Location Of Phone Brian Laundrie Used On Road Trip Unknown As FBI Investigate New Phone Bought Before He Went Missing
Gabby's phone may be missing too.
YouTube As the search for Brian Laundrie continues, with Dog The Bounty Hunter focused on Fort De Soto Park, evidence closer to Laundrie’s home is bewildering those following the case.
Conflicting stories about the location of cellphones owned by Laundrie both before and after Gabby Petito’s disappearance have emerged.
This is leading to suspicions about whether Laundrie managed to hide potential evidence from authorities before disappearing.
Details about Laundrie’s location and his alleged involvement in Petito’s homicide may be on a phone that now appears to be missing.
Where is Brian Laundrie’s old phone?
The phone Laundrie was using before he returned home from his road trip without Petito seems to be missing in action which raises many questions about its contents.
The phone left at Brian Laundrie’s home is not the one he used before Petito’s death.
Shortly after Laundrie’s parents reported him missing on September 17, it was revealed that Laundrie left home on September 14 without his phone and wallet.
However, it now appears that the phone he left behind was one he had purchased and activated just over a week prior to his disappearance.
The Laundrie’s attorney, Steven Bertolino confirmed "a phone was purchased on Sept. 4, 2021, and Brian opened an account with AT&T for that phone."
"Brian left that phone at home the day he went for a hike in the preserve on Sept. 14, 2021.”
Reports claimed that Laundrie had purchased a phone alongside “an older woman” on September 14 but Bertolino now says that purchase was made 10 days earlier.
The FBI have the phone Brian Laundrie purchased shortly before he disappeared.
Bertolino also confirmed that the phone Laundrie purchase is being held by the FBI as evidence.
But when the lawyer was asked if he knew what happened to Laundrie's old cell phone, Bertolino responded, "No."
Given that the FBI have already executed a search on the Laundrie family’s home and taken DNA evidence, it would appear that Laundrie old cell phone is not in the North Port, Florida residence and may be missing or destroyed.
Gabby Petito’s phone may also be missing.
Authorities have not yet disclosed whether they retrieved Petito’s phone — the cell phone she and Laundrie were travelling with on their ill-fated trip.
Details of the final texts sent from Petito’s phone to her family were retrieved from her computer which was found, by a search warrant, in the couple’s 2012 Ford Transit.
Brian Laundrie and Gabby Petito allegedly fought over a phone on their trip.
A witness account of the couple’s domestic dispute in Utah on August 12 claimed, "At one point, they were sort of fighting over a phone – I think the male took the female’s phone. It appeared that he didn’t want her in the white van."
In police body cam footage taken after Petito and Laundrie were pulled over, Laundrie appears to lie to police about not owning a phone.
"I was holding onto the keys because I didn’t want to go anywhere, and my big fear is — I don’t have my phone. I don’t have a phone. So if she goes off without me (inaudible), I’m on my own," Laundrie told the officers.
Then, about 40 minutes later in the clip, Laundrie pulls out a phone to give police his number before he is separated from Petito for the night.
Petito also reminds police to make sure Laundrie brings a phone charger with him before they separate.
This is not the phone that the FBI have, as Bertolino confirmed and it remains unclear where it is or what evidence it may contain.
Alice Kelly is a senior news and entertainment editor for YourTango. Based out of Brooklyn, New York, her work covers all things social justice, pop culture, and human interest. Keep up with her Twitter for more.