Gabby Petito’s father calls for new missing persons database law

Internet sleuths have been claiming that Brian Laundrie was trying to persuade the world that he was “clinically insane” through his artwork, The Sun reports.

Sleuths have uncovered a series of dark comic book drawings the 23-year-old had created and have branded him “psychopath.”

One artwork which appeared on his Instagram page in July 2020 depicts a skeleton with what seems to be blood coming from it. The character also appears to be screaming.

One sleuth claimed: “He’s just trying to make everyone he’s clinically insane. Truly he’s just a psychopath.”

“This is so creepy, what a freak,” another posted.

Steven Bertolino, the attorney representing the Laundrie family, said that the results of a forensic anthropologist’s examination of Brian Laundrie‘s remains are expected by the end of November.

Laundrie was a person of interest in the disappearance and death of his fiancée, Gabby Petito. His remains were found in the Carlton Reserve, a protected swamp, on 20 October, more than a month after he went missing. Ms Petito’s remains were found on 19 September. Her death was ruled a homicide by way of manual strangulation.

Mr Bertolino told Fox News that he believed the forensic anthropologist’s examination will conclude within two to three weeks.

Graig Graziosi has more:

Police could potentially find more clues with regards to Brian Laundrie’s death inside the Myakkahatchee Creek Environment Park, a retired homicide detective with the NYPD has suggested.

While a forensic pathologist investigates further, police may be able to yield more clues from the scene after water levels inside Myakkahatchee receded to their lowest point for several weeks in recent days.

Tom Joyce, told The Sun that due to the water levels being particularly low “they definitely have a better likelihood of recovering a piece of evidence.”

He explained: “It’s still a very challenging situation but better than it was if the water is four feet lower than it was just a few weeks ago.”

Steven Bertolino, the attorney representing the Laundrie family, said that the results of a forensic anthropologist’s examination of Brian Laundrie‘s remains are expected by the end of November.

Laundrie was a person of interest in the disappearance and death of his fiancée, Gabby Petito. His remains were found in the Carlton Reserve, a protected swamp, on 20 October, more than a month after he went missing. Ms Petito’s remains were found on 19 September. Her death was ruled a homicide by way of manual strangulation.

Mr Bertolino told Fox News that he believed the forensic anthropologist’s examination will conclude within two to three weeks.

Graig Graziosi reports:

“When you turn on Hulu, and your daughter’s story is the recommended show to watch,” wrote said Ms Petito’s mother, Nichole Schmidt on Sunday.

“It’s still shocking, feels like I’m outside looking in, this cannot be our life. We must keep going!!”

A retired FBI agent has explained why Gabby Petito’s father, Joseph Petito, has called for an update to the law regarding NAMUS, the National Missing And Unidentified Persons System.

The national database, connected to the Department of Justice, records information about missing people and unidentified bodies, but currently only 10 states (not including Florida) require law enforcement to report to it.

“It actually has investigators who will look through other public databases to try to find out of the person who’s missing is still alive somewhere else in the country possibly using the same social security number or things like that,” Former FBI Special Agent Brian Kensel told ABC Action News.

Joseph Petito recently posted a tweet suggesting every state should be required to report to NAMUS or a new system should be created holding all missing persons information in one place.

“I think you will see a movement toward more states making it a requirement,” said Mr Kensel.

A retired FBI agent has explained why Gabby Petito’s father, Joseph Petito, has called for an update to the law regarding NAMUS, the National Missing And Unidentified Persons System.

The national database, connected to the Department of Justice, records information about missing people and unidentified bodies, but currently only 10 states (not including Florida) require law enforcement to report to it.

“It actually has investigators who will look through other public databases to try to find out of the person who’s missing is still alive somewhere else in the country possibly using the same social security number or things like that,” Former FBI Special Agent Brian Kensel told ABC Action News.

Joseph Petito recently posted a tweet suggesting every state should be required to report to NAMUS or a new system should be created holding all missing persons information in one place.

“I think you will see a movement toward more states making it a requirement,” said Mr Kensel.

An unidentified woman is reported to be spending hours every day searching for additional remains of Brian Laundrie.

A TikTok user posted a video of the woman combing through long grass at the Carlton Reserve, where she has been every day for the past 10 days according to the Sun.

The cause of Laundrie’s death is still unknown, and some TikTok users said they hoped the woman would find evidence that would help investigators reach a conclusion.

“We’re so glad she is able to do this,” wrote one user, while another posted: “All it takes is for her to find the other part of his skull”

NewsNation correspondent Brian Entin has reflected on the case of Gabby Petito, and told The Independent’s Bevan Hurley that online detectives were key in progressing the investigation.

“I think some of the sleuths were super, super important,” he said, mentioning the clip captured by YouTube bloggers Jenn and Kyle Bethune that showed Ms Petito’s van parked on the side of a remote road in Grand Teton National Park’s Spread Creek Dispersed Camping Area. Her body was later found just a few hundred yards away.

“If it wasn’t for that family of bloggers,” Entin said, “they may not have found Gabby.”

Entin became one of the most trusted sources of information in the Petito-Laundrie story, spending seven weeks on the road covering the news. Sharing a succession of scoops with an avid social media audience saw his Twitter following balloon from 30,000 followers to more than 250,000.

Speaking about the aftermath of the case, Entin also said Gabby Petito’s murder by strangulation is already having a “profound impact” on the national conversation about domestic violence.

Read more about Entin’s thoughts on the case here:

A homicide expert says that investigators might be able to get more information about Brian Laundrie and Gabby Petito cases by examining Laundrie’s “digital footprint.”

Paul Belli of the International Homicide Investigations Association told CNN: “When you look at what an average download on a phone is, it’s thousands of pages when you actually put it into a PDF. While it’s fairly searchable by keywords, there’s a lot of sitting there minute-for-minute reading.”

Mr Belli added that that finding phones in a case like this could also offer an “incredible amount of information,” and that “police are likely to have gathered mountains of video footage to comb through.”

“I don’t think people realise the sheer volume of information that we now get on every case,” Mr Belli added.