Brian Laundrie died of self-inflicted gunshot wound, family says

Nov. 23 (UPI) -- Brian Laundrie died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, an attorney for his family announced Tuesday.

Steven Bertolino, an attorney for Brian Laundrie's parents, said they received the results of a second autopsy just about one month after his skeletal remains were found in a Florida park.

"Chris and Roberta Laundrie have been informed that the cause of death was a gunshot wound to the head and the manner of death was suicide," Bertolino said in a text to WFLA-TV in Tampa, Fla. "Chris and Roberta are still mourning the loss of their son and are hopeful that these findings bring closure to both families."

An autopsy conducted less than a week after the remains were found Oct. 20 in the Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park were inconclusive, NBC News reported. A forensic anthropologist has been examining Brian Laundrie's remains since then.

Brian Laundrie's parents reported him missing Sept. 13, less than two weeks after he returned home from a road trip out West without his fiancée, Gabrielle "Gabby" Petito, 22. Searchers found Petito's body Sept. 19 at Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming and determined she died of strangulation.

Investigators sought Brian Laundrie as a person of interest in Petito's death and on federal charges of using someone else's credit card.

Petito's parents reported her missing Sept. 11 amid her road trip with Brian Laundrie. Her family said they last heard from her in late August. Petito had been living with Laundrie and his parents in North Port, Fla., when they set out on the trip earlier in the summer.