The sister of Brian Laundrie said during an interview with ABC News this week that she does not know where her fugitive brother is.
Laundrie has been the subject of a nationwide manhunt since mid-September, when the body of his girlfriend, Gabby Petito, was found in Bridger-Teton National Park. Petito’s death is considered a homicide and Laundrie is considered a “person of interest” in the case.
Laundrie and Petito were traveling the country in a van and Laundrie returned to his home in Florida on Sept. 1 without Petito. Ten days later, the woman was reported missing by her family. Her body was found Sept. 19.
“I wish he had come to me that first day with the van, because I don’t think we’d be here,” Cassie Laundrie said in an interview on Tuesday. “I worry about him. I hope he’s OK, and then I’m angry with him and I don’t know what to think.”
The couple was documenting their travels on a YouTube channel and on social media.
Laundrie is wanted by the FBI for fraud for illegal use of someone else’s credit card.
Cassie Laundrie encouraged her brother to come forward and get the family out of this “horrible mess.”
She said the last time she saw her brother in person was Sept. 6. She added she has tried getting in touch with him multiple times via phone since then.
She also noted that she and her son were with the Laundrie family, including Brian, on a camping trip just days before Petito’s body was found.
“There was nothing peculiar about it,” Cassie Laundrie said. “There was no feeling of a grand goodbye. There was nothing. I’m frustrated in hindsight that I didn’t pick up on anything.”
Cassie Laundrie added that she has been cooperating with police since the investigation started and called on her parents to do the same thing. Last month, the FBI searched the Laundrie family’s home to look for evidence regarding the Petito case.
“To tell the truth, I don’t know if my parents are involved,” Cassie Laundrie said. “If they are, they should come clean.”
Despite describing her brother as a “mediocre survivalist,” Cassie Laundrie said she wouldn’t be surprised if he could last a long time out in the wilderness.
