GABBY PETITO INVESTIGATION
Brian Laundrie cause of death ruled self-inflicted gunshot says family attorney
Nov 23, 2021, 11:48 AM | Updated: 2:58 pm
Gabrielle Petito and her boyfriend, Brian Laundrie. (Instagram)
(Instagram)
An autopsy revealed that cause of death for Brian Laundrie, a person of interest in the death of Gabby Petito, was a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
WFLA reported that the Laundrie family attorney, Steven Bertolino said, “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. Chris and Roberta are still mourning the loss of their son and are hopeful that these findings bring closure to both families.”
Laundrie disappeared Sept. 14, two weeks after the 23-year-old returned alone to his parents’ home in North Port, Florida.
#BrianLaundrie’s cause of death was a gunshot wound to the head, according to the District 12 Medical Examiner. Here is the official statement sent to me. @KSL5TV pic.twitter.com/Lh6NuW3MTB
— Garna Mejia KSL (@GarnaMejiaKSL) November 23, 2021
Petito’s family reported her missing Sept. 11, launching a search that garnered worldwide media attention and focused largely on the Carlton Reserve wilderness park near the Laundrie home. It is a densely wooded, swampy area that’s home to alligators, coyotes, bobcats, snakes and numerous other creatures.
The intense focus on Petito’s case has led to renewed calls for people to pay greater attention to cases involving missing Indigenous women and other people of color.
The body of Petitio, 22, was found Sept. 19 on the edge of Wyoming’s Grand Teton National Park, which the couple had visited. The coroner there concluded she died of strangulation and her body had been where it was found for three or four weeks.
