Laundrie have been informed that the cause of death was a gunshot wound to the head and the manner of death was suicide,” attorney Steve Bertolino told The Post. “Chris and Roberta are still mourning the loss of their son and are hopeful that these findings bring closure to both families.”
A forensic anthropologist determined the manner of death to be suicide. Neither Bertolino nor the bureau had previously mentioned a gun being involved.
Laundrie’s parents had been missing a pistol ever since Brian took off, their lawyer claimed.
“While law enforcement was at the Laundrie home on Sept. 17 to complete the missing person report for Brian, we volunteered to surrender all guns in the home to avoid any possible issue going forward,” attorney Bertolino said.
“While retrieving and taking inventory of the guns, it was realized one pistol was missing,” he said.
The District 12 Medical Examiner in Sarasota initially said they identified Laundrie through dental records, but said in a release Tuesday that they also used “DNA analysis” to make the determination.
In a statement Tuesday, Petito family lawyer Richard Stafford said his clients are aware of the suicide determination, but said they have been asked by federal prosecutors to refrain from issuing a statement.
“The family was asked to not make any comments and let the FBI continue the investigation,” Stafford wrote. “The family was also asked to wait for the United States Attorney’s Office to make a determination on whether any additional individuals will be charged.”
Authorities have not identified any other persons of interest in the case but Laundrie’s parents have been the target of unproven claims by protesters and Internet sleuths that they helped their son elude police.
Laundrie, 23, was being sought in Petito’s disappearance and death when authorities discovered his skeletal remains at the 25,000-acre Carlton Reserve near his parents’ home in North Port, Fla., on Oct. 20.
Police said his remains were submerged for weeks inside the marshy park before they were found — creating a challenge for coroners.
The young couple were on a cross-country trip when Petito, a 22-year-old Long Island native, went missing and Laundrie returned home in her van without her on Sept. 1.
Petito’s mother reported her daughter missing 10 days later and authorities found her remains in a Wyoming campground on Sept. 19.
Her death was ruled a homicide by manual strangulation while Laundrie remained missing and then became the subject of a massive, weeks-long FBI-led manhunt.
That search ended when his partial skeletal remains were found, but after his initial autopsy results were inconclusive, they were sent to an anthropologist for further review.
Federal prosecutors in Wyoming also said Tuesday that they would drop fraud charges against Laundrie for allegedly racking up more than $1,000 on Petito’s debit card days after she was last seen alive.