Gabby Petito's body had been in the wilderness for up to four weeks after she was strangled to death, an autopsy has revealed.
On Tuesday, October 12, Teton County Coroner Dr. Brent Blue confirmed at a press conference that Petito died by strangulation.
"We hereby find the cause and manner of death to be, the cause, death by strangulation, and manner is homicide," Dr. Blue stated, per The New York Times. "By Wyoming state statute, no other information will be released about the autopsy."
According to the findings, Petito's death is likely to have occurred three to four weeks before her remains were found near Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming.
"There will not be an exact date of death on the death certificate," Blue added.
Per ABC 7, after the results of the autopsy were announced, the Laundrie family lawyer, Steve Bertolino, released a statement saying:
"Gabby Petito’s death at such a young age is a tragedy. While Brian Laundrie is currently charged with the unauthorized use of a debit card belonging to Gabby, Brian is only considered a person of interest in relation to Gabby Petito’s demise.
"At this time Brian is still missing and when he is located we will address the pending fraud charge against him."
This past summer, Petito and her fiancé Brian Laundrie had been traveling across the country in her van, visiting state national parks around the West Coast.
On September 1, Laundrie returned solo to the North Port home that he shared with both Petito and his parents.
After law enforcement learned of the 22-year-old blogger's disappearance, Laundrie failed to cooperate, with police stating that he had neither "made himself available to be interviewed by investigators," nor "provided any helpful details."
On September 17, Laundrie's mother and father told authorities that they had not seen their son since September 14.
A month on, and with a nationwide search operation set up to find the 23-year-old fugitive, Laundrie is yet to be found. He has not been charged in connection with the case, but has been named a person of interest by investigators.
Laundrie has been charged with the unauthorized use of a Capital One debit card, on which he allegedly spent $1,000.
