Brian Laundrie autopsy result means Gabby Petito murder is ‘case closed’ – but notebook will still be probed
FUGITIVE Brian Laundrie's autopsy result means the Gabby Petito murder case is closed - but his notebook will still be probed along with other evidence, experts claim.
It has been confirmed the traveler, who is believed to have killed his young fiance on a camping trip in Wyoming, fatally shot himself in the head after fleeing his family home.
The suicide revelation comes more than a month after Laundrie's skeletal remains were found in Florida's Carlton Reserve following an exhaustive FBI manhunt for the fugitive.
He was last seen alive on September 13, when he told his parents that he was going for a hike at the reserve.
Gabby's body was found just a week later on September 19 and an autopsy revealed she had been strangled to death, and experts believe cops will now close her case.
Laundrie was the only person of interest and a federal court in Wyoming issued an arrest warrant after he allegedly used Petito's Capital One Bank debit card and pin code to access cash.
Asked if she believes there is enough evidence to close the case, forensics expert Jennifer Shen told The Sun: "Yes I do. While we will have to wait for the completion of the investigation, which will likely include attempts to examine and decipher the notebook, the circumstances seem pretty clear, and not that unusual.
"There is no indication at this time there are other individuals involved."
Most read in US News
Former veteran NYPD homicide detective Tom Joyce also feels Gabby's murder case will be closed, due to the exceptional circumstances.
"Gabby's murder will be closed with what's known as an exceptional clearance, or where the suspect and culprit is known but cannot be arrested - in this case, because he's dead," he said.
It is believed the case could end with an 'unfulfilled expectation,' according to other reports, especially for Gabby's parents, who may never get the answers they so desperately need about what occurred before and after their daughter's tragic death.
Cops are yet to reveal whether Laundrie left a suicide note, but his notebook and backpack were recovered before his remains and may shed some light on the heartbreaking circumstances.
Thousands of people have now signed a petition asking for a formal investigation into the way in which the North Port Police Department in Florida handled the investigation.
Cops have admitted to WINK News that investigators made mistakes as they thought they were keeping a close eye on Laundrie before he went missing.
'POLICE MADE MISTAKES'
North Port PD had cameras set up around the family home but he managed to slip through the net, costing the taxpayer money.
Police watched him leave in his Mustang on September 13 and believed he returned home two days later - but it was actually his MOTHER wearing a baseball cap.
North Port Police Chief Todd Garrison told reporters on September 16: "All I'm going to say is we know where Brian Laundrie is at," but they had actually had no idea of his whereabouts.
"When the family reported him [missing] on Friday. That was certainly news to us that they had not seen him," Taylor later said. "We thought that we seen Brian initially come back into that home on that Wednesday. But we now know that that wasn't true.
"I believe it was his mom who was wearing a baseball cap.
"They had returned from the park with that Mustang. So who does that? Right? Like, if you think your son's missing since Tuesday, you're going to bring his car back to the home.
EXHAUSTIVE MANHUNT
"So it didn't make sense that anyone would do that if he wasn't there. So the individual getting out with a baseball cap we thought was Brian."
Pressed on whether this was a huge mistake cops made, he simply replied: "No case is perfect."
President of Peace River Mike Hadsell previously slammed the $200K a day he claims was being spent on the search for Laundrie, 23, in Florida's 25,000-acre Carlton Reserve where he told his parents he went hiking.
"I can accurately estimate they are spending $200,000 a day on this search," Hadsell told the . "And if this thing turns out to be bogus and they can prove that the family misled law enforcement on this, the parents will get a bill."
Read More on The Sun
"To see them blow more than a million bucks out here on this guy, is just like what the heck?" said Hadsell.
"A lot of other people who end up missing need that money and need that help. And they just don't get it. And that is chaffing me on this whole thing."
