Brian Laundrie died of a gunshot wound to his head, according to a statement from the Laundrie family attorney. As police had earlier assumed, Laundrie, 23, the sole suspect in the mysterious disappearance and murder of Gabby Petito, committed suicide, days after vanishing form his family home in Florida.
The update on Laundrie's manner andcause of death came more than a month after an autopsy of his remains, which were found in wetland areas in Florida's Carlton Reserve on October 20 and identified as belonging to Laundrie on October 21. Initial autopsy failed to determine his exact cause of death at that time.
Laundrie Killed Himself
The remains of Laundrie were sent to anthropologist after initial autopsy came inconclusive and his exact cause of death couldn't be determined. On Tuesday, the Laundrie family lawyer Steve Bertolino told the New York Post that Laundrie died of a single gunshot wound to his head.
"Chris and Roberta Laundrie have been informed that the cause of death was a gunshot wound to the head and the manner of death was suicide," attorney Bertolino told the outlet. "Chris and Roberta are still mourning the loss of their son and are hopeful that these findings bring closure to both families."
This also brings an end to the several questions behind the mysterious disappearance of Laundrie's fiancé Petito, her death and his eventual suicide. Petito's disappearance and death had become a national subject of interest in September.
Laundrie was the sole person of interest and was sought in Petito's disappearance and death. However, with both now dead, the Petito-Laundrie story will remain a mystery forever.
Unsolved Mystery
Laundrie was being searched by the FBI for over a month after he vanished days after Petito went missing. The young couple was on a cross-country trip when Petito, a 22-year-old Long Island native, went missing and Laundrie returned home in her van but without her on September 1.
Laundrie refused to talk to police and hired a lawyer. A day after he was named a person of interest in Petito's disappearance, he went missing from his Florida home. That was on September 14, about two weeks after he returned to his home state of Florida alone.
Petito's parents reported their 22-year-old daughter missing on September 11. Police started a search and on September 19 her remains were discovered in a Wyoming campground. Her death was ruled a homicide by manual strangulation while Laundrie remained missing and was the subject of a massive FBI-led manhunt.
Police started a manhunt for Laundrie and almost exactly after a moth they discovered his remains at a Florida park. His identity was revealed from his dental remains but autopsy could confirm his cause of death.
Experts had speculated that Laundrie may have been killed by alligators in the marshy Florida p[ark but now anthropologist have finally revealed that he died from a gunshot wound and it was suicide.
Many suspected that Laundries' parents had perhaps been helping him or not being truthful in what they knew. However, they always kept denying that. As of now, it's unclear if any charges will be brought against them.
It is now known that Petito was murdered by strangulation, while Laundrie died by suicide but what will remain a mystery is what happened in between of the two deaths.
