NORTH PORT, Fla. (WFLA) – The North Port police chief reiterated his need for more information Thursday in the missing person case of 22-year-old Gabby Petito, who went missing during a cross-country road trip she had been on with her fiancé.
Chief Todd Garrison tweeted Wednesday afternoon asking the attorney of Petito’s fiance for help in getting more information.
“Please call us to arrange a conversation with Brian Laundrie. Two people left on a trip and one person returned!” Garrison said.
Laundrie was named a person of interest earlier this week by the North Port Police Department in her case.
The police department’s spokesperson Josh Taylor said officers found the van the couple was traveling in at Laundrie’s parents’ home, where both Laundrie and Petito resided, and processed it for evidence with the FBI. However, when asked to speak with Laundrie, police “were essentially handed the information for their attorney.”
Laundries’ attorney released the following statement to 8 On Your Side regarding the case:
Many people are wondering why Mr. Laundrie would not make a statement or speak with law enforcement in the face of Ms. Petito’s absence. In my experience, intimate partners are often the first person law enforcement focuses their attention on in cases like this and the warning that “any statement made will be used against you” is true, regardless of whether my client had anything to do with Ms. Petito’s disappearance. As such, on the advice of counsel Mr. Laundrie is not speaking on this matter.
I have been informed that the North Port, Florida police have named Brian Laundrie as a “person of interest” in this matter. This formality has not really changed the circumstances of Mr. Laundrie being the
focus and attention of law enforcement and Mr. Laundrie will continue to remain silent on the advice of counsel.
When asked for his response to the statement, Garrison said, “Where’s Gabby? That’s my response.”
As of right now, police cannot bring Laundrie in for questioning since there’s no criminality suspected in the case, according to Garrison.
“Our focus is to find Gabby. My focus isn’t to bring Brian in right now, it’s to find Gabby,” he said. “Brian is exercising his constitutional rights and I have to respect that. But as of right now, the focus is finding Gabby.”