Amid an exhaustive search forBrian Laundriein Florida, the U.S. District Court of Wyoming issued a federal warrant for the 23-year-old’s arrest Thursday,according to an announcement from FBI Denver.
Charging documents allege that Laundrie used an unauthorized debit card with the intent to defraud.
“While this warrant allows law enforcement to arrest Mr. Laundrie, the FBI and our partners across the country continue to investigate the facts and circumstances of Ms. Petito’s homicide,” FBI Denver wrote in a statement. “We urge individuals with knowledge of Mr. Laundrie’s role in this matter or his current whereabouts to contact the FBI.”
The announcement comes four days afterPetito’s body was recoveredfrom Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. On Tuesday, the FBI confirmed the body was Petito’s and saidher manner of death was a homicide.
“The FBI is focusing on locating Brian and when that occurs the specifics of the charges covered under the indictment will be addressed in the proper form.”
Search crews have been scouringsnake- and alligator-infested swampssince Saturday with no luck finding Laundrie.
Petito and Laundrie were engagedand traveling across the United States in a repurposed Ford Transit van.
They set out on their trip in early July, leaving from Florida and stopping in New York before heading west.
Petito, an aspiring social media influencer, had beendocumenting her travels on YouTube.
In August, the couple arrived in Utah. While in Moab, police officers received a call about a domestic dispute involving Petito and Laundrie, in which a 911 caller said he saw Laundrie"slapping" her. They located and pulled over the couple to investigate the claims, and their interaction wascaptured on body camera footage. During the encounter, Laundrie admits to pushing Petito.
The police encounter ended with a tearful Petito andcalm Laundrieagreeing to separate for the night and get some space from one another.
The couple had apparently stopped in Grand Teton National Parkon Aug. 25, the same day Petito’s mother says she last spoke to her.
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Petito was reported missing on Sept. 11 — 10 days after Laundrie allegedly returned to his parents' North Port, Fla., home in their van, alone.
Laundrie was soonnamed a person of interestin Petito’s disappearance.
The next week, after days of allegedly refusing to cooperate with the investigation, Laundrie’s parents informed the FBI that Laundrie himself had gone missing.
Any possible details about Petito’s death and Laundrie’s whereabouts may be submitted to the FBI attips.fbi.gov, 1-800-CALL-FBI or 303-629-7171. Investigators reminded the public Thursday that “no piece of information is too small or inconsequential to support our efforts in this investigation.”
source: people.com
