SARASOTA COUNTY — The FBI is now in charge of the search for Brian Laundrie in the Carlton Reserve.
We’ve learned search teams have been scaled back and are more focused on a specific part of the park. It’s now been 10 days of slogging through the swamp for search crews, all with no results in the search for Laundrie.
Public Information Officer Josh Taylor with the North Port Police Department said the FBI's search will “Be scaled back and targeted based on intelligence. Hopefully, water will lower in areas hard to currently access.”
But as crews continue to work, the public is getting frustrated.
"I think, yeah they’re wasting their time," said Baylee Hanson, who we met outside the Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park, which connects to the Carlton Reserve.
Hanson said she just had a kid of her own, and she feels for Gabby Petito's parents. She’s been following the case, and like many, she believes there’s nothing in the woods for investigators to find.
"Maybe a gator got him and ate him completely and he’s just gone forever, I don’t know, but I honestly don’t believe he was here," said Hanson.
But on Sunday, the FBI showed its investigation wasn’t just limited to the park. Agents searched the Laundrie home again, collecting evidence family attorney Steven Bertolino said might have Laundrie’s DNA on it.
Hanson said she supports the efforts by law enforcement, but she's anxious for the case to come to a resolution.
"Somebody knows something and they need to speak up, and her parents deserve to know what happened, and she deserves justice," said Hanson.
We were informed by the attorney for the Petito family, Richard Stafford, that there will be a press conference Tuesday at 1:00 p.m. in New York.
We also know search crews do plan to continue searching out in the park Tuesday as well.
