Brian Laundrie used fiancé Gabby Petito’s bank card in Wyoming just three days after the 22-year-old woman was last seen alive, the Petito family lawyer said Tuesday.
Petito was spotted at a Wyoming restaurant on Aug. 27, while Laundrie returned without her on Sept. 1. Laundrie has since been named a person of interest in the case, and the FBI last month said he was indicted on bank fraud charges.
“You can look at his state of mind by his actions,” Petito family attorney Richard Stafford told the “Dr. Phil” show.
Laundrie “ran, he stole her credit card, he used her credit card to get home, and then ran from the police,” Stafford said. “That’s going to show a lot what he was thinking back then.”
Stafford later added: “I don’t know what story he’s going to try to tell, but it’s not going to make any sense when you put it together with his actions from that moment forward—that he’s running, that he’s hiding, that he’s trying to deceive everybody around him.”
Authorities in September accused Laundrie of using an “unauthorized” card after Petito’s death, according to an arrest warrant. They did not say whether it belonged to Petito.
Petito’s body was found in the Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming on Sept. 19. Her manner of death was later ruled a homicide.
Laundrie was reported missing by his parents on Sept. 17. Authorities are attempting to locate his whereabouts, spending a considerable time searching a wildlife preserve near North Port, Florida.
On Tuesday, Laundrie family attorney Steven Bertolino told news outlets in a statement that “upon further communication with the FBI,” officials “now believe” that Laundrie left the house on Sept. 13.
Bertolino also said that Laundrie flew home on Aug. 17, five days after he and Petito were stopped in Moab, Utah, returning back to his parents’ home in North Port on Aug. 23—four days after Petito was last seen alive.
“Brian flew home to obtain some items and empty and close the storage unit to save money as they contemplated extending the road trip,” he said in a statement.
