Brian Laundrie’s parents ‘resigned to protesters stalking them’ after Gabby’s death, says body language expert
BRIAN Laundrie’s parents appear “resigned” as protesters continued to hound them following Gabby Petito’s death, a body language expert says.
Demonstrators were camped outside the Laundries’ home in North Port for weeks calling for answers before their son’s backpack and notebook were found in a Florida reserve this week – along with unidentified skeletal remains.
In the weeks before the vlogger’s remains were found, protesters chanted “Where’s Gabby” while the Laundrie family have only communicated through their lawyer Steven Bertolino.
Gabby’s cause of death has been identified – weeks after she was reported missing by her parents – and Laundrie’s parents continue to be quizzed.
Local media has since claimed that “skeletal remains” were found near a backpack and notebook belonging to Laundrie in the Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park.
Footage shows Chris being challenged by reporters while filling up a jerry can at a gas station and mowing the lawn.
Body language expert Patti Wood told The Sun: “It seems he’s making a decision to ignore.”
She noticed hints of resignation by the way Chris was mowing the grass and his head movements.
Wood added: “He’s doing the activity out of pure resignation. He’s actually working not to show – where you try not to show emotion. It’s in response to what the journalists are doing.
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“We don’t know if it’s in response to the whole bigger situation of his son. We just know it’s in response to the extremes of being shouted at.”
Protesters gathered outside the Laundrie family home last Sunday and one demonstrator Marissa Zdazinsky reportedly left pictures of Gabby on their doorstep.
It included flowers, pumpkins, and a photo of the vlogger captioned: ‘remember me?’
Chris was filmed removing a sign referencing his daughter Cassie recently from their front garden.
He was also seen installing what appeared to be a new doorbell camera as FBI agents continue their search.
It comes just days after he and his wife were visited by rowdy protesters who called the family “dirty Laundries”.
The protesters were seen charging at the home just after 8:30pm on Tuesday and hurled insults.
They were seen peering in the house’s front windows, while one person recorded on a mobile phone.
One man could be heard shouting: “Time to wake up and face the consequences.”
‘HURLING ABUSE’
Footage showed Chris and Roberta picking up white laundry baskets in the middle of the night that protesters had allegedly left.
They also retrieved a package from their mailbox, Fox13 reports.
At one point during the clip, Chris says: “Just let me do it.”
Wood said: “What we’re seeing is that they’re carrying on and we’re not going to give anything out. We’re not going to show any emotion.”
She noted that Chris appeared to give a slight shoulder shrug when asked if he has been truthful throughout the FBI’s probe.
Wood added: “He flings his hand and arm out, down and away. He brings his shoulder up and he tilts his head and shoulder. That indicates some dissonance with the question. He’s either shrugging it off or he’s not in agreement. They are two very different things.”
There is no evidence to suggest that the Laundrie family has lied to the FBI in any way.
ITEMS FOUND
Two senior law enforcement officials told NBC that among the bones was a portion of a human skull. The remains have not yet been identified.
However, an attorney for the Laundrie family has claimed that it is like the remains belong to Brian.
The FBI has not confirmed the state the remains were found in.
It was revealed on Wednesday that they were found in an area of the park that was previously underwater.
It is also unclear if it was partial or full remains found.
Laundrie has been missing since September 13 but his family didn’t report him missing until September 17.
His fiancée Gabby Petito’s remains were found two days later in a Wyoming national park and the coroner revealed last week that the 22-year-old blogger had been strangled to death.
BRIAN BREAKTHROUGH
The FBI, who is leading Gabby’s murder case, ramped up the search for Laundrie in the Carlton Reserve after the arrest warrant was issued.
Chris and Roberta Laundrie had said their son went for a hike in the reserve in early September but didn’t return.
K-9 units and helicopters were brought in to aid in the hunt through the difficult terrain, which is swamped with alligators and rattlesnakes.
A backpack and notebook belonging to Laundrie were found by police near human remains yesterday during a brief search with the missing 23-year-old’s parents.
The medical examiner told journalist Brian Entin that he does not expect to identify the remains today.
Michael McPherson, of the Tampa FBI division, told reporters Wednesday that investigators will likely be at the scene for “several days” as they forensically examine the evidence.
FBI teams and canine units have been pictured arriving at the reserve early on Thursday morning, according to NewsNationNow.
‘STRONG CHANCE’
As the public waits for answers, the Laundrie family lawyer Steven Bertolino told Insider that Brian’s parents, Chris and Roberta, are “not convinced” yet that the remains are Brian’s.
They do however concede there’s a “strong chance” that they are his, Bertolino said, adding they are “just waiting” for the identification results to come back.
Bertolino, meanwhile, said it was “common sense” to believe that it was Brian’s body that was found yesterday.
“Brian’s belongings found near remains in an area of [the] park [the] parents knew he frequented,” the attorney said.
Chris Laundrie also found a white plastic dry bag while cops and cadaver dogs were scouring the park Wednesday.
Bertolino added: “Chris didn’t want to pick the bag up because he wanted law enforcement to see it. This was caught on camera.”
The lawyer said that Chris informed authorities once he found the item.
The Laundries were then asked to leave the park as investigators continued combing the area.
Bertolino branded it “hogwash” to suggest the parents planted Brian’s possessions in the swamp, explaining that they were both being shadowed by reporters and police.
PERSON OF INTEREST
The FBI named Laundrie as a person of interest in Gabby’s murder for the first time on Wednesday when they revealed the shocking discovery that his personal items were found.
An arrest warrant was issued for the fugitive fiancé on September 24 after a grand jury charged him with misuse of a bank card that didn’t belong to him. Gabby’s family later confirmed the card belonged to her.
Laundrie is accused of spending $1,000 on her card as he returned to Florida without her in her van. He allegedly spent the cash between August 30 and September 1.
Gabby was last seen alive on August 27 as she apologized to staff in a Wyoming restaurant for Laundrie’s anger.
