Boyfriend of slain Gabby Petito charged with bank card fraud

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — The boyfriend of Gabby Petito, whose body was found at a national park in Wyoming after a cross-country trip with him, was charged with unauthorized use of a debit card as searchers continued looking for him Thursday in Florida swampland.

A federal grand jury indictment filed in U.S. District Court in Wyoming alleges Brian Laundrie 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. It does not say who the card belonged to.

FBI spokeswoman Courtney Bernal declined to reveal the nature of the charges made to the debit card.

FBI Special Agent in Charge Michael Schneider said an arrest warrant issued Wednesday over the alleged fraudulent use of the bank card will allow law enforcement across the country to continue pursuing Laundrie while the investigation continues into Petito’s homicide.

Laundrie has been named a person of interest in the 22-year-old woman's death. The case has garnered enormous public interest — but also raised uncomfortable questions over the unequal attention given to the hundreds of cases of Native American and other minority women missing or murdered across the United States.

In Florida, searchers on Thursday spent a fifth unsuccessful day searching for Laundrie in the forbidding wilderness preserve near his parents’ home.

The search at the Carlton Reserve park was set to resume Friday, said Joshua Tayler with the city of North Port, where the park is located. It began after Laundrie told his parents he was going there, several days after returning alone Sept. 1 from his trip out west with Petito.

The indictment says the unauthorized use of the debit card occurred from about Aug. 30 to Sept. 1.

Laundrie family attorney Steven Bertolino said it is his understanding that the arrest warrant was related to activities that occurred after the death of Petito, and not to her actual demise.

“The FBI is focused on locating Brian and when that occurs the specifics of the charges covered under the indictment will be addressed in the proper forum,” Bertolino said in a text message to The Associated Press.

An attorney who has represented the Petito family also did not immediately respond for comment.