It feels like it was forever ago when Florida police discovered the remains of Brian Laundrie in the Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park last October.
Now, after the release of full autopsy report, we have a better idea of how the scene actually looked when his body was discovered. And it wasn’t pretty…
As we already know, the 23-year-old died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, causing extensive fractures to the skull, according to the New York Post.
It was also noted that the majority of his bones were found scattered in “plain sight” and had been gnawed on by animals after his death.
He shot himself in the left temple and the bullet exited through the right temple. Authorities recovered the majority of the skeleton, besides a few bones from his teeth and face.
The bones did show signs of gnawing and chewing from “post-mortem scavenging/carnivore activity,” meaning some animals got to the body.
Personal items were retrieved from the skeleton as well, like a pair of green shorts, slip-on shoes, a white metal ring, a backpack and a handgun, with the scene secluded by overgrown vegetation, as it was determined the remains had been there for weeks.
Laundrie confessed to murdering his fiancée Gabby Petito in his journal, her remains were found in a Wyoming campground September 19.
Brian Laundrie Investigation
After returning to his home in Florida, Brian Laundrie seemingly disappeared, setting off a nationwide manhunt (one that included Dog the Bounty Hunter) but one that focused on the Carlton Reserve in Florida.
Then last month, authorities located his body in the Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park after his parents went searching for Laundrie and found a bag and a notebook that they believed to belong to their son.
This obviously led to conspiracy theories that Laundrie’s parents were somehow involved, or that they had killed their own son and had known where the body was located all along.
But apparently the part of the preserve where Laundrie’s body was located had been under water in the prior weeks to the discovery of his body, and although it had been searched previously, only when the water receded was the body able to be discovered.
Investigators suspect that his body had been underwater for “weeks” when it was found.
Police admitted to potentially botching the search for Laundrie from the start, losing track of Brian when they mistook his mother Roberta for the fugitive while they were watching the Laundrie home.
After the discovery of his remains, investigators suspected from the beginning that Laundrie had taken his own life after entering the nature preserve, although initial autopsy results were inconclusive due to the decomposition of the remains.
