A spokesperson for Gabrielle Petito’s family told Dr. Phil that Brian Laundrie stole his slain girlfriend’s credit card to travel home to Florida at the beginning of September — while Petito remained missing in Wyoming.
During Tuesday’s episode of “Dr. Phil,” spokesperson Richard Stafford said Laundrie, 23, evaded police once he arrived in North Port, Florida, in the camper van sans Petito, 22.
Previously, police said he used an anonymous person’s card to withdraw $1,000 between August 30 and September 1 — when Petito was missing. Laundrie reportedly arrived in Florida on September 1, and Petito was reported missing on September 11.
“He used her credit card to get home and then ran from the police,” Stafford said. “That’s going to show a lot what he was thinking back then.”
Petito reportedly last spoke to her mother on August 23 or 24. She told her that she and Laundrie were leaving Utah and driving to Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming.
On September 19, Petito’s body was discovered in the Spread Creek Dispersed Camping Area in the Bridger-Teton National Forest in Wyoming. Her preliminary manner of death was deemed a homicide.
Laundrie, who was deemed a person of interest in Petito’s initial disappearance, was believed to have left his parents’ North Port home on September 14. His parents claimed he went to the Carlton Reserve, a 24,000-acre preserve in Sarasota County, Florida. However, he remains unaccounted for.
On September 23, the FBI issued a warrant charging Laundrie with bank fraud.
The conclusion to Tuesday’s “Dr. Phil” interview will air on Wednesday.
For the latest true crime and justice news, subscribe to the ‘Crime Stories with Nancy Grace’ podcast. Listen to the latest episode:
[Featured image: FILE – This Aug. 12, 2021 file photo from video provided by The Moab Police Department shows Brian Laundrie talking to a police officer after police pulled over the van he was traveling in with his girlfriend, Gabrielle “Gabby” Petito, near the entrance to Arches National Park. Laundrie, the boyfriend of Gabby Petito, whose body was found at a national park in Wyoming after a cross-country trip with him, has been charged with unauthorized use of a debit card as searchers continue looking for him in Florida swampland, federal authorities announced Thursday, Sept. 23, 2021. (The Moab Police Department via AP, File)]
