Map of Brian Laundrie’s recent sightings as FBI hunt for Gabby Petito’s fiancé

BRIAN Laundrie, a key person of interest in the murder investigation of his vlogger fiancee Gabby Petito, remains at large more than a week after vanishing from his parents’ home in Florida.

Although he has not been formally identified as a suspect in Gabby’s death, the 23-year old was last seen by his parents on September 14th, when he said he was going to go hiking in Carlton Reserve near Venice. He never returned.

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He reportedly drove from his family home to the park in his silver Ford Mustang.

Police were told by Laundrie’s parents that they became concerned after their son didn’t return from the hike.

They claim that they drove up to the park of 25,000 acres, spotted Laundrie’s car, and then drove it home. Police had left a note on the windshield asking for the vehicle to be removed.

They also claimed they did not have contact with their son at that time.

FBI investigators have been searching the park for Laundrie for several days.

Read our Gabby Petito live blog for the very latest news and updates…

On Wednesday, an underwater recovery team was called to assist with the search but no further details were offered.

A number of possible sightings have been reported by Laundrie in the days that followed his disappearance.

TRAIL CAM SIGHTING

The most recent potential sighting came in Okaloosa County, Florida on Monday, when Facebook user Sam Bass shared an image of a man he spotted on one of his trail cams.

Along with a grab of the male figure, Bass wrote: “I’m not saying this is the guy but whoever was on my trail camera this morning in Baker, Fl strongly fits the description of Brian Laundrie.

“Authorities have been contacted but people in the North West Florida area be on the lookout.”

The picture shows the man holding two backpacks, one large and one small.

It appears that the smaller bag matches the one Laundrie was carrying in bodycam footage from August 12, when police were called to investigate an altercation between Petito and him.

It is also similar to the bag Petito posted on Instagram.

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The larger lighter colored bag the man in the trail picture is carrying also seems similar to a bag seen on Petito’s Instagram feed and resembles a bag spotted in the back of the couple’s van in the body cam footage.

On Tuesday, however, the sheriff’s department stated it had ended its search and could not find any evidence that Laundrie was the man in the footage.

They carried out an extensive search, including a search by drone, of the area but said “nothing of note” was located, according to local reporter Brian Entin.

“No connection to Brian Laundrie in this area,” According to the sheriff’s office,

“There are no known possible past or current connections between Laundrie and anyone in this area at this time to follow up on. In the meantime we will remain vigilant and if anything new of significance develops we will share.”

‘DOZENS OF SIGHTINGS’ IN ALABAMA

Alabama has also become a hotbed for potential Laundrie sightings in the last few days, despite the missing van-lifer having no connections to the area.

While police received more than 12 tips on Monday alone, no concrete leads were provided by any of the calls.

Fox 10 reported that there were many reports of Laundrie sightings across Mobile on social media.

One post claims that he was seen at Rangeline Plaza, Halls Mill Road.

However, the manager at the eatery said that he had been working on Sunday and didn’t see anything unusual. He also stated that police have yet to contact him.

Police reported that a body was found in Tillman’s corner near the dumpster at a Walmart. This sparked a frenzy among locals and many on social media.

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Speculative posts flooded across Twitter that the dead male, who was believed to have hung himself, was in fact Laundrie.

However, police quickly dispelled the claims and announced that the deceased male was homeless. This is not related to the Petito incident.

Mobile County Sheriff’s Officer Capt. Paul Burch reported that deputies also checked for multiple sightings between Grand Bay and Semmes, as well as Wilmer.

“They’ve varied from the suspect hitchhiking or walking down the street in Wilmer and turns his head every time a car passes,” Burch confirmed.

“We’ve dispatched a vehicle for each and every call and verified that the person was not Laundrie.”

Burch stated to Fox 10 that it was absurd for Laundrie to be walking on foot when he has a car.

Multiple reports claiming that Laundrie was seen walking along Interstate 10 towards Mississippi did not stop them from reporting.

“There was one gentleman walking I-10, you know, which you’re really not supposed to do. However, he was checked by Mobile PD,” He stated that he was not sure what he meant.

“Between Mobile PD and us, he was checked seven times. And so, I finally said, ‘Give him a ride to the state line, and that way won’t be getting calls and tying up units unnecessarily.’”

CLOSE TO HOME

Another potential sighting of Laundrie was reported around two blocks from his parent’s home in North Port, Florida on Friday.

Passerby captured a cellphone photo of the bald male wearing flip-flops, grey t-shirts, sunglasses and listening to music.

North Port Police Department spokesman Josh Taylor told the New York Post they are aware of the photo and are investigating it, but that while it looks like Brian, the man in the photo has a tattoo on his left arm, unlike Gabby’s fiancé.

“Not looking like him. Tattoo on left arm … but we are going to make sure,” Taylor said. “Other than that, sure as heck looks like him.”

According to metadata, the photo was taken just before 5pm on Friday -about an hour and a half before police showed up at Brian’s parents’ home and were told the 23-year-old had been missing since Tuesday.

The passerby who took the image, Zachary Randazzo, told the Post that he’s not “100 percent sure” the photo shows Brian, but “it looks so close I don’t know how it couldn’t be him.”

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Within two days of that sighting, human remains later identified to belong to Gabby were recovered from Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming.

While her official cause is still unknown, it was assumed that she had died of homicide.

Two months into their four-month journey across the United States in a converted van, the couple were still staying at the park.

Gabby was last seen checking out a hotel in Salt Lake City with Laundrie on August 24, 2021.

She last saw her family on August 25, when she and Brian reached Wyoming’s nature reserve.

Laundrie returned to Florida on September 1, alone, in her van with Brian. Gabby was not present.

Gabby’s mother claimed that she tried to reach Laundrie about her daughter but was not answered. Gabby was reported missing to police by her mother on September 11.

Laundrie vanished three days later, and his whereabouts are unknown.

TIKTOK ‘PICKED UP LAUNDRIE’

A TikToker has since claimed that she encountered Laundrie at Grand Teton shortly before he returned to Florida.

Miranda Baker, a TikTok user from Wisconsin, claimed that Laundrie approached her on August 29th at 5.30pm and offered $200 for a 10-mile ride.

Backer recounted Laundrie saying he “needed to go to Jackson,” which is where she and her boyfriend were headed.

She continued: “So I said, ‘You know, hop in,’ and he hopped in the back of my Jeep, we then proceeded to make small talk.”

It was then Baker claimed Laundrie revealed he had been camping without his fiance as she was “working on their social media page back at their van.”

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Baker and her boyfriend ended up dropping Laundrie off at the Jackson Dam after he “freaked out” when they mentioned the name of the area they were driving to.

“Nope, I need to get out right now, pull over,” Baker recalls Laundrie telling Baker that he said this after they mentioned their plans to visit Jackson Hole.

Laundrie was dropped by the couple at 6.09pm, 39 minutes after being picked up by Baker.

Baker also noted that Laundrie “didn’t look dirty,” adding: “For someone who was camping multiple days, like, he didn’t look dirty, he didn’t smell dirty. So that part was kind of weird.”

Baker reported the incident to the FBI and has since been interviewed by North Port police.

Laundrie’s disappearance was still being searched on Wednesday. There have been no further updates.

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Gabby Petito timeline

Gabby Petito, 22, was last seen on August 24, leaving a hotel in Utah. Here is a timeline of Gabby Petito’s disappearance:

• June 2021 – Gabby Petito and her fiancé Brian Laundrie set off on a cross-country trip across the US.
• July 4 – Gabby posts photos of herself barefoot in Gove County, Kansas.
• July 8 – Gabby posts photos of herself at the Great Sand Dunes National Park in Colorado.
• July 18 – Gabby and Brian post photos of themselves at Utah’s Zion National Park.
• August 12 – Body camera footage was released in September showing an encounter Brian and Gabby had with police in Utah. There were no reports of serious injuries from police.
• August 19 – Gabby and Brian post a video on their YouTube channel chronicling their trip. The video is viewed more than 250,000 times.
• August 24 – Gabby is last spotted leaving a hotel in Salt Lake City, Utah.
• September 1 – Brian returns home to Florida without Gabby.
• September 11 – Gabby’s parents report her missing to Suffolk County police.
• September 15 – Florida’s North Port police announce Brian is a person of interest in the case. He is not being charged with any crime.
• September 16 – Utah police release body camera footage of the police encounter with Brian and Gabby.
• September 17 – Brian’s parents say they have not seen their son in a couple of days.
• September 18 – Police announce they were searching Carlton Reserve in Florida for Brian. Police say they haven’t found anything.
• September 19 – Authorities in Wyoming say they found a body in Grand Teton National Park. Although the FBI believes that the body is Gabby’s, a full forensic identification must be done before it can be confirmed.
• September 20 – Police execute a search warrant on Laundrie’s home, seizing his silver Mustang and a hard drive that may contain “evidence relevant to proving that a felony has been committed.”
• September 21 – Officials announce they will be conducting an autopsy on the remains found in Wyoming to confirm whether or not they belong to Gabby. Laundrie was also re-enlisted by police on the Venice side Carlton Reserve.
• September 21 – The FBI announced the body found in Wyoming was identified as Gabby’s. The cause of Gabby’s death has not been revealed.
• September 21 – The Teton County Coroner’s office said Gabby’s official cause of death was still pending but the initial manner of death is homicide.