By
Elisha Fieldstadt
-
NBC News
The remains of Brian Laundrie, Gabby Petito's fiancé, were sent to an anthropologist "for evaluation" after the autopsy results were inconclusive, according to the family's attorney.
"
The manner or cause of death has not been determined
," Steven Bertolino said in a statement to NBC News.
The human remains were found last Wednesday in the Carlton Nature Reserve, in Florida, after more than a month of searching.
Laundrie is considered by the police as a person of interest in the disappearance of Petito, whose body was found strangled in a natural area in Wyoming after a trip by the couple in a truck through the west of the country.
Laundrie's remains, described as "
skeletal
" by the North Port Police Department,
were identified from dental records
, authorities said Thursday.
Brian Laundrie, 23, had been missing since September.
Via Instagram
According to the FBI, the remains were found alongside Laundrie's personal items, such as a backpack and notebook.
His parents led the FBI and North Port police to the area where they were found, Bertolino had said, but the lawyer denied that they knew beforehand
that their son could disappear or that they reached an agreement with prosecutors to collaborate in the search.
In this regard, he added that, as his lawyer, he had advised them not to speak to the police.
Petito, 22, and Laundrie, 23, were traveling across the country, recounting their van trip on social media.
Laundrie, however, returned to her parents' North Port home on Sept. 1 without her, according to authorities.
Brian Laundrie's family cordon off the perimeter of their home
Oct. 23, 202100: 26
During the search for Petito, police in the city of Moab, Utah,
released video from a body camera showing the young woman in distress after an alleged physical altercation with Laundrie
.
Petito's body was found on September 19 in the scattered camping area of Spread Creek in Wyoming's Bridger-Teton National Forest.
She had been dead for at least three weeks
from "manual strangulation
,
"
according to the coroner.
Laundrie had been unaccounted for since mid-September, when his parents said he had gone on a field trip to the Carlton Reservation.
The 25,000-acre wildlife refuge was closed for extensive searches of the area and reopened last week.
[Public attention is focused on Brian Laundrie's parents following the discovery of the mortal remains of Gabby Petito's boyfriend]
An arrest warrant was issued against Laundrie after authorities said he had used Petito's debit card without permission.
Laundrie was a person of interest in the case and was not charged with Petito's death.
