Brian Laundrie-Gabby Petito Case: Thousands Sign Petition Demanding Investigation Into Florida Police
More than 4,000 people have signed a petition demanding a formal investigation into the handling of the Florida police on the Gabby Petito and Brian Laundrie case.
The Change.org petition urged Florida governor Ron DeSantis to start an internal investigation into the North Port Police Department's handling of the couple's case. It added that the "bigger picture" is to bring on change, Independent reported.
The creator of the petition said the North Port Police Department "has been incompetent in their handling" of both Petito and Laundrie's case.
"Millions of taxpayers money was spent on this investigation over a month's time with little to no results," the creator added.
The petition was started by a user named "Gabby's Safe Haven 2.0," and has so far collected 4,066 signatures. The petition noted that police deal with citizens on a daily basis and the actions of incompetence could have huge, life-altering effects on many people in their communities.
"What happens when you have a department that's full of incompetence? Well, Governor DeSantis, this case right here is what happens," the creator said.
The petition specifically asked DeSantis to investigate the "handling of the case by the North Port Police Department, City of North Port public information officer Josh Taylor, and North Port police chief Todd Garrison." It noted that the "handling of evidence and chain of custody" was "highly suspicious."
The petition said: "Within a day of the search area being opened back up to the public, the person of interest's parents were the one's (sic) to discover belongings of that of their son."
It added that even "after the remains of Brian Laundrie were discovered and confirmed, the search area was reopen to the public once again within 24 hours of discovery."
The creator noted that the "whole investigation" shows the "complete incompetence of the North Port Police Department," which should "thoroughly be internally investigated."
Family Lawyer Says Police Mistakes Cause Many False Allegations Against Brian Laundrie's Parents
The attorney for the family of Brian Laundrie, Steven Bertolino, earlier said mistakes made by the police in their probe into the disappearance and death of Gabby Petito's fiance had caused a lot of false allegations against his clients.
Bertolino issued the statement following a report from North Port police that investigators confused Laundrie's mom with her son while they were monitoring the family's home after Petito was reported missing, ABC7 reported.
North Port police spokesperson Josh Taylor has told WINK News that the surveillance operation has been flawed. At one point, Taylor noted that investigators believed that Brian Laundrie had left the house in his Ford Mustang.
According to the North Port police, the officers watching out for Laundrie claimed they mistakenly got Laundrie and his mom mixed up since Petito's fiance looks very much like his mom.
The officers said they had watched Laundrie leave in his Mustang on September 13, and they thought he returned on September 15.
"But we now know that that wasn't true... No case is perfect," Taylor noted as he confirmed that the person who left home was Laundrie's mom, Roberta Laundrie.
Reacting to this report, Bertolino told ABC7 that "everyone makes mistakes," but "Brian and Roberta are not 'built' the same."
"Moreover, it was (the North Port police) that put the ticket on the Mustang at the park (Carlton Reserve), and if they saw Brian leave on Monday in the Mustang, which is news to me, then they should have been watching the Mustang and the park starting on Monday and they would have known it was Chris (Brian's dad) and Roberta that retrieved the Mustang from the park," Bertolino said.
The lawyer added that "you can't blame the family because the police did not know enough to follow someone they were obviously surveilling."
He then said that "none of this may have made a difference with respect to Brian's life but it certainly would have prevented all of the false accusations leveled by so many against Chris and Roberta with respect to 'hiding' Brian or otherwise financing an 'escape'."
Autopsy of Brian Laundrie's Remains
Brian Laundrie was named a person of interest by North Port police after returning home on September 1 or 10 days before Gabby Petito was reported missing by her family. Petito disappeared on a cross-country road trip with Laundrie.
The couple was traveling to Oregon when the YouTuber stopped communicating with her family in Wyoming in late August. On September 19, Petito's body was found at the Spread Creek Dispersed Campground near Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming.
A Teton County, Wyoming coroner said she was strangled to death by a "human being," and the manner of death was homicide.
After a month-long manhunt for their son, the elder Laundries directed the North Port police and FBI agents to a swampy area of Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park where Laundrie's remains, backpack, and notebook were found.
The FBI said the skeletal remains found on October 20 were confirmed to be Laundrie after a review of dental records. The initial autopsy of Laundrie's remains did not uncover a cause or manner of his death.
Bertolino noted that the autopsy by the Sarasota County medical examiner did not produce concrete results on Laundrie's death, so the skeletal remains of Gabby Petito's fiance were sent to a forensic anthropologist for further examination.
Bertolino said the results of the forensic anthropologist's examination of Brian Laundrie's remains are expected this month.
This article is owned by Latin Post.
Written by: Mary Webber
WATCH: North Port Police Dept. Under Fire for Brian Laundrie's Disappearance - From CNBC Television