A lawyer for the family of Brian Laundrie has said that Brian’s sister Cassie Laundrie was on a camping trip with her brother and their parents after Laundrie returned from a cross-country road trip without his girlfriend Gabby Petito.
Petito, 22, was found dead on September 19 in Bridger-Teton National Forest in Wyoming. A medical examiner ruled her death a homicide but authorities have not yet released the specific cause of death.
Laundrie, 23, has not been outside of his family since he returned to his North Port, Florida, home on September 1 with Petito’s converted camper, but without Petito. Laundrie’s parents told police on September 17 that they had not seen him since September 14 when he said he was going for a hike. This information prompted a massive search of Carlton Reserve in Sarasota County which has since been scaled back, without any reported signs of Laundrie. The Laundrie family is believed to have gone on at least one local camping trip together after Brian Laundrie returned, and while Petito’s parents appear to have been trying to report their daughter missing.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, Brian’s sister Cassie Laundrie was interviewed by “Good Morning America” in mid-September, after Petito was reported missing and before she was found dead, and said that she had not been able to speak with her brother, but hoped to.
“I haven’t been able to talk to him,” Cassie said in the interview. “I wish I could talk to him.”
“I’ve cooperated every way I can. I wish I had information .. I would give more. I – I, this is all I have. I gave [it] to the police.”
According to News Nation Now, Laundrie family attorney Steven Bertolino told reporter Brian Entin that Cassie joined the family for part of a camping trip that took place between September 6 to September 8.
“To my knowledge, Cassie went for a day,” Bertolino said, but would not initially confirm whether she was there at the same time as Brian Laundrie.
Later Friday, Bertolino sent the following statement, which Entin posted on Twitter, indicating that Cassie had seen Brian twice since he returned from the cross-country trip.
“Cassie saw her brother Brian on September 01 when he stopped by her home and again on September 6 at Fort De Soto Park. Law enforcement agencies are well aware of these dates…,” Bertolina reportedly said. He also addressed the earlier interview in which Cassie denied having spoken to her brother.
“Any prior communication by Cassie that does not reflect these dates is simply a difference of relating an answer to a question misinterpreted by Cassie or poorly posed by the inquirer.”
Cassie Laundrie has not yet publicly commented on the apparent discrepancy.
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