‘REMOTE’ HOPES
Searches in Wyoming for Gabby and Fla. for beau
Authorities scoured the wilderness in two national parks Saturday for missing Long Island native Gabby Petito — while at the same time a massive, multiagency search was launched in Florida for her boyfriend, Brian Laundrie, who managed to vanish despite being named by cops as a “person of interest” in a mystery that has captivated the nation.
About 50 state and federal officials using ATVs, drones and scent-tracking dogs fanned across Florida’s Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park, a 160acre, heavily wooded area, looking for Laundrie, whose parents say they last saw him Tuesday and reported him missing Friday.
Police couldn’t say whether Laundrie was armed or owned a gun. The search was paused at dark and set to resume Sunday morning.
Officials targeted the park because Laundrie’s parents pointed cops there Friday night. The parents and their lawyer would talk only about their son’s disappearance, not about Petito, 22, said North Port Police spokesman Josh Taylor.
“The first time that we’ve had any in-depth conversation with them was yesterday,” Taylor said. “Their attorney called and said the family is concerned about Brian’s whereabouts; they would like to file a missing-persons report.”
The call came two days after North Port Police Chief Todd Garrison insisted at a press briefing that he knew where Laundrie was.
Police said the search for Laundrie, 23, was a challenge because the park connects by bridge to the Mabry Carlton Reserve, a 24,565-acre wildlife habitat in Sarasota County.
“It’s muddy, it’s wet, there are a few unpaved dirt roads that are out there basically running along the power lines,” Taylor said.
Laundrie’s outdoor skills could further complicate the search.
“You could be out here for months if you wanted,” Taylor said.
He insisted police were not to blame for Laundrie going off the radar. “Brian is a resident of this community. Brian was not a suspect in a crime, Brian was a person of interest and a missing person.
“We’re not following him everywhere he’s going,” Taylor continued. “Were we trying to keep an eye out kind of where he’s at so that when needed we could potentially reach him? Yes. But our focus was putting resources on trying to find Gabby.
“Look, Brian wasn’t willing to talk, that was abundantly clear. We were attempting, attempting, attempting,” he added. “We knew we would deal with Brian eventually, but this is certainly a twist.”
The Petito family lawyer insisted Laundrie isn’t missing.
“All of Gabby’s family want the world to know that Brian is not missing, he is hiding,” Richard B. Stafford said. “Gabby is missing.”
Meanwhile, the FBI’s Denver office, which is handling the case, tweeted that it was conducting “ground surveys” in Wyoming’s Bridger-Teton National Forest. The agency was narrowing its focus to the Spread Creek Dispersed Camping Ground, on the east boundary with Grand Teton National Park.
Elite ranger units were also reportedly searching more remote areas in Grand Teton and nearby Yellowstone National Park.
Petito last spoke with her family on Aug. 24, telling them she was on the way to the Tetons, and posted her last Instagram photo a day later from Ogden, Utah, about 250 miles south of the park. Petito’s last text to her family, sent Aug. 30, inexplicably said she didn’t have cell service in Yosemite — nearly 900 miles away, in California. Petito’s mother has said she doesn’t believe that text was sent by her daughter.