Gabby Petito: Police searching for her fiancé, family says he's been missing for days: LIVE UPDATES
Police in North Port, Florida, confirmed they are now searching for missing woman Gabby Petito's fiancé Brian Laundrie late Friday and his family tells police they haven't seen him since Tuesday. Officers had gone to Laundrie's home on Friday expecting him to be there. He is considered a "person of interest" and isn't currently wanted for a crime, according to police.
Coverage for this event has ended.
Missing woman Gabby Petito was just two blocks away from Salt Lake City’s FBI office last month when she was last seen in public at a hotel near the airport, according to reports.
Petito checked out of the Fairfield Inn and Suites on Aug. 24, soon before she went missing, FOX 13 of Salt Lake City reported.
Her mother said she last saw her daughter over Facetime around the same time that the 22-year-old and her fiancé Brian Laundrie were believed to have left Utah for Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming.
Click here to read more on Fox News.
"As a national search for Gabby Petito (22) continues, the search for Brian Laundrie (23) continues in North Port. Saturday, North Port Police, along with the FBI and other nearby agency partners searched the Carlton Reserve area to the North of the City of North Port," North Port Police Public Information Officer Josh Taylor said in a statement to Fox News.
"Roughly 25,000 acres. Brian’s parents have reported to us that he was last seen Tuesday when he went for a hike there," the statement continued. "They reported him missing three days later. The North Port Police Department and the FBI are working to corroborate the story."
Taylor added that it is "important to note that while Brian is a person of interest in Gabby’s disappearance, he is not wanted for a crime. We are not currently working a crime investigation. We are now working multiple missing person investigations."
Taylor also said that a ground search is being conducted in parts of Wyoming by investigators in an attempt to locate Gabby Petito.
The search at Carlton Reserve is done for the day due to darkness.
Photo of swamp buggy obtained by Fox News
A combined task force of the North Port Police Department, FBI and related agencies entered the Carlton Reserve Saturday morning. Officers and agents entered the heavily wooded area wearing body armor after Laundrie’s parents reported him missing since Tuesday and named the reserve as his possible last known location.
North Port police are prepared for “the worst,” including a possibly agitated encounter with Brian Laundrie.
A combined task force of the North Port Police Department, FBI and related agencies entered the Carlton Reserve Saturday morning. Officers and agents entered the heavily wooded area wearing body armor after Laundrie’s parents reported him missing since Tuesday and named the reserve as his possible last known location.
“I think you always prepare for the worst and hope for the best,” North Port spokesperson Josh Taylor told Fox News. “You have to have your guard up, you have that potential.
”When asked if officers expect Laundrie to be agitated, Taylor said, “Have you been following the news? Yea.”
Pizza donation for police and media crews that have remained outside the Laundrie home.
North Port police confirm that they spoke to a TikTok user who claimed to have given Brian Laundrie a ride just days after missing woman Gabby Petito was last confirmed seen alive.
Petito has been missing for almost a month: Her mother, Nicole Schmidt, last reported speaking with her daughter on Aug. 25, and the family filed a missing person’s report on Sept. 11. Police named Brian Laundrie, Petito’s fiancé, a person of interest this week as the search for Petito intensified.
Miranda Baker, in videos posted to TikTok Friday, said that she and her boyfriend had picked up Laundrie at 5:30 p.m. on Aug. 29 after spotting him hitchhiking on the side of the road. She said she spoke with police about the encounter.
Click here to read more on Fox News.
Florida authorities set out to search for Brian Laundrie.
The North Port Police Department, FBI, and agency partners are currently conducting a search of the vast Carlton Reserve for Brian Laundrie.
North Port police confirmed Saturday morning that multiple law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, are searching Carlton Reserve for Brian Laundrie.
Laundrie's family cited the reserve as his last location, saying he had headed there earlier this week. His family reported him missing Friday night, saying they had last seen him on Tuesday.
The Rustic Row in Victor, Idaho
The owner of a local shop in Idaho told East Idaho News that she saw Gabby Petito and Brian Laundrie on either Aug. 25 or 26.
The owner of the Rustic Row in Victor said that the couple spent about 15 to 20 minutes in the store. She said that the couple mentioned they were thinking of going to Yellowstone next, and the store owner suggested using the west entrance.
She reported the information to the FBI when she saw on the news that Petito was missing.
The Florida police investigating the disappearance of Gabby Petito know more than they are saying at this point, according to former detective Ted Williams.
Petito has been missing for almost a month: Her mother, Nicole Schmidt, last reported speaking with her daughter on Aug. 25, and the family filed a missing person’s report on Sept. 11. Police named Brian Laundrie, Petito’s fiancé, a person of interest this week as the search for Petito intensified.
Williams, an attorney and former detective in Washington, D.C., told Fox News that the police likely know more than they are saying if they entered the home.
Click here to read more on Fox News.
A police vehicle parked outside Brian Laundrie's home in Florida.
A police vehicle remained parked outside Brian Laundrie's home overnight after his parents called them there to report their son missing. Laundrie's parents say they last saw him on Tuesday.
Missing woman Gabby Petito was just two blocks away from Salt Lake City’s FBI office last month when she was last seen in public at a hotel near the airport, according to reports. Petito checked out of the Fairfield Inn and Suites on Aug. 24, soon before she went missing, FOX 13 of Salt Lake City reported.
Her mother said she last saw her daughter over Facetime around the same time that the 22-year-old and her fiancé Brian Laundrie were believed to have left for Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming.
Click here to read more on Fox News.
The family of missing woman Gabby Petito responded Friday night after news emerged that the Florida family of her fiancé, Brian Laundrie, claimed they haven’t seen him since Tuesday.
"All of Gabby’s family want the world to know that Brian is not missing, he is hiding. Gabby is missing," the law office of Richard B. Stafford, attorney for the Petito and Schmidt families, said in a statement.
But police in North Port, about 85 miles south of Tampa, stressed late Friday that Laundrie was not considered a suspect in Gabby Petito's disappearance.
Click here to read more on Fox News.
Gabby Petito’s father was involved in a "public service" incident report at her fiancé Brian Laundrie’s home on Sept. 10, nine days after he returned to Florida without her from a cross-country road trip and a day before she was reported missing by her mother, according to heavily redacted police reports.
Petito did not go to the home physically, North Port police said separately, but expressed concern about his daughter's whereabouts.
Nearly everything but the time and address is redacted due to the open investigation, but the documents do link Joseph Petito to a police incident report involving the home where his daughter lived with Laundrie and his parents at 6:30 p.m. on Sept. 10. The address came up twice on Sept. 11 for follow-up investigations.
Click here to read more on Fox News.
Florida police were seen entering the home of missing woman Gabby Petito, fiancé Brian Laundrie and his parents Friday evening, and stunned investigators said Laundrie's parents hadn't seen him since Tuesday.
Police arrived at 6:20 p.m., and two officers exited the home around 7 p.m.
One returned inside about a minute later with what appeared to be an evidence envelope. It was not immediately clear where Laundrie was. But he wasn’t at the home.
North Port Police spokesman Josh Taylor told Fox News before police arrived at the home Friday night that investigators believed they would find Laundrie there.
Click here to read more on Fox News.
Florida police confirmed late Friday they are searching for Brian Laundrie, the fiancé of missing woman Gabby Petito.
Officers went to Laundrie’s home on Friday expecting to see him but his family now says they don’t know where he is and they haven't seen him since Tuesday, a release from the North Port Police Department said.
Laundrie has been called a “person of interest” in the case and the release reiterated he is not currently wanted for a crime.
“We understand the community’s frustration. We are frustrated too,” the release said. “For six days the North Port Police Department and FBI have been pleading with the family to contact investigators regarding Brian’s Fiancé Gabby Petito.”
Friday was the first time the family had spoken with investigators in detail, the release said.
“It is important to note that while Brian is a person of interest in Gabby’s disappearance, he is not wanted for a crime. We are not currently working a crime investigation. We are now working a multiple missing person investigations.”
Live Coverage begins here