A water-damaged notebook found near Brian Laundrie 's body may be 'salvageable', cops say, raising hopes it could yield clue...
A water-damaged notebook found near Brian Laundrie's body may be 'salvageable', cops say, raising hopes it could yield clues to help solve Gabby Petito's murder.
The FBI confirmed that a notebook, along with a backpack and dry bag, belonging to Laundrie had been found in an area of Florida's Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park that was previously underwater, not far from where they found the 23-year-old's remains on October 20.
The items were found by Laundrie's parents, Chris and Roberta Laundrie, who were helping police comb through the area where their son was found.
'As happenstance was, they stumbled upon these items,' family attorney Steve Bertolino told CNN.
It is unclear whether the notebook contains any of Laundrie's writing or artwork, as he frequently shared drawings on Instagram, but FBI officials said the contents of the book may reveal further insight to Laundrie's state of mind, Fox News reports.
Police and FBI officials retrieved items belonging to Brian Laundrie, including a notebook, near where his body was found in the Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park
Chris, left, and Roberta Laundrie were at the scene to help investigators search the area where their son was found when they stumbled across the items belonging to him
Brian Laundrie was the sole person of interest in the murder of Gabby Petito
This is the desolate swampland scene dotted with orange FBI marker paint in Florida where fugitive Brian Laundrie’s bones were discovered, DailyMail.com confirmed on Saturday
Laundrie was the sole person of interest in the disappearance and murder to his fiancée, Gabby Petito, whose body was found in Utah's Teton National Forest on Sept. 19.
Laundrie's skeletal remains were found in the Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park inside the Carlton Reserve on Oct. 20. Authorities have yet to determine a cause of death.
A source close to the investigation told CNN that the remains 'appear to have been there for a while' and that 'based on the condition of the remains, it may take some time to officially identify. It is going to be a very thorough process with the medical examiner.'
Bertolino said the Laundrie's will not be holding a funeral for their son, and that his remains will be cremated and given to his parents 'when the time comes.'
After learning of his son's death, Chris told reporters stationed outside his house to 'please let me grieve with my family.'
Chris and Roberta Laundrie (pictured) alerted investigators on Tuesday night that they intended to search Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park for their son on Wednesday morning. The FBI and North Port Police Department agreed to meet them at the park
The remains and backpack were found near a bridge between Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park and the Carlton Reserve, just four miles north of Brian Laundrie's home, just a mile or two into the park. The Laundrie parents say they told the police that it's where Brian might have been, but the portion of the land was submerged in water when cops first searched it in September
The scene is just 700 yards from the entrance to the Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park and still has the orange and lime green marker flags placed by the FBI
Brian Laundrie's father Christopher, 62, was spotted outside of his North Port, Florida, home on Saturday morning hammering a 'no trespassing' sign into the grass of his front lawn
The sudden discovery of Laundrie's body inside the reserve – described as 'like Jurassic Park' by one search and rescue expert – came after a massive hunt for Laundrie began there on September 17.
More than 50 law enforcement officers, many in tactical gear and wielding rifles, had combed the treacherous swamp in huge all-terrain vehicles – while drones using infra-red technology covered areas they could not tackle due to flood water.
For weeks is appeared there was absolutely no evidence of him being there.
North Port police said they did cover the area where Laundrie was found, but in airboats, suggesting that his body had been submerged underwater during the initial stages of the search.
It is not known how long Laundrie was in the reserve before he died. He fled there on September 13, two days after police arrived at the home he shared with his parents to speak with him over Gabby's disappearance.
On Tuesday, it was also revealed that cops had mistakenly believed they were surveilling Laundrie when they were actually keeping tabs on his mother Roberta.
Officials told WINK they'd made the mistake because Roberta Laundrie was wearing a baseball cap, and had a similar build to her late son.
Laundrie's parents refused to let police talk to their son – and North Port Police have told DailyMail.com that officers did not actually see Laundrie that night.
He had arrived back alone in North Port on September 1 from a road trip to Utah and Wyoming with Gabby in her white 2012 Ford Transit van.
Gabby's body was found on September 19 in a lonely spot in the Bridger-Teton National Forest in Wyoming. She had been strangled.
Confirmation that Laundrie was dead was issued by the FBI last Thursday.
Mourners have created a shrine to murdered Gabby Petito on the Laundrie family's lawn
Minutes before the news broke, two North Port police officers arrived at the Laundrie home to tell his parents.
His father opened the door after the solemn officers knocked twice – and DailyMail.com photos show his stunned face as he confronted the reality of his son's death.
Gabby's heartbroken family have only recently been able to collect their murdered daughter's ashes. Mom Nichole Schmidt, stepdad Jim Schmidt, dad Joe Petito and stepmom Tara made the devastating trip to a funeral home in Jackson, Wyoming, last week.
It was only a few days after Teton County Coroner Dr. Brent Blue announced Gabby had been manually strangled before being dumped close to a remote campsite in Grand Teton National Park.
The remote site where the blogger's body was discovered has become a shrine to Petito, complete with a stone cross dotted with flowers.
Dr. Blue refused to provide additional details about the autopsy's findings including: if her body was buried, whether any drugs were found in her system and whether she was killed in the same spot her body was found.
He did deny online speculation that Petito was pregnant when she was killed.
The three-to-four weeks her body was believed to be in the wilderness, however, put her death around the August 27-30 period investigators believe Petito and Laundrie had traveled to the area.
Only this week, Gabby's mom had said she wanted 'coward' Laundrie to spend the rest of his life 'in a cell'.
Brian Laundrie and Gabby Petito are shown on August 12 after being pulled over by police in their van. The cops had received reports of a fight between the pair. Witnesses said they saw Laundrie hit Petito. She was however deemed to be the aggressor in the argument, and the pair were separated for the night
Nichole, who reported Gabby missing on September 11 after losing contact with her, said she thought her daughter would be safe with Brian on their trip.
But her view has since changed, branding him a cold-blooded killer who was being protected by his parents who had refused to talk to her.
'Silence speaks volumes,' she told 60 Minutes Australia.
Of the parents, she said: 'I believe they know most of the information. I would love to just face to face ask, 'Why are you doing this? Just tell me the truth.'
'He's a coward. I don't want to say he's insane because he went home, he's hiding, he used her credit card. That's not somebody who's gone crazy.
'He knows what he is doing, he knew what he was doing. I just want to get him in a cell for the rest of his life.'
Her husband, Jim, added: 'We want vengeance. And justice.'
'I hope she didn't suffer and that she wasn't in any pain,' added Nichole.
'That she was in a place she wanted to be, looking at the beautiful mountains. This was evil. She was taken at somebody else's hand. It's not fair.'
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