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Brian Laundrie’s Sister Would Turn Him In if She Knew Where He Was

“I hope my brother is alive because I want answers just as much as everybody else.”
A makeshift memorial dedicated to Gabby Petito is located near the North Port City Hall on September 21, 2021 in North Port, Florida (Octavio Jones/Getty Images)
A makeshift memorial dedicated to Gabby Petito is located near the North Port City Hall on September 21, 2021 in North Port, Florida (Octavio Jones/Getty Images)

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At least one person in Brian Laundrie’s family wants him to turn himself in.

Cassie Laundrie, his sister, wants Gabby Petito’s fiancee and the person of interest in her apparent homicide “to just come forward and get us out of this horrible mess,” she told Good Morning America on Tuesday

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This summer Brian Laundrie, 23, was on a cross-country trip with Petito, 22, and the couple documented their travels on Instagram. On Sept. 1, Laundrie returned to his home state of Florida with the couple’s van but without Petito; Cassie Laundrie said her parents and Brian stopped by her home that same day for an “ordinary visit.” 

“I really wish he had come to me first that day with the van, because I don’t think we’d be here,” she told Good Morning America.

Petito’s family reported her missing on Sept. 11. On Sept. 19, Petito’s body was found in Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. 

Laundrie’s parents, meanwhile, reported him missing on Sept. 17. But before that, he went camping with them for three days at Fort De Soto Park, 75 miles from the family’s home. After Duane “Dog” Chapman, the reality television star known as Dog the Bounty Hunter, got a tip that Laundrie had been in the Pinellas County park, the family’s attorney and county records confirmed that the three had camped there together

Cassie Laundrie told Good Morning America that she was at Fort De Soto Park on the night of Sept. 6. 

“We just went for a couple of hours and we ate dinner and had s'mores around the campfire and left, and there was nothing peculiar about it,” she said. "There was no feeling of grand goodbye. There was no nothing."

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Brian Laundrie’s current whereabouts are unknown, although a hiker reported seeing him near the Appalachian Trail in Tennessee on Saturday. The Laundries have repeatedly denied having anything to do with their son’s disappearance. 

In addition to being a person of interest in Petito’s death, Laundrie was indicted last month by a grand jury for “use of unauthorized access devices” related to two bank accounts, a federal crime. 

On Monday, Cassie Laundrie told a group of protesters that she hadn’t spoken to her parents or the family’s lawyer. “I'm in the boat where I'm getting ignored by my family and thrown under the bus by my family's attorney,” she told the protesters, referring to Laundrie family lawyer Steven Bertolino.

Cassie Laundrie told Good Morning America that Petito’s family “deserve[s] answers.” She doesn’t know if her parents were involved in his disappearance, but “if they are, then they should come clean.” 

“I worry about him,” she said of her brother. “I hope he's OK, and then I'm angry and I don't know what to think. I hope my brother is alive because I want answers just as much as everybody else.”