FOUND! Brian Laundrie US judiciary issues arrest warrant

Twenty-two-year-old Gabby Petito appears to have been the victim of a violent crime. Her boyfriend is still missing. Now the FBI announced that there is a warrant for his arrest: He is wanted for bank fraud.

Sep 24, 2021 - 17:36

Brian Laundrie

An arrest warrant has been issued for the missing boyfriend of Gabby Petito, who was allegedly killed in the USA. This was announced by the local FBI in Denver. The 23-year-old is wanted for bank fraud, it said in a corresponding court document of the district court in the US state of Wyoming. It said the young man used a debit card without authorization between Aug. 30 and Sept. 1. The document did not say who owned the card. However, it said that the 23-year-old had withdrawn about a thousand US dollars (about 850 euros).

FBI asks the public for help
The arrest warrant was only for credit card fraud - "but the FBI and our partners across the country continue to investigate the facts and circumstances surrounding Ms. Petito's murder," FBI lead investigator Michael Schneider said.

The FBI urged anyone who knew anything about the boyfriend's role in the Gabby Petito case or his whereabouts to contact investigators.

No trace of the man has been found in days. His parents had reported him missing last week. Police in Florida, where the couple lived, had been searching for the 23-year-old in a nature preserve for the past several days. So far, however, he was considered only a "person of interest," not a suspect.

The Gabby Petito case has attracted a lot of attention in the U.S. but also around the world. Petito and her boyfriend had set out on a road trip across the U.S. in the summer, which they had documented on social media. Petito's boyfriend returned from the trip without his girlfriend on Sept. 1, according to police. Petito's family eventually reported the 22-year-old missing on Sept. 11.

Then, last Sunday, a body was found in a national park in the U.S. state of Wyoming. On Tuesday, the coroner's office concluded that it was Petito. The investigators assume after the autopsy of a homicide.