Brian Laundrie's Belongings Might Have Been Found For His Father to Identify—Ex Detective
A former detective has speculated Brian Laundrie's father may have been asked to identify items belonging to his missing son as police continue to search for the travel vlogger.
It comes after police found the remains of a recently-used campsite during a search for Laundrie in the expansive Carlton Reserve in Venice.
Following the discovery, Chris Laundrie was asked to help North Port officers on Wednesday, Laundrie family attorney Steve Bertolino told CNN.
He told the network: "Chris Laundrie was asked to assist law enforcement in their search for Brian at the preserve today.
"Since the preserve has been closed to the public Chris has not been able to look for Brian in the only place Chris and Roberta believe Brian may be."
Bertolino continued: "Unfortunately North Port Police had to postpone Chris's involvement but Chris and Roberta are hopeful there will be another opportunity to assist."
North Port Police later told CNN the department would not ask Laundrie to help search for his son and that the FBI was the main organization involved in the case.
A North Port Police Department spokesperson told the network: "The FBI would have to answer if that was true."
Pat Diaz, a former Miami-Dade homicide detective who also worked on FBI task forces, told Fox News that he did not believe federal investigators would ask a suspect's dad to help them in a search.
He added: "They [the investigators] may have found stuff in the reserve for the father to identify. Not a body, but belongings."
Newsweek has contacted the FBI and the North Port Police Department for comment.
The manhunt for Brian Laundrie has entered its third week and was sparked after he was declared missing by his family when he failed to return from a hike last month.
He is a person of interest in the homicide of his partner Gabby Petito, 22, who was found dead in a national park in Wyoming on September 19.
Investigators have carried out a search for Laundrie who, in addition to being a person of interest in Petito's homicide case, has an active warrant out for his arrest on fraud charges.
Laundrie allegedly used someone's bank card and PIN at around the time Petito had disappeared.
Petito was last seen alive in Grand Teto, Wyoming, on a cross-country road trip that she documented on YouTube and social media platforms.
While her death has been ruled a homicide, her cause of death has not been released pending an autopsy.
