Brian Laundrie's Corpse Was Eaten Away By 'Carnivores,' Submerged In Water For Weeks Before Being Discovered

On Monday, the Sarasota Medical Examiner’s office revealed new details into the death of “van-lifer” Brian Laundrie, who reportedly died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head last year at the Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park.

Laundrie went missing following the murder of his fiancée Gabby Petito in August 2021, where a Wyoming coroner would later conclude that the Long Island native died from strangulation. After more than a month of searching the 24,000-acre Florida reserve, authorities then found Laundrie’s partial skeletal remains in October.

Brian, 23, was discovered near a European American Arms revolver. The weapon bore the .38 mark on one side of the barrel and a .357 magnum on the other. Accordingly, investigators confirmed his identity via dental records and DNA analysis, the Daily Beast reported.

“The cylinder contained two live rounds and one spent round of ammunition,” the 47-page document reads, noting that Laundrie had been partly eaten by wildlife by the time his remains were discovered in a Florida swamp.

Much of the corpse had “moderately extensive carnivore activity evidenced by multiple gouging and gnawing marks,” the medical examiner explained per the Daily Mail. “These areas are consistent with carnivores and/or omnivores including canines such as feral dogs and coyotes along with rodents and raccoons.”

While authorities launched a manhunt for Laundrie on fraud charges for using Petito’s cards at the time of her disappearance, the 23-year-old only remained the sole "person of interest" in the disappearance of 22-year-old Petito. He was never charged in the death of his fiancee, who was reported missing on Sept. 11.

A week later, police stumbled upon the grim find of Petito’s remains in a Wyoming national park on Sept. 1. When Laundrie’s body was found a mother later, the FBI revealed that he claimed responsibility for Petito’s death in a notebook found near his body.

Among the recovered items were a white metal ring, the rusted handgun, a green backpack, a tent, and “a journal along with a wooden box that contained a small notebook and photographs, with some of the photos including Brian Laundrie,” according to the CNN.

The van-life couple packed for a cross-country trip in June 2021 and would have an encounter with Moab police two months later following a heated row on the street. That incident saw them spend the night separately, ultimately resulting in Brian’s move to drive back home and reunite with Gabby days later.