America

Family lawyer says missing gun of Brian Laundry’s parents was not made public due to ‘hysterical atmosphere’

November 27, 2021
Henry Club

Laundry’s parents, Chris and Roberta LaundryBertolino told CNN on Friday that they were handing over their guns to law enforcement on Sept. 17 — the same day they reported their son’s disappearance — when they learned that a handgun was not in his case. He said the FBI and North Port, Florida, police were present at the time of the search.

Asked why information about the missing gun was not publicly shared, Bertolino told CNN that he and law enforcement agreed that “it was best not to make that information public.”

“Imagine, with the frenzied atmosphere of the time, if the public thought Brian had a gun,” Bertolino said. “I can’t talk about why (law enforcement) didn’t disclose the information, but we talked about it at the time and I believe they felt the same way as I did.”

CNN has reached out to the FBI for comment. North Port Police did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday.

Laundry disappeared from his parents’ home in North Port just days after Petito was reported missing. The couple traveled across the country in a converted van for the summer before returning home without a laundry petito on September 1.

Laundry disappeared days after Petito was reported missing, prompting a multistate investigation and attracting the attention of social media people. Petito’s remains were found in Wyoming on September 19, and his death was ruled a homicide by manual strangulation.

Meanwhile, officials focused laundry searches on the vast Florida nature reserve where his remains were finally found on 20 October, On Friday, Bertolino said he did not know whether a gun was found near Brian’s remains or the property.

While the Florida District Twelve Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed that Laundry had died by suicide, the office said it would not make the autopsy report public until a law enforcement investigation is complete, the office said. Will do

The circumstances under which Petito died remains a mystery. The FBI described her fiancé as a “person of interest” in her murder, but did not face charges for her death. a federal grand jury He was accused of allegedly using two accounts Which belonged to someone else in the days after Petito’s death.

This story has been updated to clarify that Brian Laundry’s parents were with law enforcement when they learned their handgun was missing.

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