Police Look Into Link Between Gabby Petito's Disappearance; Who Is Brian Laundrie?

A criminal defense lawyer anticipates that Gabby Petito's fiancé will be jailed soon in connection with her disappearance after discovering the person of interest.

Lara Yeretsian, a Los Angeles-based criminal defense attorney, told Fox News it will only be a matter of time until police interview Brian Laundrie after returning home to North Port, Florida, without Petito.

Petito and Laundrie had driven across the country in their van in June, stopping in several states. While reacting to an incident between the couple earlier this week, police in Moab, Utah, released bodycam footage from August 12.

Petito was reported missing by her relatives on September 11, ten days after Laundrie returned to the couple's North Port home. The family of the missing New York woman has already expressed their dissatisfaction with Laundrie's failure to help authorities in their investigation into her disappearance. Protesters have also gathered outside Laundrie's parents' home, according to MSN, demanding answers about the 22-year-old's abduction.

Cassie Laundrie, Brian Laundrie's sister, has spoken out about Petito's disappearance. In a recent interview, Brian's sister said that the missing woman is "like a sister" to her and that the matter is "simply a big misunderstanding."

Gabby Petito, a New Yorker, has been missing since Aug. 24, when she and her boyfriend, Brian Laundrie, left a hotel in Salt Lake City, Utah. She started a social media blog before going missing while traveling around the United States with her fiancé.

Reporters interviewed Cassie, his sister, on ABC's Good Morning America on Thursday. She said in a preview for Friday's complete show that everyone wants Gabby to be found safe.

It comes after the missing woman's family asked for help from her partner's parents, adding their "lives are breaking apart." The family claimed they could not sleep or eat as they continue to search for their "beautiful" daughter in a poignant letter obtained by MIRROR.

In the said letter emailed to his parents, the missing woman's family begged Brian Laundrie to provide new information regarding her disappearance. Authorities have attempted to contact him and his parents but have received no response. Laundrie released a statement via his legal team on Tuesday, breaking his silence for the first time.

Petito and Laundrie met in high school and confirmed their engagement last year, according to Petito's mother.

"Brian asked me to marry him and I said yes!" Petito wrote on Instagram. "You make life feel unreal, and everyday is such a dream with you."

Petito's mother, Nicole Schmidt, told NBC News that Petito relocated from Blue Point, New York, to North Port, Florida, to live with Laundrie.

Petito's road trip this year was not his first. In 2019, she detailed a vacation to the west on Instagram. She described traveling across the country to California and Oregon as an "absolute dream" in a January 2020 post. In May 2020, she expressed her eagerness to return to "seeing the world" with Laundrie.

“She wanted to cross the country in the camper van and live the van life and live free. This was her dream,” Schmidt told NBC affiliate KSL.