Brian Laundrie’s family has broken their silence on the death of his fiancée, Gabby Petito.
Roberta and Christopher Laundrie’s lawyer issued a brief statement to multiple outlets on Wednesday, one day after FBI’s Denver field office confirmed that the body found in Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming over the weekend belonged to Petito.
“May Gabby rest in peace,” the statement read.
Petito’s death has been initially determined a homicide, according to a press release from the FBI Denver field office. An official cause of death is pending autopsy results.
#FBIDenver appreciates the collaboration of all agencies and personnel who assisted in the search, recovery, and identification efforts. @NatlParkService @forestservice @GrandTetonNPS @BridgerTetonNF pic.twitter.com/2CWXNBMUn2
— FBI Denver (@FBIDenver) September 21, 2021
The 22-year-old influencer vanished during a months-long cross-country road trip with Laundrie. Her family reported her missing on Sept. 11, more than a week after Laundrie returned home without her.
Authorities are now searching for Laundrie. His family told police last week that they had not seen him for days after he left with a backpack on Sept. 14. On Monday morning, police and FBI investigators executed a search warrant on the home where Laundrie, 23, and his parents were living in North Port, Fla., and declared it a “crime scene.”
As of Wednesday, Laundrie has not been charged with a crime or deemed a suspect. The Laundrie family’s lawyer, Steven P. Bertolino, said in a statement last week that Laundrie had been advised not to speak on the case.
“In my experience, intimate partners are often the first person law enforcement focuses their attention on in cases like this, and the warning that ‘any statement will be used against you’ is true, regardless of whether my client had anything to do with Ms. Petito’s disappearance,” the statement read in part.
As the case continues to unfold, the Petito family has asked to be given space during this difficult time, per their attorney Richard Stafford.
Following the news that human remains found in Bridger-Teton National Forest matched Gabby’s description, her family shared an outpouring of tributes dedicated to her.
“Gonna miss you till the end gabbs #justiceforgabby,” her brother, T.J. Schmidt, wrote on Instagram, alongside a photo of her standing in front of a wolf mural.
Her father, Joseph Petito, also shared a heartbreaking photo of his daughter standing in front of an angel wing painted mural.
“#gabbypetito she touched the world,” he wrote in his caption.
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