Where is Brian Laundrie? Police hunt switches to missing boyfriend after Gabby Petito remains discovered

Authorities in Florida have resumed their search of a gator-infested nature reserve close to the Florida home of Brian Laundrie on Tuesday.

Mr Laundrie, 23, has not been seen since telling his parents he was going for a hike in the “vast and unforgiving” Carlton Reserve a week ago.

It came a day after the FBI and police executed a search warrant on the Laundrie’s home in North Port.

His girlfriend Gabby Petito’s remains were found in a Wyoming national park on Sunday.

Here is a timeline of events in relation to the police investigation of Mr Laundrie.

2 July - Mr Laundrie and Gabby Petito leave New York bound for a months-long “van-life” trip across the United States. The couple camp in national parks and nature reserves in Virginia, Utah and Wyoming, documenting their trip on their YouTube channel Nomad Statik and Instagram.

12 August - Police are called to an “altercation” between the couple in Moab, Utah.

A 911 call, released on September 20, reveals a witness saw Mr Laundrie slapping and hitting Ms Petito.

“I’m right on the corner of Main St by Moonflower… I’d like to report a domestic dispute,” the caller says in the 49 second audio recording.

“The gentleman was slapping the girl… they ran up and down the sidewalk, he proceeded to hit her and then they drove off.”

Police pulled over the couple’s Ford Transit van soon after and spoke to the couple. According to body-worn camera and attending police officer’s written reports, the couple told officers they had an argument after Ms Petito suffered a “mental health crisis”.

A visibly upset Ms Petito pleads with the officers not to arrest Mr Laundrie, and they are separated for the night. Ms Petito stays with the van while Mr Laundrie is checked into a motel for the night.

The incident is not considered serious enough by police to press charges.

24 August - Ms Petito and Mr Laundrie check out of a Salt Lake City motel. It’s the last confirmed sighting of Ms Petito alive.

25 August - Ms Petito speaks with her mother Nichole Schmidt, in the last confirmed communication with her family. She said she was in the Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming heading towards Yellowstone National Park.

30 August - Text messages are sent to Ms Schmidt’s from her daughter’s phone claiming she is in Yosemite. Ms Schmidt later says these are “fake”.

1 September -Mr Laundrie returns to his parents’ Florida home without Gabby Petito in the Ford Transit van the couple had been travelling around the US in.

10 September - Gabby Petito’s mother texts Mr Laundrie and his mother Roberta, but says her texts went ignored.

11 September - Ms Schmidt files a missing person report with Suffolk County Police and her daughter is declared missing.

Mr Laundrie and his family refuse to cooperate with police, and refer them to their family attorney Steve Bertolino.

Late that night, the couple’s van is seized from the Laundrie family home and taken for processing by the FBI.

14 September - Mr Laundrie leaves his parents’ home in his Ford Mustang and says he is going for a hike in the Carlton Reserve nearby. Much of the 25,000-acre reserve is swamp land with waist-deep water is infested with alligators and snakes.

Police receive a search warrant to examine an external hard drive retrieved from the couple’s van.

15 September - Mr Laundrie is named a person of interest in the disappearance of his girlfriend.

At a press conference, police said the 23-year-old “has not made himself available to be interviewed by investigators or has provided any helpful details.”

More details of Mr Laundrie’s “hiking” trip would emerge days later. His parents Christopher and Roberta would say they went to look for Mr Laundrie on the 15 September after he failed to return home. They say they found the vehicle parked by the reserve.

According to the family attorney Steven Bertolino, the Laundrie attorney, police placed a note on the vehicle asking for it to be removed. They said they left the car there in case he returned to it.

According to a NewsNation reporter monitoring the home, the Mustang reappears in the driveway on Wednesday.

16 September - Mr Laundrie’s sister Cassie tells ABC’s Good Morning America that she hasn’t spoken to her brother and that their family “love” Ms Petito.

Protestors gather outside the Laundrie home chanting “Where’s Gabby?” and with placards saying “Truth comes out in the end”.

17 September - Mr Laundrie is reported missing by his family, three days after they last saw him.

The same day police rule out any link to a double homicide in Moab, Utah of newlyweds Crystal Turner and Kylen Schulte.

That evening, police take away items from Mr Laundrie’s Mustang, which is parked in the family’s driveway.

18 September - Police begin searching the Carlton Reserve for any trace of Mr Laundrie, while in Wyoming the FBI hunt for clues in a mountainous national park in Wyoming.

19 September - Remains believed to belong to Gabby Petito are located in the Bridger-Teton National Forest in Wyoming on The search for Mr Laundrie intensifies.

North Port Police spokesman Josh Taylor admits Mr Laundrie could be out there for months.

“We’re not following him everywhere he’s going. We’re trying to keep an eye out kind of where he’s at so that when needed we could potentially reach him. But our focus was putting resources on trying to find Gabby.”

Police face criticism for their investigation.

Pat Diaz, a former Miami-Dade homicide detective, told Fox News: “Why would you [try to] get consent from the guy, and now get a search warrant?”

20 September - Police say they have exhausted all avenues and call off the search of the reserve.

At about 9:45am, police and FBI arrive at the Laundrie family home to execute a search warrant.

A convoy of five vehicles arrived at the street where the Laundrie home is located in North Port at about 9:45am on Monday morning and cordoned off the surrounding area.

Moments later, FBI agents arrived to execute the warrant, and could be heard saying “search warrant” and “you’re in a crime scene”.

Brian Laundrie’s father Christopher could be seen being led from the house by FBI agents.

He and wife Roberta Laundrie were being held in a parked police van in the driveway as officers conducted the search before being let back in a few hours later.

In a tweet, the FBI said it was “executing a court-authorized search warrant today at the Laundrie residence in North Port, FL relevant to the Gabrielle ‘Gabby’ Petito investigation.”

The police search warrant reveals text messages sent by Ms Petito to her mother in the days before her disappearance showed growing strain between her and Mr Laundrie.

Nichole Schmidt’s suspicions were further raised when she received a final “odd text” in which Ms Petito mentioned her grandfather by his first name “Stan” on 27 August, the warrant stated.

“Can you help Stan, I just keep getting his voicemails and missed calls,” the text said, according to the warrant.

The search for Mr Laundrie widens after several possible sightings of him in Alabama.

Officers from the Mobile Police Department received information that Mr Laundrie may have been in Tillman’s Corner, southwest of the city, 600 miles (965kms) from his home in North Port, Florida.

21 September - Law enforcement agencies resume their search of the “vast and unforgiving” Carlton Reserve near the Laundrie’s home.

“This is dangerous work for the search crews as they are wading through gator and snake-infested swamps and flooded hiking and biking trails,” North Port Police spokesman Josh Taylor says.

The search is being conducted by several law enforcement agencies including the FBI, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office, Sarasota Police Department, Venice Police Department and K9 search and rescue teams.

Authorities in Baker, Florida, said they were investigating a possible sighting of Mr Laundrie taken on a deer camera.

Sam Bass said that he spotted the man at 6:17 a.m. Monday in the town of Baker, Florida, about 500 miles away from Mr Laundrie’s home in North Port.

“I’m not saying this is the guy but whoever was on my trail camera this morning in Baker, Fl strongly fits the description of Brian Laundrie,” Mr Bass wrote on Facebook.

The Oskaloosa County Sheriff’s Office used drones as part of an extensive search of woodland near Baker.

On Tuesday afternoon they issued an update to say “nothing of note” had been found.

“The OCSO did its due diligence in response to this report and is wrapping up an extensive search that took place in this area to also include nearby farmlands and a search by drone. No one - and nothing - of note was located.

“There are no known possible past or current connections between Laundrie and anyone in this area at this time to follow up on. In the meantime we will remain vigilant and if anything new of significance develops we will share.”

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said he had directed all state agencies under his purview to assist federal and local law enforcement as they continue to search.

“We need justice for Gabby Petito,” he said in a post on Twitter.

22 September - The search resumes in the Carlton Reserve for Mr Laundrie, with a 10-person dive unit called in from the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office at the request of North Port Police.

A Pinterest account believed to belong to Mr Laundrie offers fresh clues as to his state of mind in the weeks leading up to Ms Petito’s disappearance.

One image being shared widely shows a sketch of ghostly figures, a gravestone, and text scattered throughout which reads “let her go, let her go, God bless her, wherever she may be”.

The most recent post from August shows the cover of a book titled Burnt Out, how to cope with autistic burnout.

Mr Laundrie’s drawings posted to his Instagram account, often of dark and macabre themes, have also been attracting the attention of the army of online sleuths obsessively tracking developments in the case.

He twice references death or dying when posting about his relationship with Ms Petito.