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NORTH PORT, Fla. (WFLA) — DNA analysis has not been performed yet on the remains found in the Carlton Reserve last week that were identified as Brian Laundrie using dental records, a medical examiner confirmed this week.
The North Port Police Department on Tuesday addressed a “false report of DNA not matching Brian Laundrie” that has been circulating online. In response to “a number of inquiries,” the department released a statement from Florida’s District 12 medical examiner.
“The identity of the remains found at the Carlton Reserve on Oct. 20 was confirmed by comparison to known dental records of Brian Laundrie,” the statement said. “No DNA analysis has yet been performed on the remains.”
According to the statement, samples will be submitted for DNA testing once the medical examiner’s office is done examining the remains.
The remains were found at the Carlton Reserve on Wednesday, Oct. 20. The discovery came after more than a month-long search for Laundrie in the reserve and the connecting Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park.
FBI officials confirmed on Thursday, Oct. 21 that they confirmed the remains were those of Laundrie using dental records. Steve Bertolino, the attorney representing the Laundrie family, said the parents were notified of the identification that day.
“Chris and Roberta Laundrie have been informed that the remains found yesterday in the reserve are indeed Brian’s,” he said. “We have no further comment at this time and we ask that you respect the Laundrie’s privacy at this time.”
The remains were sent to an anthropologist on Friday because medical examiners could not determine a cause of death, the attorney said.
Bertolino said that the Laundrie family was grieving privately in Florida this week with their daughter Cassie. The parents were seen returning to their North Port home Tuesday afternoon.
Laundrie was the only person of interest in the disappearance and death of his fiancée Gabby Petito. The couple lived in North Port with Laundrie’s parents and had been on a cross-country road trip together out west over the summer. According to police, Laundrie returned home without Petito on Sept. 1.
Petito was reported missing by her family on Sept. 11. Her body was found in Wyoming on Sept. 19 and her death was later ruled homicide by manual strangulation.
Laundrie was officially reported missing on Sept. 17, but the family’s attorney told WFLA he left home several days earlier.
