A court has issued a federal arrest warrant for Brian Laundrie over the death of 22-year-old ‘van life’ blogger Gabby Petito.
In a Twitter post on Thursday afternoon, FBI’s Denver office confirmed the latest move by the US District Court of Wyoming.
A body found on Sunday in the state’s national park was identified as Petito’s on Tuesday, with the local coroner ruling her death as a homicide.
The confirmation is the latest turn in a story that has gripped Americans since Petito’s family reported her missing on Septempter 11.
Ten days earlier the fiance, Brian Laundrie, returned home from the cross-country trip without her.
Petito’s body was discovered in a remote area of Bridger-Teton National Forest, in western Wyoming, less than 1,000 feet from where a pair of travel bloggers filmed what appeared to be the couple’s white van parked along a dirt road near Spread Creek on the evening of August 27.
An exhaustive search for Laundrie, 23, in a vast Florida wilderness near his family home in North Port entered a sixth day on Thursday.
A team of divers joined police and FBI agents using boats and helicopters looking for suspect in the alligator-infested Carlton Reserve on Wednesday.
But a spokesman said at nightfall that they had found ‘nothing’ to show for their efforts.
Authorities have not said why they are convinced Laundrie may still be somewhere inside the 24,000-acre wilderness, more than a week after he told family members he was headed there to hike alone.
North Port police say Laundrie’s parents did not report him missing until Septempter 14, three days after the family last saw him.
The Carlton Reserve has more than 128 km of hiking trails but is dominated by swampy water.
This is a breaking news story – more to follow.
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