Human remains found near items linked to Brian Laundrie, reports say

Brian Laundrie's family reported him as missing on Sept. 17, days before a coroner identified the remains of his fiance, Gabby Petito, at a national park in Wyoming.

Human remains have been found near items belonging to Brian Laundrie along a trail he frequented in the Florida wilderness, multiple media outlets confirm.

Laundrie, 23, is a person of interest in the killing of his fiancé Gabby Petito, who was reported missing Sept. 11 by her parents while the couple were on a cross-country trip in the western United States.

A Sarasota County Medical Examiner has been called to the trail in the Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park, Reuters and CNN reported on Wednesday.

The new evidence comes more than three weeks after Laundrie’s family reported him missing on Sept. 17, telling police they hadn’t seen him in three days.

The case generated enormous public interest but has also raised questions over the unequal attention given to Petito, a white woman, compared to the hundreds of cases missing and murdered Indigenous women and other women of colour across Canada and the U.S.

Petito’s remains were identified on Sept. 21 after her body was found along the border of Grand Teton National Park, 48 kilometres northeast of Jackson, Wyoming, where the couple had been camping.

Dr. Brent Blue, the leading coroner in Petito’s case, confirmed last week that she was strangled to death likely three or four weeks before her body was found.

The couple had posted photos of their trip on their social media accounts, but chilling bodycam footage and a 911 call that were released to the public hinted to the possibility of a darker side to Petito and Laundrie’s relationship.