Over two months after Gabby Petito’s body was discovered in Bridger-Teton National Forest on September 19, a lawyer for her boyfriend Brian Laundrie’s family Steve Bertolino revealed that Laundrie’s cause of death has been revealed as a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He noted that Laundrie’s parents Chris and Roberta have been informed, and are mourning their son’s death.
Laundrie’s remains had been discovered on October 20 at the Carlton Reserve, close to his parents’ Florida home. He was 23-years-old. Bertolino said that Laundrie’s cause-of-death was revealed by a forensic anthropologist, via The New York Post. “Chris and Roberta Laundrie have been informed that the cause of death was a gunshot wound to the head and the manner of death was suicide,” he said to The Post. “Chris and Roberta are still mourning the loss of their son and are hopeful that these findings bring closure to both families.”
Petito’s disappearance and death at 22-years-old captivated the country and led to an intensive man-hunt to find Laundrie and discover more about Petito’s death. The couple had been on a cross-country road trip, when Brian returned to his family in Florida on September 1 without his girlfriend. She was reported missing on September 11, and her body was found days later on September 19, via CBS. Gabby was found to have died by homicide, via ABC News. Laundrie was named as a person of interest, as the search to find him continued.
The search for Laundrie captured national attention, and even Dog The Bounty Hunter (whose real name is Duane Chapman) joined the search and put his honeymoon with his sixth wife Francie Frane on hold to try to bring Laundrie to justice. Despite joining the hunt, the reality star was forced to put his search on hold after he injured his ankle on October 11. Duane had expressed an interest in finding Laundrie so that he and Francie could continue their honeymoon. Prior to Laundrie’e remains being found, he implored him to turn himself in.
If you or someone you know is in crisis, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741.