NORTH PORT, Fla. — A memorial for Gabby Petito has grown outside of North Port City Hall a day after family members, friends and even strangers gathered Sunday on Long Island, New York to remember Gabby.
Authorities are continuing a search for her fiancé Brian Laundrie in rural Sarasota County as the FBI is now in search of new evidence.
Meanwhile, community members have been outside Laundrie's parents home Monday shouting for them to tell the FBI Brian's location.
Over the weekend law enforcement searched the Laundrie’s home. The family’s attorney said Laundrie’s parents are cooperating with the investigation.
What You Need To Know
- Gabby Petito's memorial service held Sunday in hometown in New York
- Authorities continued search Sunday in Carton Reserve for Brian Laundrie; federal arrest warrant issued
- FBI confirmed Gabby Petito was the victim of a homicide
- Gabby Petito, 22, and Laundrie, 23, left in July for a cross-country trek in a converted van
- Laundrie returned in the van alone to Florida on Sept. 1
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The FBI requested some personal items belonging to Laundrie to assist them with DNA matching. Laundrie’s parents provided the FBI with those items.
On Sunday, mourners paid their respects to Petito.
Among those who congregated in Holbrook, about 35 miles east of New York City, were family members, friends, co-workers and people who were touched by Petito’s story even though they didn’t know her.
Her father Joseph Petito said he hopes people will be inspired by his daughter.
"Be inspired by what she brought to the table,” he said. “Because the entire planet knows this womans name now, and she has inspired a lot of women and men to do what's best for them first. Put yourself first. And do it now while you have the time."
Two fire trucks were positioned one on either side of the funeral home, each with its ladder extended, and a line of firefighters was seen filing into the building. Across the street, a chain link fence was adorned with posters featuring Petito’s image and messages such as, “She touched the world.”
Her body was discovered last Sunday in a remote area in northwestern Wyoming. Laundrie and Petito grew up on Long Island but in recent years moved to Florida.
On Thursday, federal officials in Wyoming charged Laundrie with unauthorized use of a debit card, alleging he used a Capital One Bank card and someone’s personal identification number to make unauthorized withdrawals or charges worth more than $1,000 during the period in which Petito went missing. They did not say who the card belonged to.
Additional searches in the Carlton Reserve will go on Monday.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.