Search for Brian Laundrie continues in unforgiving terrain
Posted: Sep 25, 2021 / 07:20 AM EDT
Updated: Sep 26, 2021 / 12:03 PM EDT
NORTH PORT, Fla. (WFLA) – Search teams headed back into the Carlton Reserve Saturday and Sunday to continue the search for 23-year-old Brian Laundrie, the fiance of Gabby Petito.
Law enforcement has been searching for a week, and still, there is no trace of Laundrie's whereabouts.
North Port Police came flying down their street, with lights and sirens on about 7:00 p.m. Friday to reports of gunshots, only to find out it was a false alarm.
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A police spokesman said they got a call from an unknown phone number about gunshots in the area, but after going inside and talking to neighbors, police found no such evidence.
The Laundrie family attorney shared new information Friday saying Brian had left home without his wallet or cell phone and said his parents are concerned he might hurt himself.
Saturday, multiple agencies are searching the unforgiving terrain of the 25,0000-acre Carlton Reserve again, looking for Brian.
Officers respond to Brian Laundrie's home for report of gunshots in the area, no evidence found
Commander Joe Fussell with the North Port Police Dept. said they're not wasting their time with the search.
"We're doing our due diligence to find Brian in an area that intelligence-led us that he could possibly be in," Fussell said. "It's upon us to make sure we search this area as best we can, as massive as it is, to try to find Brian."
The conditions they're exploring are difficult.
"We're looking through wooded areas, bodies of water, swampy areas, and we're deploying the resources to be able to do that," Fussell said. "We have air units, drones, swamp buggies, airboats, multiple law enforcement agencies, and more."
Brian reportedly went into the wooded reserve last Tuesday, which according to experts is about 75% underwater.
Attorney for Laundrie family says Brian left home without wallet, cell phone before disappearing
Conditions are hot and muddy. If Brian is in there, experts say finding food, water, and shelter must be difficult.
8 On Your Side spoke with a self-proclaimed outdoor expert, Darry Jackson, who said he's gone through survival school. He said if Brian is still in the wooded reserve, he's probably in a world of pain.
"I think by now, he would be in such discomfort," Jackson said. "He would give himself up because he is going to want food, he's going to want shelter."
He went on to say "I would be surprised if he is there, and if so, I would be surprised if he was alive,"
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