As the huge undertaking of searching for Brian Laundrie continues, the 23-year-old has now become a wanted man.
On September 22, Brian went from person of interest to the subject of a federal arrest warrant, FBI Denver shared in a new statement. Many were optimistic that this warrant would shed insight into what led to Gabby Petito's death, but those details are yet to become public.
Instead, Laundrie is currently wanted for activities that occurred following Petito's death. Laundrie is believed to have taken $1,000 or more out of a number of accounts that he is not an authorized user of. It's unclear if these accounts belonged to Petito, family members, or other individuals.
"On September 22, 2021, the U.S. District Court of Wyoming issued a federal arrest warrant for Brian Christopher Laundrie pursuant to a Federal Grand Jury indictment related to Mr. Laundrie's activities following the death of Gabrielle Petito," the FBI shared.
Charging documents related to the warrant show that Laundrie accessed accounts that he was not authorized to, using one or more debit cards.
"While this warrant allows law enforcement to arrest Mr. Laundrie, the FBI and our partners across the country continue to investigate the facts and circumstances of Ms. Petito's homicide," FBI Denver continued.
"We urge individuals with knowledge of Mr. Laundrie's role in this matter or his current whereabouts to contact the FBI."
The Laundrie family attorney responded to the warrant, attempting to refocus the conversation on locating Brian Laundrie.
"It is my understanding that the arrest warrant for Brian Laundrie is related to activities occurring after the death of Gabby Petito and not related to her actual demise," said Steven Bertolino.
"The FBI is focusing on locating Brian and when that occurs the specifics of the charges covered under the indictment will be addressed in the proper form," he concluded.
The hunt for Laundrie at the Carlton Reserve in Florida, where he was believed to last be headed, continue despite weather and media attention presenting challenges to investigators.
As the Laundrie family continues to hope for Brian Laundrie's return with answers, the Petito family is preparing to say goodbye to Gabby Petito. A memorial visitation will happen near their Long Island home on September 26. The visitation will be open to the public.
New details continue to come out in what the final days of Petito's life were like. Sadly, they seemed full of drama, fear, and pain as another witness account of the couple aggressively fighting in public has emerged. A couple who were in the same restaurant as Laundrie and Petito on the day she was last known to be seen alive, August 27, say the couple were asked to leave after a fight led to a "commotion."
"They like left abruptly, and [Petito] was standing on the sidewalk crying and [Laundrie] walked back in and was, like, screaming at the hostess and then walked back out," Nina Angelo shared in an Instagram story.
"And then he walked back in, like, four more times to talk to the manager and to, like, tell the hostess off."
Angelo noted that Laundrie only berated female staff at the establishment. She brushed the situation off until days later, when the case began getting national attention and her boyfriend recognized them as the couple from the restaurant.
"He goes, 'Nina, that was the couple fighting at the restaurant,'" she told Fox News.
"And it stopped me in my tracks. I felt like the blood left my body. I was like, 'Oh my God, I completely forgot about that incident.'"
