The FBI has determined that Brian Laundrie was solely responsible for killing his fiance, 22-year-old Blue Point native Gabby Petito, in Wyoming this summer and considers the case closed, authorities said Friday.
The announcement came three months after Laundrie was found dead of what his family’s attorney has said was a self-inflicted gunshot wound in a Florida preserve last fall. He had been reported missing days before Petito’s body was found.
“All logistical investigative steps have been concluded in this case,” Michael Schneider, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Denver office, said in a statement. “The investigation did not identify any other individuals other than Brian Laundrie directly involved in the tragic death of Gabby Petito.”
Petito’s disappearance in September during a cross-country road trip with Laundrie captivated the country. She was last seen alive on Aug. 26 and her body was discovered on Sept. 19 near the remote Spread Creek Dispersed Campground in Bridger-Teton National Forest. A Wyoming coroner determined in October that she died by strangulation.
Petito and Laundrie, who lived with Laundrie‘s parents in North Port on Florida’s west coast, embarked on their trip in early July from Long Island, where her parents live. As they traveled through Kansas, Colorado, Utah and points west, Petito documented their “van life” on social media with videos and pictures that depicted a loving couple having an American adventure. She posted her final photo to Instagram on Aug. 25, the same day she last spoke to her mother by phone.
Police in Utah released a video in September of an August encounter with the Florida woman tearfully describing a dispute she had on a road trip with her boyfriend, who was named a person of interest in her disappearance. On Sept. 23, a federal grand jury in Wyoming indicted Laundrie on a charge of fraudulently using Petito’s bank debit card between Aug. 30 and Sept. 1 to spend $1,000 or more. He had not been charged in her death before his body was found Oct. 20 in a Florida wilderness area.
-With Reuters
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