The hypothesis of suicide seemed to be confirmed in early November.
It is now official: the autopsy of Brian Laundrie's body revealed that Gabby Petito's boyfriend had indeed shot himself in the head, according to the American news channel CBS.
“Chris and Roberta Laundrie have been told that their son's cause of death was a gunshot wound to the head and the motive was suicide,” family lawyer Steve Bertolino said in a statement.
On October 20, human remains, as well as belongings belonging to the young man of 23 years had been discovered in the reserve of Carlton in Florida.
Two days later, the FBI announced that the corpse was that of Brian Laundrie, strongly suspected of the murder of his girlfriend, Gabrielle Petito.
The sheriff explained at the time that an analysis carried out by an anthropologist would soon make it possible to know the cause of death.
"Person of interest"
While the couple had been on a van road trip since July, the stages of which were regularly shared on Instagram and YouTube, through photos and videos, Laundrie had returned alone to their home in Florida on September 11. He ended up attracting suspicion, becoming a "person of interest" in the eyes of investigators looking for his girlfriend and vanished three days later. The young influencer with a strong following on the web was later found dead on September 17 near Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. The medical examiner then ruled that she had died from strangulation.
“Chris and Roberta Laundrie still mourn the loss of their son and hope that these discoveries will allow the two families to move on,” added Steve Bertolino.
For its part, Gabby Petito's family has walled in silence since the tragic discovery of the young woman's body.
Her father, Joseph Petito, broke that silence in October, simply to declare that being informed of the latest news about Brian Laundrie's body would not bring his daughter back to him.