Brian Laundrie’s Parents Could Try To Claim Reward For Leading Investigators To Their Son's Body
But are they eligible to receive it?
The search for Brian Laundrie has officially ended.
The FBI Denver confirmed that Brian Laundrie's remains were discovered in the Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental park along with other evidence.
There are reports of a standing $180,000 reward funded by friends, family, and supporters of Gabby Petito’s family — including a $10,000 donation from Dog the Bounty Hunter.
And as we now kno, two unlikely people may have played a vital role in locating him.
Could Brian Laundrie's parents receive an award for locating him?
Given that the Chris and Roberta Laundrie were able to direct law enforcement to the area where Brian's human remains were found, they have played a key role in locating the missing fugitive.
All reward money offers that you see from law firms or businesses emphasize that “anyone” can submit a tip that will help aid the FBI in their search to find Laundrie.
Boohoff Law, who have a location in North Port, Florida where the Laundrie’s are from, is offering a $20,000 reward for information on Brian’s whereabouts.
“Boohoff Law, P.A. is asking anyone with information on Laundrie’s whereabouts to call 1-800-CALL-FBI,” it says on their website.
“A reward will be paid once the investigating law enforcement agency supplies Boohoff Law written verification that a tip helped lead to locating Brian Laundrie.”
RELATED: Video Shows Brian Laundrie’s Dad Found Evidence Without Law Enforcement Present
Under these rules, the Laundries could make a claim to receive the reward money, but there are a couple of issues with that.
Chris and Roberta Laundrie may be determined ineligible to receive the award.
The Laundries may be determined to have withheld information that could have helped in the search for their son which would likely mean they can't be rewarded for their tip.
There has been a lot of speculation that Chris and Roberta could see legal consequences if law enforcement discover that they have been led astray by the parents.
The Carlton Reserve search has likely cost tens of millions of dollars in resources, and Chris and Roberta could be made to pay for it if they’re found guilty of obstruction or accessory.
Sometimes rewards never get handed out.
The FBI is known to offer rewards for assistance in capturing fugitives.
On their website for the “Ten Most Wanted Fugitives,” they write “At a minimum, a reward of up to $100,000 is offered by the FBI for information which leads directly to the arrest of a ‘Ten Most Wanted Fugitive’. In some instances, the reward amount offered is more than $100,000.”
While Laundrie doesn’t land on that list, they did announce that they were offering a reward for his capture — likely because of the national scale of the case.
However, NPR reported a couple of years ago that sometimes rewards never get handed out because the people never end up claiming them.
The reward incentive largely came to fruition in order to get people to actually send in tips without any apprehension or fear.
"Our studies showed that it was getting an award that mattered, not so much the exact award figure," said Loyola University criminologist Arthur Lurigio, who authored an evaluation of Crime Stoppers during its early years.
He added that even with a reward, some people still won’t offer up any information if they could face any repercussions.
"Nationally we are seeing programs who are paying out as little as 15 to 20% of their available rewards," said Barb Bergin, chairwoman of Crime Stoppers USA. "I think the highest that you'll see around the country is somewhere around 60 to 70% of their rewards get collected."
There’s also no telling where the reward goes now that he has been found dead. Some rewards offer no distinction between whether or not the fugitive needs to be captured alive.
All of the information will surely follow when the FBI officially closes the investigatio into Gabby Petito's death.
Isaac Serna-Diez is a writer who focuses on entertainment and news, social justice, and politics. Follow him on Twitter here.