Brian Laundrie’s family will not be holding a casket-style funeral service for their late son, TMZ reports.
Laundrie family attorney, Steve Bertolino, told the outlet that the family is opting instead to have Brian’s remains cremated, at which point his ashes will be given to his parents, Chris and Roberta Laundrie. The cremation will take place after authorities are done examining his remains.
The FBI confirmed on Thursday that Laundrie’s remains were discovered near a backpack of his that was found in Florida’s Carlton Reserve. The discovery came weeks after 22-year-old Gabby Petito’s remains were found in Bridger-Teton National Forest, following a weeks-long search for the woman, who was engaged to Laundrie at the time of her death. Laundrie then became a person of interest and a nationwide search commenced over his whereabouts.
Teton County coroner Brent Blue previously said Petito died by strangulation, but Laundrie’s cause of death has yet to be revealed.
Since the nationwide attention over their son’s story, Laundrie’s family—aside from his sister—has mostly remained silent on the search for both Gabby and Brian, but Bertolino has since said he advised them to remain silent.
“I’m the one who told them not to talk,” he said. “That’s been on me from day one. That’s not on the family. And if it turns out my legal advice is wrong in that perspective, so be it. But that’s on me, not on the family.”
For a full timeline of events on Gabby Petito’s disappearance—and all that we know so far regarding her murder and the discovery of Laundrie’s remains—click here.
