Police searching for boyfriend of woman who went missing during couple’s US road trip
Police are searching for the boyfriend of a woman who went missing while the couple were on a road trip across the US.
Officers in Florida say they are working with the FBI to find 23-year-old Brian Laundrie, regarded as a person of interest in the disappearance of his girlfriend, Gabrielle “Gabby” Petito.
Mr Laundrie is understood to have returned home to Florida in early September alone, after the pair left in July on a cross-country trek in a converted van to visit national parks in the American West.
Police bodycam footage showed Gabrielle ‘Gabby’ Petito getting quite emotional while speaking to officers
Late last week, police in Utah released bodycam footage, captured on 12 August before Ms Petito’s disappearance, that showed her crying and an officer talking to Mr Laundrie after the pair were pulled over.
Officers decided to separate the couple, giving Ms Petito the van and putting Mr Laundrie into a hotel room for the night.
While they were travelling, much of their journey was documented on social media accounts, but the online content abruptly stopped and Ms Petito was last in contact with her family in late August.
Mr Laundrie later came back to Florida in the van, and Ms Petito was reported missing by her family 10 days later on Saturday 11 September.
Now, Mr Laundrie’s family have told officers they haven’t seen him since Tuesday.
Police said the first time they had been able to speak to the Laundrie family in detail about the case was on Friday evening, and that the meeting came at the family’s request.
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Police bodycam of missing Florida woman
A lawyer for the family called FBI investigators and said they wanted to talk about Mr Laundrie’s disappearance, police added.
North Port police said in a statement on Friday: “It is important to note that while Brian is a person of interest in Gabby’s disappearance, he is not wanted for a crime.”
It added that the investigation is now a “multiple missing person” case.
Mr Laundrie’s lawyer, Steven Bertolino, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday night.
He had previously said that “intimate partners are often the first person law enforcement focuses their attention on”, and that he had advised Mr Laundrie not to speak.
Lawyer’s for the Petito family released a statement saying: “Brian is not missing.”
“All of Gabby’s family want the world to know that Brian is not missing, he is hiding. Gabby is missing,” the statement from the law office of Richard B Stafford said.
Gabrielle ‘Gabby’ Petito’s white transit van has been seized by police. Pic: North Port Police
Earlier in the week, Ms Petito’s family pleaded for the Laundrie family to tell them where their son last saw her. Ms Petito and Mr Laundrie were childhood sweethearts who met while growing up in Long Island, New York.
His parents later moved to Florida.
In the body cam video released by Moab Police Department in Utah, Mr Laundrie said the couple got into a minor scuffle that began when he climbed into the van with dirty feet.
She told officers she slapped and scratched Mr Laundrie, saying: “I was trying to get him to stop telling me to calm down.”
He said he didn’t want to pursue a domestic violence charge against Ms Petito, who officers decided was the aggressor, and Mr Laundrie added: “It was just a squabble. Sorry it had to get so public.”
Ms Petito was reported missing on 11 September
The police’s conversation with the family on Friday came shortly after North Port police chief Todd Garrison expressed frustration that Brian Laundrie was not helping.
The police chief had earlier tweeted: “Two people left on a trip and one person returned!”
Meanwhile, a sheriff in Utah said on Friday that detectives had determined there was no connection between Ms Petito’s disappearance on the trip and a still-unsolved fatal shooting of two women at a campsite near Moab – the same tourist town where police intervened in the fight between Ms Petito and Mr Laundrie.
Donald Trump has paused US military aid to Ukraine just days after his row with President Zelenskyy.
A White House official, speaking anonymously, said: “President [Trump] has been clear that he is focused on peace.
“We need our partners to be committed to that goal as well. We are pausing and reviewing our aid to ensure that it is contributing to a solution.”
There was no indication about the possible length of the pause, and there’s been no comment so far from Ukraine.
It comes after the astonishing clash between the two leaders – as well as vice president Vance – in the Oval Office on Friday.
Donald Trump‘s berating of Mr Zelenskyy has led to a show of support from European leaders as they try to formulate their own way forward.
The US president attacked the Ukrainian leader again on Monday, telling reporters he should be “more appreciative”.
The tens of billion in US aid has included Patriot air defence systems. Pic: Reuters
Writing on Truth Social, Mr Trump also said Mr Zelenskyy had made “the worst statement that could have been made” after he commented that peace was still “very, very far away”.
“America will not put up with it for much longer!” he posted.
“It is what I was saying, this guy doesn’t want there to be peace as long as he has America’s backing,” the president added.
Mr Zelenskyy then posted on X, saying Ukraine was “working together with America and our European partners and very much hope on US support on the path to peace”.
“Peace is needed as soon as possible,” he said.
Despite the diplomatic crisis, President Trump has said a deal is still possible.
An agreement giving the US access to Ukraine’s rare earth metals was meant to have been signed by the two presidents on Friday.
It was billed as an important step in a future peace deal – and part payback for aid already received.
However, the dramatic falling out has thrown that into jeopardy.
Mr Zelenskyy wants the metals deal to include guarantees on halting Russia should it break the terms of any peace agreement.
However, vice president JD Vance suggested on Monday that the metals pact was the best way to secure a lasting end to the war.
“If you want real security guarantees, if you want to actually ensure that Vladimir Putin does not invade Ukraine
again, the very best security guarantee is to give Americans economic upside in the future of Ukraine,” Mr Vance said.
“That is a way better security guarantee than 20,000 troops from some random country that hasn’t fought a war in 30 or 40 years,” he added.
European and world allies – who met the Ukrainian leader in London at the weekend – have discussed a “coalition of the willing” to deploy peacekeepers and deter further Russian aggression.
The prime minister said Britain was prepared to put “boots on the ground and planes in the air” under the plan – but it’s unclear who else might participate.
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Keir Starmer told MPs on Monday that Britain must “lead from the front” on supporting Ukraine and the “security of our continent, the security of our country”.
However, the prime minister believes any international deployment of troops must have a US “backstop” deterrent to be taken seriously by Russia.
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America has given around €64bn of military aid to Ukraine, compared with €62bn from European nations (including Britain).
The overall US total is €114bn and the European one €132bn. This includes humanitarian aid and other financial assistance to keep the country running.
Following the weekend summit, the UK also pledged £1.6bn in finance for Ukraine to buy another 5,000 air defence missiles.
Donald Trump has confirmed 25% tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada, taking effect at 5am UK time on Tuesday.
The US president confirmed the tariffs in a speech at the White House – and his announcement sent US stocks down sharply.
The tariffs will be felt heavily by US companies which have factories in Canada and Mexico, such as carmakers.
Mr Trump said: “They’re going to have a tariff. So what they have to do is build their car plants, frankly, and other things in the United States, in which case they have no tariffs.”
There’s “no room left” for a deal that would see the tariffs shelved if fentanyl flowing into the US is curbed by its neighbours, he added.
As of 12:01am Eastern Standard Time (5.01am GMT), Mexico and Canada face tariffs of 25%, with 10% for Canadian energy, the Trump administration confirmed.
And tariffs on Chinese imports will double, raising them from 10% to 20%.
Canada announced it would retaliate immediately, imposing 25% tariffs on US imports worth C$30bn (£16.3bn). It added the tariffs would be extended in 21 days to cover more US goods entering the country if the US did not lift its sanctions against Canada.
China also vowed to retaliate and reiterated its stance that the Trump administration was trying to “shift the blame” and
“bully” Beijing over fentanyl flows.
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What is America’s trade position?
Mr Trump’s speech stoked fears of a trade war in North America and sent financial markets reeling.
Markets the Dow Jones Industrial Average, and the Nasdaq Composite fell by 1.4% and 1.76% respectively.
The share prices for automobile companies including General Motors, which has significant truck production in Mexico, Automaker and Ford also fell.
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Consumers in the US could see price hikes within days, an expert has said.
Gustavo Flores-Macias, a public policy professor at Cornell University, New York, said “the automobile sector, in particular, is likely to see considerable negative consequences”.
This is due to supply chains that “crisscross the three countries in the manufacturing process” and ” because of the expected increase in the price of vehicles, which can dampen demand,” he added.
Read more:
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The Trump administration is gearing up to bring in other tariffs in the coming weeks.
On 2 April, reciprocal tariffs will take on effects on all countries that impose duties on US products.
He is also considering 25% tariffs on goods from the EU “very soon” after claiming the bloc was created to “screw the United States”.
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