Gabby Petito body released to mortuary for cremation as her father Joe Petito travels to Wyoming to return her ashes to Long Island, NY home.
Gabby Petito‘s body has been released by the Wyoming coroner to a local mortuary for cremation, a day after officials announced that the van-life blogger had been strangled to death.
Her father Joseph Petito traveled to Wyoming on Wednesday to collect her ashes and bring them home to New York, Fox reported.
Brian Laundrie, 23, is still the only named person of interest in Petito’s death, which was ruled as homicide by strangulation yesterday.
Laundrie himself vanished on September 17, almost three weeks after returning home to Florida without his girlfriend.
The Teton County Coroner’s Office has released DNA to the police, according to WPBF 25.
Is Brian Laundrie a murder suspect?
The suspect could already have been named behind closed doors, a former FBI agent told the network.
‘That piece of information, I would bet, has gone into grand jury – there is now a sealed indictment for the apprehension for the person who is responsible for the death of Gabby Petito.
‘This can of course include him [Brian Laundrie] as being the attacker or responsible person for causing Gabby Petito’s death or it could exclude him,’ former FBI agent Stuart Kaplan told WPBF 25.
He believes it is unlikely the suspect’s name will be released until after an arrest is made.
Teton County Coroner Dr. Brent Blue released Petito’s cause of death as strangulation, but could not release any more information due to Wyoming law.
Petito’s body was discovered in a campsite close to the Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming on September 19 – eight days after her family reported her missing, and 22 days after the last reported sighting of her alive on August 27.
The coroner refused to reveal several details about the autopsy’s findings including: the condition of Petito’s body, if her body was buried, whether any drugs were found in her system and whether she was killed in the same spot her body was found.
Unanswered questions
He did confirm that Petito was not pregnant at the time of her death – after internet sleuths circulated that theory online in recent days. Blue added that DNA samples had been taken by law enforcement as the investigation into her murder and who was responsible continues.
State Attorney Dave Aronberg said Laundrie’s DNA might not appear on the samples found on Petito’s body due to the time her body spent exposed to the elements, but other evidence like cell phone records could still be used against him.
Laundrie’s family continue to refuse to answer questions about their wanted son’s whereabouts and are still citing the Reserve as the last place Brian was seen.
Brian Laundrie’s father, Chris Laundrie refused to answer questions as he mowed his lawn around a makeshift memorial for his fugitive son’s late fiancée Wednesday morning – 19 hours after a coroner announced Gabby Petito cause of death.
Petito’s parents are expecting to return home to Long Island, New York, this weekend with her ashes, according to Fox.
North Port Police spokesperson Josh Taylor previously told CNN Laundrie was being closely watched by authorities to the best of their abilities, at a time when Petito was still classed as missing and not dead and when a warrant had not yet been issued for Laundrie’s arrest.
Taylor provided no further details about the extent of this surveillance or how Laundrie was then able to slip through their surveillance as a manhunt for Laundrie continues.
