Brian Laundrie's autopsy INCONCLUSIVE, skeletal remains to be sent to anthropologist
NORTH PORT, FLORIDA: The attorney for Brian Laundrie's parents says an autopsy on their son's remains did not reveal a cause or manner of his death. The remains are now reportedly being sent to an anthropologist to try and determine how he died.
“I can confirm that the remains were being sent to an anthropologist for further evaluation,” lawyer Steve Bertolino said. He added that they were hoping for more answers from law enforcement regarding the cause of death for Laundrie.
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Bertolino said on Thursday night, October 22, that he did not know how Laundrie died. “I don't want to speculate,” he said. “I try not to do that. I would hope people would stop doing that as well, especially with respect to this case. And in respect to the cause or how Brian came to be dead I don't know. We'll wait, if possible, for some kind of cause of death from the experts.”
Dental records confirmed that the partial human remains that were found on Wednesday, October 20, in the Carlton Reserve and the adjoining Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park in Sarasota County, were of Brian Laundrie. A “person of interest” in the murder of Gabby Petito, Laundrie was revealed to have been missing by his parents more than a month ago.
Michael F McPherson, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Tampa field office, said on Wednesday that the authorities had found a notebook and a backpack that belonged to Laundrie near the remains in the heavily-wooded, 160-acre Myakkahatchee Park in North Port. The park connects to the Carlton Reserve, a 24,565-acre wildlife refuge, where the authorities had been searching for Laundrie for weeks. The items were found in an area that until recently had been underwater, McPherson said.
“I know you have a lot of questions, but we don’t have all the answers yet,” McPherson said at a news conference on Wednesday, at which he did not take questions. “We are working diligently to get those answers for you.” Laundrie’s items and his remains were found after his parents, Chris and Roberta Laundrie, had informed the FBI and the police that they intended to come to the park on Wednesday morning to search for their son.
Laundrie's remains were skeletal, said Josh Taylor, public information officer for the city of North Port. They are said to include part of a skull. The Daily Mail reported that it had been expected that pinpointing his cause of death would be complicated because the body had reportedly lain in the water for some time.
“Forensic anthropologists are called upon when the environment has ravaged or removed the soft tissue,” said Dr Heather Walsh-Haney, speaking to WPBF News. “Soft tissue markers that the forensic pathologist would use.”
She added the longer the remains are left outside, the greater the chances that evidence is lost. “Four weeks is a long time for human remains to be out in the wilderness,” Walsh-Haney said.