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TAMPA (WFLA) – The Laundrie family’s attorney Steven Bertolino announced on Friday that Brian Laundrie, Gabby Petito’s fiance left his family house on Sept. 14 without his wallet or cell phone.
According to NewsNation’s Brian Entin, Bertolino says Laundrie’s parents are concerned Brian might hurt himself.
Laundrie’s parents met with Bertolino in Orlando on Thursday.
Laundrie was reported missing by his family last Friday, Sept. 17, sparking a massive search that is still ongoing as of Friday, Sept. 24. According to North Port police, family members said they last saw Laundrie on Sept. 14 when he drove his Ford Mustang to the Carlton Reserve in Sarasota County more than a week ago.
As of 5 p.m. ET, the major ground search in the Carlton Reserve has wrapped up for Friday night according to North Port Public Information Officer Josh Taylor. But he and the North Port Police Department made clear Friday they don’t see the search at Carlton as a waste of time, despite social media comments
“We are not wasting our time out here,” North Port Police Commander Joe Fussell added. “We are doing our due diligence to find Brian in an area that intelligence had led us that he could possibly be in. It’s on us to make sure that we search this area as best as we can, as massive as it is, with the resources that we have to try and find Brian.”
An arrest warrant was officially issued for Laundrie on Sept. 23, however, the warrant is not connected to what happened to Petito – but what happened after her death.
According to the documents, Laundrie used a Capital One bank debit card and a pin for two Capital One bank accounts “knowingly and with intent to defraud” between Aug. 30 and Sept. 1 in Wyoming and elsewhere. Using the accounts, he bought items worth more than a thousand dollars, authorities say.
Police say the Laundrie family retained a lawyer soon after Gabby Petito was reported missing by her family on Sept. 11. Petito mysteriously disappeared during a cross-country road trip she was on with Laundrie, who police say returned home to North Port alone on Sept. 1.