FBI Confirms Brian Laundrie Is Dead as Dental Records Match to Human Remains Found at Reserve; Parents May Spill Secret of Gabby Petito's Murder

Human remains discovered in a Florida park on Wednesday have been verified to be those of a slain blogger's missing fiancée, according to the FBI. Brian Laundrie's body, which had been missing for almost a month, was discovered through dental records.

Laundrie, who was a person of interest in Gabby Petito's death, returned to Florida without his girlfriend last month after a planned road trip. Her corpse was subsequently discovered in Wyoming, where the couple was traveling.

Officials said on Wednesday that the remains had been uncovered in a section of the park that had been underwater until recently. During the search, more things belonging to Brian Laundrie were discovered, including a bag and a notebook.

Brian Laundrie's parents expected to speak out

Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno commended officers for working in "treacherous conditions" at the park during a brief press conference on Thursday. He said there were rattlesnakes and alligators in the chest-deep water, BBC reported..

Although Laundrie was not charged with any crimes related to Gabby Petito's murder, the FBI had issued a federal arrest warrant for him after she died, accusing him of illegally using her debit card.

Law enforcement experts said Brian Laundrie's parents may have already informed the FBI all they know about Gabby Petito's murder to escape obstruction charges, as per Daily Mail.

Christopher and Roberta Laundrie joined the search for their missing son on Wednesday, and officers had found his bag, notebook, and suspected remains in a Florida swampland within hours.

After declining water levels gave better access to some of Brian Laundrie's favorite paths and hangouts in the alligator-infested Carlton Nature Reserve, authorities said the breakthrough came five weeks into the manhunt. However, retired FBI agent Stuart Kaplan believes the Laundries were given a behind-the-scenes ultimatum: help us find Brian or face years in prison.

Despite a deluge of unsubstantiated sightings throughout the country, police and FBI search teams have kept a laser focus on the huge Carlton Reserve since Laundrie, 23, went missing on September 17. Gabby's body was found in the Spread Creek Dispersed Camping Ground in Grand Teton National Park two days later.

The death of the 22-year-old travel vlogger was ruled a homicide by strangulation, and Laundrie, who returned home after a cross-country road trip without her on September 1, remained the lone person of interest.

Questions left unanswered in Gabby Petito's case

Gabby Petito's death was ruled a strangling death by a coroner on Tuesday, providing a fuller picture of what occurred to her. Many questions, however, remain unsolved.

Though the reason of Petito's death was disclosed, Teton County Coroner Dr. Brent Blue declined to divulge specifics regarding Petito's autopsy or a probable suspect, stating that he was constrained in what information he could lawfully share.

Petito's killer, when she was slain, and what transpired in the days preceding up to her death are all unknown. Although there are more than 90,000 current missing person cases in the United States, few have garnered the same level of urgency and national attention as Petito's, who went missing on September 11 and was discovered more than a week later in Wyoming's Bridger-Teton National Forest.

Petito's body was abandoned in the woods for three to four weeks before being discovered although the exact date of her death is unknown. According to Blue, death certificates in Wyoming allow for estimated dates and variability of those dates.

The passage of time since her death, as well as the weather circumstances to which she was subjected, make pinpointing a precise date difficult, according to Blue. The autopsy found more information than was previously published, but it will be withheld due to the continuing inquiry.

Per CBS58, Blue said working on the case was, and continues to be, "quite the media circus." In addition to the disappearance and murder of Petito and Laundrie, the case has aroused debate over domestic violence with the release of body camera footage showing an altercation involving Petito, Laundrie, and the cops during one of the couple's disputes.