Protesters gather in front of Florida man, Brian Laundrie’s home demanding to know where the man’s missing girlfriend, Gabby Petito, is as boyfriend continues to resist speaking to police.
Public interest in the disappearance of a Long Island native and Florida resident, Gabby Petito has reached a crescendo as protesters have now taken to gathering in front of the missing woman’s boyfriend’s North Point home.
Protesters had been gathering outside Brian Laundrie’s Florida home brandishing signs saying ‘Speak up’ amid the missing woman’s boyfriend’s continual silence over the disappearance of Petito.
Laundrie returned to their Florida home in North Port without Petito, 22, on September 1 and has refused to cooperate with police after his girlfriend was reported missing by her family on Sept.11th.
He was named a person of interest in Petito’s late-August disappearance on Wednesday, four days after Petito was reported missing and the van that the couple had traveled out west with was taken by authorities from the family’s home.
Come Thursday night, protesters gathered outside Laundrie’s home as they chanted, ‘Where’s Gabby?,’ while others circled the area on golf carts according to footage shared on social media (see below).
Protesters gathered at the Florida home of Brian Laundrie on Thursday evening after police said he is refusing to cooperate in the disappearance of his fiancé. Some carried signs urging him to speak, while others chanted, ‘Where is Gabby?’https://t.co/ehFd0eG8gS pic.twitter.com/GZfkc5fT7V
— Fox News (@FoxNews) September 17, 2021
Community joins missing woman’s family pleading for information leading to recovery of missing girlfriend
In addition to the ‘Speak up’ sign, other placards read: ‘Truth always comes out!’, ‘#Justiceforgabby’ and ‘Would she bring you home?’
Another protest is planned outside the home, which belongs to Laundrie’s parents, Friday evening.
‘We’re standing up for somebody who’s lost that’s in our city, and we’re a big family in our city, in North Port. And we are definitely going to do whatever we can to help the family find this missing daughter,’ one of the protesters told Fox News.
‘We all have children. If it were our child, we would want everyone to gather up and help us find our child too. So we’re going to do whatever it takes.’
Petito’s family and investigators have pleaded with Laundrie to provide information about the 22-year-old’s disappearance.
‘We believe you know the location where Brian left Gabby. We beg you to tell us,’ a letter from the Petito family to the Laundries released on Thursday said.
Adding, ‘Gabby lived with you for over a year. She was going to be your daughter in law. How can you keep her location hidden? Please, if you or your family have any decency left, please tell us where Gabby is located. Tell us if we are even looking in the right place.’
What is Brian Laundrie family not saying?
Laundrie’s sister broke her family’s silence on Petito’s disappearance in an interview with ‘Good Morning America’ on Friday, admitting she hadn’t yet spoken to her brother after he returned from the road trip.
‘I haven’t been able to talk to him. I wish I had information where I could give more,’ Cassie said, adding she had given everything she knew to the police already.
It is unclear what information Cassie was able to provide police.
Asked about police bodycam footage of officers speaking to a sobbing Petito and Laundrie after they got into a fight in Utah on Aug. 12, Cassie said: ‘It looked typical of both of them. Whenever they’d fight, they’d take a break and be fine.’
‘Obviously me and my family want Gabby to be found safe,’ she said.
‘She’s like a sister and my children love her, and all I want is for her to come home safe and found and this to be just a big misunderstanding.’
Petito’s father, Joe Petito, lashed out at Cassie’s remarks, saying that the Laundries have a twisted sense of love.
‘If that’s that family’s version of love, to just ignore and not care that someone’s gone and people are looking for them and entire country’s looking for them, I mean, that explains how we got to where we are today. Because I mean, look at their version of what they call love,’ he said.
