Brian Laundrie search intensifies; questions about sister surface: LIVE UPDATES
New attention shifted to Cassie Laundrie on Friday in the search for her brother Brian Laundrie after her family's attorney, Steven Bertolino, revealed that she saw Brian at a campground on Sept. 6 with their parents, as well as on Sept. 1, when Brian returned home to North Port without his fiancé Gabby Petito.
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Newly obtained high school yearbook photos give a glimpse of Gabby Petito and Brian Laundrie as teenagers, years before their ill-fated cross-country road trip as a travel-blogging couple.
The images show Petito in her sophomore year and Laundrie as a junior at Bayport-Blue Point High School in New York.
She looks similar, younger but with the same beaming smile. He is chubbier, with a chinstrap beard, peach-fuzz mustache and a full head of hair.
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"Missing my beautiful granddaughter #gabbypetito everyday," Petito's grandmother, Marry Wickman, tweeted Saturday. "My tears won’t stop. @josephpetito #justiceforgabby #letitbe"
Petito's father, Joseph Petito, retweeted the post and urged Twitter users to follow Wickman using the #justiceforgabby hashtag.
"It still seems surreal," Petito's stepfather, Jim Schmidt tweeted on Saturday. "Miss you Gabs. #gabbypetito #justiceforgabby."
Petito's stepmother, Tara Petito, also joined in tweeting, "Gabby I will love you to the moon and back always and forever #gabbypetito #justiceforgabby."
Petito's mother, Nichole Schmidt, also posted on Twitter urging Brian Laundrie to turn himself in.
"Mama bear is getting angry!" Schmidt wrote. "Turn yourself in! @josephpetito agrees. #justiceforgabby #americasdaughter."
Gabby Petito’s father Joseph posted a proud tribute about the great ‘influence’ his daughter has had.
The Twitter comment is the first in over a week since Joseph Petito announced the creation of the Gabby Petito Foundation.
“So many stories being sent to us about relationships being left with proper planning for safety, and people are being found due to her influence,” Joseph Petito posted. “We have so much more work to do, but it’s a start.”
The Gabby Petito Foundation will provide resources and guidance on bringing children home.
Gabby Petito told a Utah police officer that Brian Laundrie hit her on Aug. 12, according to newly released bodycam video from a second Moab officer who arrived at the scene – but she quickly backtracked and claimed she struck first.
Meanwhile Laundrie said he "didn’t have time" to defend himself from allegations he’d struck his fiancée.
"I pushed her away," he tells the officer. "She gets really worked up, and when she does she swings and she had her cell phone in her hand. So I was just trying to push her away."
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As Gabby Petito news coverage continues, one expert is sharing how parents can speak to their children about the case in age-appropriate manners.
Stephanie Samar, a New York-based clinical psychologist who specializes in mood and anxiety disorders in children across the lifespan, spoke with Fox News on the subject.
"We're not sure what exactly happened between Gabby and her fiancé… there’s facts being reported by the news, and then there’s social media investigations going on," said Samar, who also guides adults who are parenting children with emotional and behavioral dysregulation.
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Cassie Laundrie, 31, has laid low following the disappearance and death of Gabby Petito, who would have been her future sister-in-law, and during the manhunt for her younger brother, 23-year-old Brian Laundrie, who is now a fugitive wanted for alleged debit card fraud and a person of interest in Petito's death.
New attention shifted to Cassie on Friday after her family's attorney, Steven Bertolino, revealed that the elder sibling saw Brian at a campground on Sept. 6 with their parents, as well as on Sept. 1, when Brian returned home to North Port without Gabby.
"Law enforcement agencies are well aware of these dates," Bertolino told Fox News on Friday. "Any prior communication by Cassie that does not reflect these dates is simply a difference of relating an answer to a question misinterpreted by Cassie or poorly posed by the inquirer."
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