Amy Love

Opinion Editor

aml7458@psu.edu

Although Gabby Petito has unfortunately been found deceased, the search for her fiance, Brian Laundrie is still underway. On September 1st, Laundrie returned to his home in North Port, Florida without Petito, sparking concern of where she may be. 

Since Petito was reported missing, authorities had an interest in Laundrie, however he and his family did not cooperate and immediately referred the authorities to family attorney Steve Bertolino. However, he has no charges over the death of Petito. Instead, the charge against him pertains to the fact that he used two financial accounts that did not belong to him between August 30th and September 1st. From these accounts, he apparently drew more than $1,000. 

The parents of Laundrie have stated that their son left to go camping on September 14; they have since reported him missing. The FBI has recently taken over the case from local police, and Dog the Bounty Hunter has also joined the national search. 

Duane Chapman, famously known as Dog the Bounty Hunter, decided to join the search when he and his wife were on their honeymoon a short distance away from Laundrie’s home. He has added $10,000 more to the award of any information that leads to Laundrie’s arrest, leading to the total reward to be $180,000. The funds of the award have all been privately funded by multiple, private individuals who are wanting to offer a helping hand to Petito’s family. 

Chapman has also brought forth a tip that contradicts a statement made by Laundrie’s sister. His sister, Cassie, had previously stated to authorities that she has not spoken to her brother since he returned to Florida. The tip that Chapman received places her in Fort De Soto Park, a campground that the Laundrie family visited from September 6th to September 7th. 

Controversy has surrounded Chapman for joining this search, many claiming that he is doing this for publicity. According to Newsweek, he has denied that claim and has said that he does not care who brings Laundrie to law enforcement officials as long as he is apprehended. No matter the amount of people contributing to the cause, whether it be true crime fanatics or FBI agents, there is still an on-going struggle in locating Laundrie’s whereabouts.

By the time Laundrie’s parents informed authorities that they had not seen their son, he already had a head start in the Carlton Reserve, which is a 25,000 acre area of trails. The habitat of southern Florida makes it incredibly difficult to find forensic evidence, and it has also been reported that Laundrie left without his phone or wallet, minimizing the digital or cash trail that he could potentially leave behind. 

In response to the difficulty of finding Laundrie, Bryanna Fox, a former FBI agent and an associate professor of criminology at the University of Southern Florida stated: “Unlike other fugitives or people that are missing, we typically have reason to believe they’re in a populated area. In this case, it looks like he attempted to maybe go off the grid and is not living in society. So that makes it even harder to find him.” 

However, Fox believes that he will be found; she has said that “he has to be perfect and make zero mistakes. Law enforcement, to be able to find him, they either have to find one clue or catch one mistake he made and that could blow the whole case open.” 

Overall, multiple eyes are trying to locate the whereabouts of Laundrie, and if all it takes is one slip up for authorities to track him down, his time of evading law enforcement may dwindle.