The fiancé of a missing 22-year-old woman he traveled with on a cross-country road trip to visit a number of national parks is now a person of interest in her disappearance.
Police in North Point, Florida on Wednesday said Brian Laundrie, 23, hasn't agreed to an interview with investigators since Gabrielle Petito was reported missing by her family last weekend. Laundrie "hasn't provided any helpful details," according to the North Point Police Department.
"The lack of information from Brian is hindering this investigation," North Point Police Chief Todd Garrison said in a statement posted on the department's Twitter feed.
"The answers will eventually come out. We will help find Gabby and we will help find anyone who may be involved in her disappearance."
Petito's family, who live in Blue Point, New York, first reported her missing to the Suffolk County Police Department on Sept. 11, 10 days after police said Laundrie returned to the North Point home he shares with Petito and his parents. Petito’s family said they last heard from her in a text message in the last week of August, and her mother last video-chatted with her on Aug. 25 while she was in Wyoming's Grand Teton National Park.
Laundrie and Petito left North Point in July to visit several national parks across the U.S, traveling and living in a customized 2012 Ford Transit Connect van while documenting the experience on a shared YouTube page. North Point police said they seized the vehicle on Sept. 11, the same day Petito was reported missing.
The Daily Beast on Wednesday obtained a police report from Moab City, Utah in which investigators said the couple got into a physical altercation in a dispute over a phone. Witnesses told police Laundrie tried to "create distance by telling (Petito) to go take a walk to calm down" and Laundrie grabbed her face after she started slapping him.
The cross-country trip "created emotional strain between them and increased the number of arguments," Laundrie told police in the report. Moab Police concluded "insufficient evidence existed to justify criminal charges."
Steven Bertolino, the Long Island-based attorney representing Laundrie, said on Wednesday in an email to the Daily Beast he told his client not to speak with the North Point Police Department.
"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," Bertolino wrote to the outlet. "As such, on the advice of counsel Mr. Laundrie is not speaking on this matter."
The North Point Police Department said it became the lead agency investigating Petito’s disappearance due to her and Laundrie residing in the city, taking over for the Suffolk County Police Department. The department is working in conjunction with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, police said, relying on the bureau's tip line (1-800-225-5324) for the public to provide information.
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