FBI: Suspected human remains found near items belonging to Brian Laundrie at Florida reserve

The FBI announced Wednesday that suspected human remains were found alongside personal items belonging to Brian Laundrie.

News 12 Staff

Oct 20, 2021, 6:00 PM

Updated 1,081 days ago

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The FBI announced Wednesday that suspected human remains were found alongside personal items belonging to Brian Laundrie.
“Earlier today investigators found what appears to be human remains along with personal items such as a backpack and notebook belonging to Brian Laundrie,” says FBI special agent Michael McPherson. “These items were found in an area that up until recently have been underwater.”
There is no official confirmation on the identity of the human remains.
The FBI earlier said that “items of interest” were found at the Carlton Reserve in Florida Wednesday in connection to the search for Laundrie.
“Our evidence response team is on scene using all available forensic resources to process the area,” McPherson says. “It’s likely the team will be on scene for several days."
A spokesman for the North Port police says the remains were found about two to three miles inside the reserve, which he says is about a 45-minute walk from the entrance of the environmental park where the news conference was held.
The search for the 23-year-old Blue Point native has been going on for weeks.
The Sarasota Medical Examiner’s Office was called to the reserve and the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that its cadaver dog, trained to find human remains, joined the search.
McPherson says the investigation is active and ongoing.
According to the Laundrie family attorney, a more thorough investigation of the area got underway after Laundrie’s parents went to the Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park to look for their son.
In a statement to News 12, the family’s attorney says after the FBI and local police were told about Chris and Roberta Laundrie’s intentions, they met them at the environmental park early Wednesday.
The attorney says after a brief search off a trail that Brian Laundrie frequented, some belongings of his were found.
His parents claim his son went to the reserve on Sept. 13, the day he was last seen. They said Brian Laundrie told them he was going for a hike but never came home.
According to the Laundrie attorney, Chris and Roberta Laundrie were at the reserve earlier Wednesday when human remains and some of Brian’s possessions were located in an area where they had initially advised law enforcement that Brian may be. Chris and Roberta Laundrie say they will wait for the forensic identification of the human remains before making any additional comments.
Brian Laundrie is the only person of interest in the disappearance and death of his fiancé Gabby Petito.
Her remains were found near Wyoming’s Grand Teton National Park on Sept. 19.
The medical examiner says Petito died of manual strangulation.
Tess Parker, who is making a mural of Petito in Blue Point, says many people are focusing on Brian Laundrie now, but she is choosing to keep her focus on Petito.
“She is the one that’s going to be remembered here in Blue Point,” Park says. “And that’s a very important thing.”