Where is Brian Laundrie located?
When was his girlfriend Gabby Petito killed?
By who ?
The questions remain in this affair which has shaken the United States for more than a month.
On Tuesday, the results of the autopsy, however, confirmed the hypothesis of homicide, put forward by the authorities, and revived speculations on the role of the young man of 23 years, actively sought.
Dr. Brent Blue, from Teton County in the state of Wyoming (northwest) where the body of the 22-year-old was found on September 19, said the American had died "by strangulation". She was killed three to four weeks before her body was found near Grand Teton National Park, he added without giving further details of the autopsy.
Returning to his parents in Florida, after his trip with Gabby Petito through the American West, Brian Laundrie left the family home on September 14.
Since then, it has remained untraceable.
The manhunt launched by the authorities fascinates American and foreign Internet users, who follow and comment on all stages of the investigation.
Duane Chapman, aka Dog the Bounty Hunter, famous bounty hunter star of reality TV, has also set out in search of the young fiancé, in a marshy reserve in Florida.
He does not respond to investigators
Brian Laundrie and Gabby Petito had left New York in July for a van trip that was supposed to last four months.
Each step of their road-trip, in the grandiose settings of the national parks of the American West, was shared through photos and videos published on YouTube or Instagram, where the young woman had nearly a million subscribers.
But on September 1, the young man returned alone in a van to North Port, Florida, where the couple were staying with the Laundrie family.
Without news of her daughter, Nicole Schmidt sent messages to her son-in-law and mother on September 10.
She received no response, she told Dailymail.
The next day, Gabby Petito was reported missing to the Suffolk County Police Department in New York City by her family.
On September 15, North Port Police - who are working on the case with the FBI and Suffolk County Police - designate Brian Laundrie as "person of interest to the investigation."
But the latter "does not make himself available to be questioned by investigators" and does not provide "any useful details," said the police.
On September 17, the Laundrie parents reported the disappearance of their son, who had left home three days earlier.
Latest on Petito case Wednesday September 15, 11:30 am.
Please use 1-800 CALLFBI pic.twitter.com/NpkUEjoME5
- North Port Police (@NorthPortPolice) September 15, 2021
Meanwhile, in the west of the country, the FBI is combing Grand Teton National Park and the scattered camping area of Spread Creek, Wyoming, looking for Gabrielle Petito.
On September 19, a body was discovered there: it corresponds to the description of the young woman.
On September 23, an arrest warrant was issued against Brian Laundrie.
For lack of evidence concerning the murder of his partner, he is charged with fraudulent use of his fiancée's bank card.
Growing tensions in the couple
According to social media posts, Gabby Petito's final days looked idyllic. But since his disappearance, accounts have shown growing tensions between the couple. A video made public by the police in Moab, a small town in Utah, accentuated the disturbance around the fiancé. The blonde with blue eyes appears there in tears and frightened, in a car, the police having intervened on August 12 for a marital dispute. “She gets annoyed sometimes,” Brian Laundrie tells officers, explaining that they had had a dispute and that she hit him with his phone.
On August 27, a vacationer attends an altercation between Gabby Petito and her fiancé in a restaurant in Jackson (Wyoming). The young woman was in tears, while her companion, angry, went out and returned several times to the business, being aggressive towards the staff, tells the witness to CNN, adding that she did not find any physical violence.
A woman, Miranda Baker, said on TikTok that she met Brian Laundrie on August 29, while she was driving with her partner in Colter Bay, Wyoming.
Without a vehicle, the young man would have offered them $ 200 to join Jackson.
He also reportedly told them that he had been camping alone for several days, while his girlfriend worked on social media posts from their van.
Miranda Baker's testimony "is plausible," North Port police, who spoke with the young woman, told CNN.
A new phone bought on September 4
Gabby Petito's last contact with her family dates back to the last week of August. Nicole Schmidt said she received a last text on August 30, without being sure that it had been written by her daughter. “No service in Yosemite,” the message read. "This text was not by Gabby, I know that!" The mother has since told Dailymail.
On September 17, when Brian Laundrie's parents reported their son missing, they told investigators the young man had gone for a hike to the nearby Carlton reservation, CNN reports.
He left the home without his cell phone and wallet and the Laundrie couple worried about a possible accident.
The phone, which is now in the hands of the FBI, was new, ABC News revealed.
The young man had bought it on September 4, three days after returning to his parents, confirmed the lawyer for the Laundrie family, Steven Bertolino.
Read alsoThis affair that upsets America
How did Brian Laundrie manage to disappear?
"We're still trying to figure it out," admits North Port Police spokesman Josh Taylor.
If he would have joined the Carlton reserve and its 10,000 ha, is he still alive?
ask the investigators.
"This is dangerous research for police teams, who must wade through swamps infested with alligators and snakes and flooded trails," said Josh Taylor.
Duane Chapman, the star bounty hunter in search of Brian Laundrie, had to turn back, according to TMZ, after injuring his ankle on rough terrain.
