Gabby Petito update: Wyoming US Attorney moves to drop Brian Laundrie fraud charges in federal court
Brian Laundrie was the only person of interest in the death of Gabby Petito, whose bank cards he allegedly used after her death
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}FIRST ON FOX: The U.S. Attorney for the District of Wyoming has formally moved to drop the bank card fraud charges against Brian Laundrie, court documents show.
The move, a formality, was expected following the discovery of Laundrie’s remains in late October. Authorities say he died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park, a 10-minute drive from his parents’ home in North Port, Florida.
Steve Bertolino, Laundrie’s attorney, said he had no comment on the move, signed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephanie Sprecher and filed in the U.S. District Court in Wyoming.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Prosecutors are seeking the court's permission to drop the case because Laundrie is deceased.
Chris and Roberta Laundrie pause at Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park near their Florida home minutes after finding some of their son's belongings at the edge of a clearing. Inset: Brian Laundrie speaks to Moab, Utah, police in bodycam video from Aug. 12. (Moab PD/Michael Ruiz/Fox News Digital)
BRIAN LAUNDRIE NOTEBOOK: GABBY PETITO'S KILLER CONFESSED IN WRITING BEFORE SUICIDE, FBI SAYS
Laundrie was the only person of interest in the murder of his former fiancée, Gabby Petito, whom authorities found in September strangled and beaten at a campsite in the Bridger-Teton National Forest, north of Jackson, Wyoming.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}He had been wanted on a federal warrant for allegedly using Petito’s debit cards after her death, when he drove from Wyoming to Florida and then went camping with his parents, sister and her kids.
Laundrie and Petito had stayed in the Wyoming campground just days before Laundrie returned to his parents’ house – alone but driving Petito’s van. He made no public comments on her death and refused to cooperate with law enforcement before slipping away.
Fox News Digital was in the park when police found human remains and Laundrie’s parents, Chris and Roberta, uncovered a dry bag nearby.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}GABBY PETITO: FBI CLOSES HOMICIDE INVESTIGATION AS IT REVEALS BRIAN LAUNDRIE'S NOTEBOOK CONFESSION
The FBI said last week that the notebook they recovered from the scene contained passages in which Laundrie admitted to killing Petito. It’s unclear how damaged the book was, and whether they recovered it inside or outside of Laundrie’s drybag. Investigators also declined to elaborate on what he wrote, specifically.
"A review of the notebook revealed written statements by Mr. Laundrie claiming responsibility for Ms. Petito’s death," the FBI revealed Friday, roughly three months after Laundrie’s body surfaced at the Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park, about 10 minutes from his parents’ home in North Port, Florida.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}GABBY PETITO HOMICIDE: TIMELINE OF DISAPPEARANCE WITH BRIAN LAUNDRIE
Authorities also found a revolver. And days later, a group of protesters who had been demanding answers from the Laundrie parents spotted Petito’s water bottle in the same clearing.
It would be weeks before a forensic investigation on the badly decomposed remains concluded that Laundrie’s cause of death had been suicide by a self-inflicted gunshot wound. They confirmed his identity through dental records and DNA.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Laundrie’s parents, despite holding the bag in their hands, were kept in the dark until the investigation closed, according to their attorney, Bertolino. The notebook has not yet been returned to the family, he said last week.
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"I don’t think they realized what it was when they found it at the time," he said.