Gabby Petito’s partner Brian Laundrie has been missing for nine days now. And his family claims to have no information on his recent whereabouts.
Authorities discovered Petito’s body on Sunday, Sept. 19, and confirmed her identity during an autopsy conducted on Tuesday, Sept. 21. Police deemed Laundrie a person of interest in Petito’s case after he returned home to his parents without her. He spent two weeks at their home in North Port, Florida, before leaving for a “hiking” trip on Tuesday, Sept. 14. Chris and Roberta Laundrie reported him missing on Friday, Sept. 17.
Ever since Laundrie returned home, he and his family have been tight-lipped with police. They hired a lawyer named Steven Bertolino immediately and sent most of their communication through him. But according to TMZ, they’re not talking about Laundrie’s potential location.
The outlet reported that Laundrie’s parents left their house on Thursday morning. As they left, they were asked if they had any updates on where their son might be. TMZ said they had “nothing useful to say” about the matter.
The longer Laundrie remains missing, the more complicit he seems in Gabby Petito’s death, which has been ruled as a homicide. Even Laundrie’s neighbors believe he should turn himself in now, as the nationwide manhunt for the 23-year-old continues.
Brian Laundrie’s Neighbors Urge Him to Turn Himself in for Gabby Petito Case
North Port, Florida, resident Charlene Guthrie lives across the street from the Laundries. After seeing and hearing everything that’s happened in the Gabby Petito case, she told Fox News her thoughts on the situation.
“I’m really upset now because … [the Laundries] should have absolutely come forward now,” Guthrie said. “I mean, I just … can’t believe they didn’t do something. I’m really angry now that they … let this go. And that everything was so natural and they remained so normal through the whole thing, you know, while they were here, till he went on the run.”
Guthrie gives examples of eerily ordinary activities the family did while Gabby rotted in Wyoming.
“He mowed the lawn. He and his mother went for a bicycle ride around the block,” Guthrie said. “I mean, everything was just normal life once he came back. And I just can’t get over the fact that they — it seemed like nothing bothered him. How can you do that?”
While Laundrie isn’t technically a suspect in the case, Guthrie said his disappearance and Gabby’s homicide looks “really, really bad for him.”
“I have children, and I know that you do what you can to protect your child, but, you know, that can go so far, and you gotta do the right thing eventually. You have to,” Guthrie said about Chris and Roberta Laundrie’s silence.
