WGNO

New autopsy report reveals grisly details of Brian Laundrie’s remains

(Moab Police Department body cam)

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — The Florida District Twelve Medical Examiner’s Office released a 47-page report Monday further detailing its process of identifying Brian Laundrie’s remains and determining his cause of death.

Laundrie, 23, was being sought in Gabby Petito’s disappearance and death when his skeletal remains were found in a thickly wooded park in Sarasota County, Florida.


His parents, Chris and Roberta Laundrie, initially said he went missing on Sept. 13 but later revised that date. He was reported missing on Sept. 17.

After a month-long search, Laundrie’s partial skeletal remains were found on Oct. 20, about 3 feet underwater in the Carlton Reserve.

Laundrie’s death was ruled a suicide in November. The cause of death was a gunshot wound to his head.

According to the report released Monday, the remains found at the park included a “right and left scapulae, right humerus, right femur, two tibiae, two fibulae, two clavicles, two pelvic bones, the sacrum, one right ulna, one right radius, and multiple ribs” along with “multiple fragments of cranium and skull along with a generally intact mandible with attached teeth and the lower aspect of the maxilla with attached teeth are noted. Cervical, thoracic, and lumbar vertebrae are also located nearby.”

Laundrie’s remains had personal items nearby, including a pair of green shorts, two slip-on shoes, a white metal ring and the rusted handgun. There was also a handwritten note and a hat that said “MOAB Coffee Roasters.” (Laundrie and Petito passed through Moab, Utah, on their road trip, which Petito chronicled in vlogs and on social media.)

Investigators also found a backpack that contained a journal and a wooden box with a notebook and a picture of Laundrie.

“I was advised there were additional photographic pictures, but the contents were undisclosed to me at that time,” the report said.

The medical examiner noted Laundrie’s remains showed “extensive animal predation,” adding that “most of the distal long bones have moderately extensive carnivore activity evidenced by multiple gouging and gnawing marks. These areas are consistent with carnivores and or omnivores, including canines such as feral dogs and coyotes along with rodents and raccoons.”

According to the report, the Laundrie family told the medical examiner their son was “very healthy” and had “no known medical history.” He did not take any medication and had no known primary care physician, the couple said.

“When I asked about the decedent’s social history, Mr. and Mrs. Laundrie stated that they did not want to provide that information.”

Laundrie and Petito were on a cross-country trip before she went missing and Laundrie returned home to North Port, Florida, without her.

Petito’s remains were found in a Wyoming campground on Sept. 19. Her death was ruled homicide by manual strangulation.

Laundrie was wanted for using her bank card in Wyoming.