NORTH PORT, Fla. — Brian Laundrie's remains will be sent to a forensic anthropologist after a medical examiner was unable to determine a cause of death, according to a statement by Laundrie family attorney Steven Bertolino.
This type of expert analyzes skeletal remains to determine details such as manner and time of death.
"Everyone knows that, you know, the port was filled with wild animals, you know, alligators and snakes and other animals. You know, deterioration just from being under water may not have been the cause of death. Maybe he drowned. I don't know. So, just the fact that there is skeletal remains, if that's all there were, doesn't really tell us much," Bertolino said.
Investigators found skeletal remains on Wednesday in an area that was previously underwater in the Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park. Those remains were identified as Laundrie's the next day through dental records.
FBI investigators said a backpack and notebook were also found next to the remains. Many people wonder if that notebook will hold any answers to the investigation including what happened to Gabby Petito or the mental state Brian was in at the time of his disappearance.
The Laundrie family attorney said the father remembers his son leaving the house for the park on September 13 for a hike. He felt their son was "grieving" at the time.
"They knew he was so upset and, you know, they just couldn't control that he was leaving and he left, he walked out the door and Chris has said to me, 'I wish I could have stopped them, but I couldn't,'" said Bertolino.
Petito was only a "missing person" at that point in the investigation because authorities didn't find her remains in Wyoming until September 19.
The family attorney didn't clarify what he meant about Brian's mental state during that interview or what Brian was specifically "grieving" about.
This story was originally published by Lauren Petrelli at WFTX.
