Brian Laundrie’s Family: Where Are They Now?

On September 19, 2021, Gabrielle “Gabby” Petito’s remains were recovered from the Bridger–Teton National Forest in Wyoming, leaving her loved ones shattered to the core. As explored in Netflix’s ‘American Murder: Gabby Petito,’ they had reported the 22-year-old missing earlier that month after not hearing from her for days while she was on a cross-country road trip with her fiancé. However, Brian Christopher Laundrie had already returned home alone on September 1, following which his family lawyered up and refused to discuss the perplexing matter with anyone.

Brian Laundrie Reportedly Grew Up in a Loving Household

It was on November 18, 1997, that Brian was born to Roberta and Christopher Laundrie as the youngest of their two children in Florida before primarily being raised in/around New York. He had actually first come across Big Apple native Gabby while attending Bayport-Blue Point High School, yet they didn’t begin dating until two years after she graduated in early 2019. Things were actually quite complex for the couple in the months to follow as the 21-year-old decided to move back to Florida alongside his parents, but they still managed to make things work.

The truth is Brian’s elder sister Cassie and her husband James Luycx had settled down in the Sunshine State alongside their two young sons, so her family wanted to be closer to them. Therefore, they decided to start anew in North Port, Florida, and Gabby excitedly followed in their footsteps in December despite having been with her boyfriend for just nine months at that point. She and Brian resided with his parents as they pursued their dream of traveling across the nation together in a van, but things were still not idyllic as she and Roberta reportedly didn’t get along.

Brian Laundrie’s Parents Allegedly Protected Him

While Brian’s parents were supportive of all his ambitions, his mother and his girlfriend-turned-fiancée always seemed to be at odds, which reportedly continued right until they left on July 2, 2021. Little did anyone know that in less than two months of this road trip, being documented by Gabby on social media, everything would turn upside down as she would go missing on August 27. She was last seen in the surveillance footage of a Whole Foods store in Jackson, Wyoming, at around 2:30 p.m., following which the couple drove to the Bridger–Teton National Forest campsite.

No one knows for sure what transpired in the next 48 hours, yet court records indicate Roberta and Christopher had received a call from their son on August 29, saying Gabby was “gone.” He subsequently allegedly asked them to hire a lawyer for him before deciding to hitchhike back to his fiance’s van and drive back home to Florida in a hurry — he was there by September 1. Brian never once called his partner’s parents or let them know something was wrong; instead, he went camping with his folks on the 6th and 7th, four days before Gabby was officially reported missing.

When officials arrived at the Laundrie household on the evening of September 11, Roberto and Christopher revealed Brian was safely home but that they would not be responding to any questions. However, they did make it clear Gabby was not there, kickstarting a full-fledged investigation into her disappearance, for which Brian was named a person of interest merely three days later. What no one ever expected was that he himself would be reported missing on September 17, with his parents claiming they had not seen him since he drove off from their home on September 13.

Following Controversies, Brian Laundrie’s Family Leads a Quiet Life Today

While Brian’s parents had remained quiet throughout all the efforts to locate Gabby, his sister did speak to the media to make it clear that she and her husband were cooperating with officials. In fact, after her brother vanished, she candidly expressed that she wished he had come to her when he first returned before adding she would have turned him in if she knew where he was. On the flip side, concerns about his parents’ possible criminal involvement started being raised as the execution of a search warrant on their home yielded an explicitly graphic letter penned by Roberta.

In the letter, the mother of two had expressed, in part, “If you need to dispose of a body, I will show up with a shovel and garbage bags,” only to have enclosed it in an envelope stating “burn after reading.” Roberta later claimed she had written this before he had even left for his cross-country road trip, adding it was a “jokey, stupid” way for her to show support with “poor choice of words.” In the end, the fact that the Laundries had ignored texts as well as calls from Gabby’s family for weeks further painted them in a negative light, yet nothing could be done about it.

While Gabby’s remains were recovered on September 19, with her autopsy revealing she suffered blunt force trauma before being manually strangled to death, Brian’s body was found on October 20. He was located deep in Florida’s Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park, where he had died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head after admitting to killing his fiance in a letter. As a result, her family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Laundries, which they ultimately settled in February 2024. Before this, in November 2022, a judge had already awarded $3 million to Gabby’s mother in another similar lawsuit against Brian’s estate. Since then, it appears as if his entire family has chosen to keep well away from the limelight while still residing in Florida.

Read More: Brian Laundrie: How Did He Murder Gabby Petito? Why Did He Kill Himself?