A friend of Brian Laundrie’s tells a British tabloid that he’d probably be able to get a fake identification to escape the United States illegally and could be hiding in South Africa or New Zealand, because he likes movies that were filmed in those countries.
The unnamed friend told The Sun that Laundrie, whom he describe as a “heavier set social outcast” as a teenager, was a good planner.
“I think he’d be able to put the resources together to get out of the country, either illegally or under some sort of a fake identification,” the friend, who didn’t say if he had been in contact with Laundrie since high school, told The Sun.
Laundrie abandoned his girlfriend, Gabby Petito, in Wyoming and returned home to Florida on September 1, then fled from his home on September 13, six days before Petito was found murdered in Wyoming, as CrimeOnline previously reported.
Laundrie has been named a person of interest in Petito’s death, but not a suspect. He was indicted on federal bank fraud charges because he used Petito’s bank cards to withdraw money from her accounts after she was last seen alive.
“He’s the type of person that would be able to drop everything to secure his means of not being captured and to evade arrest or evade prosecution from what seems to be a pending crime,” the anonymous friend said.
The supposed friend told The Sun that Laundrie’s favorite movie director is Neill Blomkamp, the South African who directed District Nine (2009), Elysium (2013), and Chappie (2015).
“Blomkamp is from South Africa,” the friend said. “That’s a country that Brian was talking about a lot because that was one of his favorite genres of movies.
“Two of those three movies took place in South Africa.”
He also checked in with other people who knew Laundrie and they told him that he also liked the Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001-2003), “which all the filming occurred in New Zealand and it is a very beautiful country.”
“So I’m sure if he had the time and the resources in a few years and he really needed to get away from this issue, that’s probably somewhere he would end up,” he said.
See all CrimeOnline’s reporting on this story.
For the latest true crime and justice news, subscribe to the ‘Crime Stories with Nancy Grace’ podcast
[Featured image: Brian Laundrie/Instagram]
