Posted on 09/21/2021 5:23:33 AM PDT by Red Badger
Boyfriend Brian Laundrie, 23, has been identified as a person of interest in the case. He was last seen Tuesday by family members in Florida _________________________________________________________________________________
Investigators have gained court permission to access the contents of an external hard drive they say was found in the van of a 22-year-old Long Island woman who disappeared while on a cross-country trek and is believed dead -- as the search continues for the still-missing boyfriend said to be a person of interest in the case.
The search warrant confirmation from Florida's 12th Judicial Circuit court in Sarasota County says the external hard drive was discovered during the Sept. 14 execution of another search warrant linked to the case of Gabby Petito.
That Sept. 14 search warrant applied to the van she and Brian Laundrie traveled across parts of the western United States in -- and it was the same white van that Laundrie returned to his home in Florida driving alone, 10 days before Petito's parents reported her missing. Investigators said in their warrant request they believe the hard drive to contain evidence connected to her disappearance.
They also included newly public details -- that the last text message Petito's mother received from her phone was "odd." It read, "Can you help Stan, I just keep getting his voicemails and missed calls." The reference to Stan was regarding Petito's grandfather, but Petito's mother said she never calls him "Stan," which made her concerned there was something wrong with her daughter. The phone was turned off that same day, more than two weeks (15 days) ago, the filing said.
The initial filing also said investigators believed there was a probable cause that the hard drive contained "evidence relevant to proving that a felony has been committed," according to the document.
#UPDATE: The #FBI is executing a court-authorized search warrant today at the Laundrie residence in North Port, FL relevant to the Gabrielle “Gabby” Petito investigation. No further details can be provided since this is an active and ongoing investigation. @FBIDenver pic.twitter.com/uxrtVNIZ4u
— FBI Tampa (@FBITampa) September 20, 2021 The white van was located at the Laundrie family address where Petito had been living with her boyfriend's family prior to their trip on Sept. 11, the same day Petito's mother reported her missing. Laundrie's family refused investigators permission to speak with their son, later described as a person of interest, at that time.
According to the court filing approving the warrant, the court clerk said there was probable cause Petito was "unable to care for herself due to her increased anxiety," which created exigent circumstances that would warrant the search. That finding was based on a "totality of the circumstances" that includes a 911 call response to Utah where Petito was seen on body camera footage describing herself as suffering from high anxiety and having difficulty managing the intensity emotions.
In the 911 call that preempted that response, a recording of which was released on Monday, the caller states that he saw a man slapping a woman inside a van that matched the description of the one Petito and Laundrie had been driving. The caller said that the couple ran up and down the sidewalk, "he proceeded to hit her, hopped in the car and they drove off."
Petito's cellphone had been turned off for about 15 days, with no confirmed sightings of her since Aug. 27, at the point the court authorized the warrant. It did so to assist in the finding of a "missing endangered subject," the clerk wrote.
Police executed the van search warrant on Sept. 14 and said a digital forensics lab report accounting for the full inventory of what was found in the van would follow. Further details of what may have been found in the van weren't immediately known.
Meanwhile, federal, state and local investigators are still trying to ascertain the whereabouts of Laundrie, who hasn't been seen since family members said they said him Tuesday. North Port, Florida, police scoured a vast nature preserve over the weekend and said Monday they felt they had exhausted that area.
It's not clear where investigators planned to search for him next. A large contingent of agents with equipment descended on Laundrie's North Port home Monday morning hours later.
Law enforcement agencies continue to search for Laundrie, police said. Authorities have continued to stress that he is not a suspect, merely a person of interest, and that they are pursuing a missing person investigation in his case.
The developments early Monday follow the FBI's news a day earlier that a body believed to be Petito was found by law enforcement agents who spent the weekend searching campsites on the eastern border of Grand Teton National Park.
The cause of death has not yet been determined, said FBI Supervisory Special Agent Charles Jones. Specifics on where and how the body was found were not disclosed. An autopsy won't be conducted until Tuesday, officials said.
“Full forensic identification has not been completed to confirm 100% that we found Gabby, but her family has been notified,” Jones said. “This is an incredibly difficult time for (Petito’s) family and friends.”
Jones and other law enforcement officials declined to take questions during a Sunday evening press conference in Grand Teton announcing the body's discovery.
Petito's father, Joseph, posted on social media an image of a broken heart above a picture of his daughter with a message that said, “she touched the world."
An attorney who has been acting as a spokesman for Petito’s family asked in a statement that the family be given room to grieve.
Attorney Richard Benson Stafford indicated that the family would make a public statement at a later date, and he thanked officials with the FBI, Grand Teton Search and Rescue and other agencies that participated in the search for Petito.
“The family and I will be forever grateful,” Stafford said in a statement.
An attorney for the Laundrie family, meanwhile, has planned a press conference on Long Island for Tuesday afternoon.
Funny that he should go missing just before she’s found dead. I can’t understand why.
My guess is he skipped the country.
He isn’t dead. He is just a murderer and on the run.
Yep, cowards don't off themselves.
Law enforcement could develop a better timetable if his parents would come clean. They’ve been tight-lipped from the beginning. I understand they want to protect their son, but they’re only causing their son - and possibly themselves - more legal problems.
Whatever happened, his choice was to run home to his parents. This is a grown man who has to have mommy and daddy handle his messes. You don’t leave home with your girlfriend and come home without her unless you can tell everyone where she is, including contact information.
And innocent people don't run. He did it. Zero question about it from the very beginning, IMO.
Are there still laws against ‘harboring a fugitive’?
He came home, then left again. What did he come home for and what did he take with him when he left? Supplies? What type?
having difficulty managing the intensity emotions.
Are intensity emotions the same a emojis?
In the 911 call that preempted that response,
preempted = prompted? Whole different meaning.
I had a Grammar, but she died..........................
I still don’t want to believe this was outright murder.
However, there’s no question that no matter what happened, he left her. He took no steps to bring in help, he just took off. In what was legally her van. He wasn’t certain of her fate, that’s why he felt safe going back home.
Michael Skakel, et al
If the parents are Republicans, yes. If the parents are Democrats, no. (Sorry to be so cynical, but there is good reason to be these days.)
After reading the 911 call, I believe it's likely..
Seems they were arguing a lot and she admitted she was a perfectionist. It was a small van and he didn’t look anywhere near a perfectionist type.
He probably got drunk and she pissed him off. He went ballistic and killed her.
There are, but he hasn’t been charged with anything. The cops went through his parents home and he isn’t there.
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