Others recovered in Brian search
Spotlight leads to remains of five
At least five bodies have been discovered during the massive manhunt for fugitive Brian Laundrie, who is the sole person of interest in Gabby Petito’s homicide.
With the 23-year-old Laundrie on the lam for more than a month after skipping out of his family’s Florida home, the other bodies have been found in areas where authorities have been looking, according to The Sun.
“How many bodies are just all willy nilly laying about?!” one person marveled in a Reddit thread, according to The Sun. “Since starting the hunt for BL there have been what, 5 BODIES?”
One body was found in Yadkin Valley Overlook in North Carolina amid rumors that Laundrie was hiding out there.
But despite rumors to the contrary, the FBI said there was “no evidence to connect” the corpse to Laundrie.
The victim, later identified as Josue Calderon, 33, had been stabbed to death.
Meanwhile, authorities in Wyoming did credit interest in the case for tips leading to the body of missing Texas dad Robert Lowery, 46.
Lowery’s body was found discovered close to where Laundrie’s girlfriend, Long Island native Gabby Petito, was found dead on Sept. 17.
Lowery’s death was declared a suicide.
The other cases were all bodies found in areas where the couple had traveled on their cross-country camping trip before Petito’s death in Wyoming, The Sun noted.
The most recent was the discovery of Sara Bayard, 55, off a highway in El Paso County, Colo., seen in Instagram photos from Petito and Laundrie’s travels that included a shot of Petitio at Monument Rocks on July 4 — the same day Bayard was reported missing, KKTV said.
Petito and Laundrie continued sharing images of their travels through Colorado Springs and the Great Sand Dunes National Park.
Interest in Petito’s case also helped lead to the discovery of a body in California’s Yucca Valley desert, where authorities were looking for missing New Jersey chef Lauren “El” Cho, 30, according to The Sun.
Cho had been missing since June 28, but her case garnered renewed interest when it was compared to Petito’s disappearance and murder.
Authorities have yet to confirm the remains are those of Cho.
In addition, a body found near a dumpster at a Mobile, Ala., Walmart on Sept. 20 also sparked rumors it could be the fugitive’s — who was reported to be in the same city that day.
However, authorities said the body was that of a homeless man with no connection to the case.
Meanwhile, the bodies of a newlywed couple slain in Utah were also briefly linked to the Long Island couple’s case before Laundrie went on the lam and Petito’s body was found.
The couple had been in Moab at the same time as Kylen Schulte, 24, and Crystal Turner, 38, were last seen before reporting fears of a “creepy guy” camping near them.
Schulte even worked in a food co-op outside of which Laundrie was seen slapping Petito, leading to their now-infamous stop by cops.
However, Grand County Sheriff Steven White later insisted that an investigation proved the cases were not linked.