Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - DID BRIAN LAUNDRIE’S MOM KNOW GABBY WOULD NEVER COME HOME?

Episode Date: September 30, 2021

As the hunt for Brian Laundrie continues, questions multiply concerning the fugitive's parents. What did they know regarding the death of 22-year-old Gabby Petito and when did they know it? The big question right now: Did Brian Laundrie's mom know that Gabby would never come home?Plus, a Montana tourist reports a strange interaction he and his companions had with a man matching Laundrie's description at a West Yellowstone, Montana bar.Also, Duane ‘Dog the Bounty Hunter’ Chapman has discovered a campsite and fresh energy drink can deep in the woods while searching Shell Island off the coast of Florida for Brian Laundrie. Could this piece of metal hold valuable information for investigators?Joining Nancy Grace today: Hunter Mannies - Witness who claims he saw Brian Laundrie in a bar near Yellowstone National Park Ben Levitan - Telecommunications Expert, Wireless, Cellular, PCS, Internet and Telephony, benlevitan.com Matthew Mangino - Attorney, Former District Attorney (Lawrence County), Author: "The Executioner's Toll: The Crimes, Arrests, Trials, Appeals, Last Meals, Final Words and Executions of 46 Persons in the United States" Dr. Shari Schwartz - Forensic Psychologist (specializing in Capital Mitigation and Victim Advocacy), www.panthermitigation.com, Twitter: https://twitter.com/TrialDoc, Author: "Criminal Behavior" and "Where Law and Psychology Intersect: Issues in Legal Psychology" Sheryl McCollum - Forensic Expert & Cold Case Investigative Research Institute Founder, ColdCaseCrimes.org, Twitter: @ColdCaseTips Joe Scott Morgan - Professor of Forensics: Jacksonville State University, Author, "Blood Beneath My Feet", Host: "Body Bags with Joseph Scott Morgan" Mahsa Saeidi - Investigative Reporter, WFLA-TV (Tampa), Twitter/Instagram: @MahsaWho, Facebook: "WFLAMahsa" Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to an iHeart Podcast. The search for so-called boyfriend Brian Laundrie is in high gear with a reward up to $170,000. Brian Laundrie, the so-called boyfriend of the van life girl Gabby Petito, her body found out in the elements in the open in the Grand Tetons where the two had been camping. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. How in the world did Brian Laundrie seemingly slip through the fingers of not only the police, the feds, and the press who had a ring of cameras around his whole home, including his backyard? Where is Laundrie right now?

Take a listen to our friends at WTSP-TV. New leads in the search for Brian Laundrie. The feds investigating new video of the Laundrie family. And a phone purchased by Brian just days before he went missing. First, though, let's squash a rumor that you may have seen on social media tonight. There has been some people sharing that Brian was spotted in North Carolina in the mountains. Others saying that he was found there. But that is false, according to police.

Officers from New Bern PD and the FBI looked into the tips that Brian was seen in the city, but they said they don't believe he was or is in New Bern, which is, by the way, a city on the east coast of North Carolina. So where is Laudrey? And don't be dissuaded because one tip was wrong. We need citizen police now more than ever. If it had not been for social media, we wouldn't have even found Gabby's body, I dare say. Joining me, an all-star panel and special guest today, Ben Levitan, telecommunications expert joining us out of Raleigh.

Matthew Mangino, lawyer, former prosecutor, author of The Executioner's Toll. Dr. Sherry Swartz, forensic psychologist at PantherMitigation.com, author of Criminal Behavior. Cheryl McCollum, founder, director of the Cold Case Research Institute. You can find her at ColdCase.org. Death investigator investigator Joseph Scott Morgan, professor of forensics, Jacksonville State University, author of Blood Beneath My Feet, and host of a brand new hit series, Body Bags, with Joseph Scott Morgan. Masa Saidi joining us, investigative reporter, WFLA, on the case from the very beginning. But I want to go first to

another special guest joining us, Hunter Maness, who says he saw Brian Laundrie in a bar near Yellowstone. I'm very curious to hear all the details. Hunter Maness, thank you for being with us. Thank you, Nancy. Hunter, can you believe the guy you saw at a bar is in the middle of this hellstorm? No, actually, I can't. Yai, you saw at a bar is in the middle of this hailstorm. No, actually, I can't. My friend and I actually at this point have wished we had gone to a different restaurant and bar.

Where were you? We were in West Yellowstone, Montana, which is it's about a mile and a half outside the West Gate of Yellowstone. We were in a bar and restaurant called Bullwinkle's. OK, I've camped there many, many times. In fact, I just got back from taking the twins to Yellowstone. I mean, you could spend a month there and not see it all. So Hunter Maness joining me, who sees Brian Laundrie at the bar Bullwinkle's at Yellowstone. Curious, what was the date that you saw him, Hunter? It was August 26th, and he was actually in the bar already when we went in, which was around 10 o'clock, and we left the bar a few minutes after 12, and he was still there. 10 p.m.? Yes, ma'am. So he was

still there, and was he alone? For everything that we could see, yes, he was. The bar was actually... Well, what do you mean by that? Because I was expecting a yes, no. Yes, he was alone. The only people in the bar were him, two female bartenders, my friend and I, and another couple that we had met in the restaurant a few minutes earlier. So that's a yes, he was alone?

Yes. 10 o'clock at night, August the 26th. So that begs, don't go anywhere, Hunter Madison. I want to tell you again how thankful we are to have you. I mean, I can read about you, but I want to ask you our own questions. And panel, jump in with questions for Manis. So where was Gabby on August 26th and how does that fit into the timeline? Straight out to Masa Saidi joining us. Masa, we believe or have believed up

until right now that Gabby was still alive on August 26th. Why? That's exactly right. We believe that Gabby was still alive on August 26th. I can tell you that according to a federal paperwork, court paperwork, Gabby sent or someone sent a text message from Gabby Petito's phone on August 27th. Now, her mother thought that that text message was very curious because she referred to her grandfather as Stan. This was something that she had never done before, but people had reported seeing Gabby alive in Wyoming on August 26th.

And the last that her family heard from her was a text message that was sent from her phone on August 27th. Who reports seeing her alive after August 26th? After August 26th, no reports of her alive. I thought you just said the reports of seeing her alive after August 26th. So no reports of anyone seeing her alive. There's just that fake text. To Cheryl McCollum, let's weigh in on the timeline.

Well, we know the last time she FaceTimed with her dad was August 21st. We know there was some post on her social media, but again, we can't confirm she did that. The text messages, I can already tell you, I have always believed they were bogus. Not just the one where she mentions her grandfather as Stan. Can I ask you another question, Cheryl? Go with me on this, and then I'm going to circle back with Ben Levitan, our telecommunications expert, joining us out of Raleigh. Cheryl, you mentioned some posts after August 26th,

but did you notice on those posts after August 26th, for the first time throughout the entire trip, Gabby did not geotag the Insta posts. She geotagged all of her posts throughout until then, and suddenly no more geotagging. It was almost as if someone else sent it. I mean, because think about it. You know, I write a certain way.

You write me full-on paragraph syntax, whatever. But that was her style. And I think there's a reason for it she was building a business you know how people start as and I guess you could say influencer or let's just say they're a nutritionist or they're a dietitian or they're a travel person. And they start a blog. And she had this awesome video blog. And it took a lot of effort to edit as an amateur to edit what she was doing. And it looked very professional and very intriguing. I was sucked into it. I liked watching what they were doing.

It made me want to go along with them. That took a lot of time and effort. One of her hallmarks was that she geotagged so everybody would know where she was when she posted. But in those last posts, they were not geotagged to my understanding, Cheryl McCollum. I think that's a brilliant point, Nancy. And again, I think that's the reason his original phone is gone. That's the reason I think when they're looking in that. Oh, wait, hold another can of worms, but I like it. The reason his phone was gone.

Okay, Hunter Maness, hold on just a second, friend, because I want you to hear something about the so-called phone, the so-called phone that for some reason, like who leaves their phone behind? I mean, my twins would rather get their thumb cut off rather than leave their phone behind. But from what we understand, he left his phone behind. Why do you find that significant, Cheryl McCollum? I think it's significant because it's just another red herring from these people. He left the brand new phone behind, easily found. FBI shows up. Mom's like, oh, here it is. He left it behind because that phone was clean. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Guys, take a listen to Our Cut 202. This is Shannon Clow, 10 Tampa Bay, WTSP.

Tonight, we've confirmed with Brian Laundrie's attorney that he bought a phone before he went missing. Steven Bertolino, who is the attorney for the Laundrie family, tells me Brian got a phone sometime in the month of September. He tells me he doesn't know why or exactly where he bought this phone, but he did tell me he got it before he went missing and he actually left the phone here at his home. You can all probably remember that his family reported him missing to Northport police on September 17th. His family saying the last time they saw him was on September 14th when they say he went to the Carlton Reserve. We can confirm that search continues for Brian Laundrie at the Carlton Reserve, and the lawyer confirming to me that the phone is now in the hands of the FBI. That would be the new phone. Is that right, Masa Sayidi? The new phone that he bought is in the hands of the FBI. Okay, Ben Levitan. Hey, Hunter Maness, you had no idea

that what you said about seeing him on August 26th was going to open up this can of worms. Hold on, Ben Levitan. Why would anybody intentionally lose their phone? Because they don't want to be tracked, Nancy. I mean, he bought this phone on September 15th, and he bought a prepaid phone. Where is his original phone? Nancy. What happened to that phone? Okay, who's breaking in?

Who is that? It was Masa. So this is actually the story that I'm working on today. The Laundrie family attorney gave us a little bit more details than you just heard from that other reporter. We have confirmed through the attorney that Brian allegedly purchased a new phone on September 4th. The attorney says this was not a burner phone. He said that he, that Brian opened an account with AT&T and we're told that on September 14th, when according to his parents, he left to go to the Carlton Reserve, he did not have that phone with him. The attorney

telling us that the FBI now has that phone, but it was purchased on September 4th. Hold on. I'm making you know that new phone bought September 4th. Did you say 4? Yes, ma'am. September 4th. Zero four. No, no, no. It's me. So, monster, that's very, very probative in my mind. And guys, this is how you build a case. You start with one timeline. And just as we've got hunter manis telling us he sees brian laundry at bullwinkle bar and yellowstone alone 10 p.m to at least 12 a.m on august 26 then you start filling that in you start filling in that around august 26 gabby start stops geotagging her insta posts why because this is all about a travel blog and she wants the geotagging her insta posts why because this is all about a travel blog and she wants

the geotagging to show people i've been here this is where i really am this is real but suddenly she stops that's one of her hallmarks then we find out that he comes home alone that's on september one and now we're finding out September 4, he needs a brand new phone. Back to you, Ben Levitan. Okay, jump in. Go, Cheryl. There's something else you need to add to your timeline, and that is August 31st, when his mama changes the camping dates. That tells me she knew on August 31st he was returning home because she changes the reservation from two people to three. That's very significant. So he's in touch with her.

He's in touch with her by phone or text via phone in route home from the Grand Tetons to North Port, Florida. And she knows ahead of time there's not going to be two camping on this waterfront slip. There's going to be three. Brian is joining us. And that he'll be home the next day without Gabby in her van. And she also knows

not to make that reservation for four because she knows Gabby's not coming home. Absolutely. Nancy, I've got one more point along the timeline here that seems to be slipping past everyone. And maybe I'm wrong. Maybe they look somewhere else. But I'm thinking about the 27th of August. Wasn't that the date that they were seen in the restaurant and he's yelling at the waitstaff there?

And she actually comes back in and apologizes on his behalf you mean uh was it the mary pig was that the name of it was that on aug 27 masa saidi and jack you look it up also because masa's out in the field right now yeah i'm looking at it right now i'm looking it up right now because i know all these dates they're critical and believe you me when you're in front of a jury, I would have this mapped out with my final timeline to identify where he was on what date. I think it was August 27. Yeah, he's at the Mary Pig Tex-Mex place, August 27, with her. And he throws a big fit. We think about the bill.

He goes and comes in and out four times, yelling at the waitress. And Gabby's saying, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. So that gives me a new perspective on Hunter Maness. Thank you, Joe Scott Morgan. One more, one more, one more. It's later that day, 30 miles away, Nancy, when the family of loggers they're driving through the forest and they actually stay, it was on the 27th.

Remember she went back through her videography. They saw the van there. They saw the van approximating the location where Gabby was eventually found. Nancy. Jump in, Van. Yeah, so we've got his original phone and we have Gabby's phone. Gabby's phone last sent a text out on August 27th. When that phone was turned off, thrown away, it reported its location to AT&T. Where did that phone go out of service?

Oh, wait a minute. You're telling me something new. August 27th. Now, Cheryl, was that the fake text to Stan? I believe absolutely it was bogus. No question. Okay, hold on. August 27, last text, fake or not, from Gabby. Okay, back to you, Ben. What, what, Masa? August 30th, Petito's mom also had mentioned previously in reports she had received a final text on August 30th. That's according to our reporting. Is that the one that said no cell service in Yosemite? Correct. Yes, correct. Okay. Hunter, don't move.

I know you're tempted to get up and go get a cup of coffee. Don't do it. Wait a minute. Be a Levitan. You just, you just told me something important. Well, everything you said was important, but something really captured my attention when you said on that text, August 27, even August 30, but on August 27, you said AT&T would know from where that text came from. Okay, go through that with me again, Ben Levitan. Okay. Cell phones are real simple. Somebody calls you, the call gets routed to the closest cell tower where you are and it

broadcast off that cell tower and you get your phone call very simple 18 keeps very close track of what cell tower you're close to it's not going to pinpoint you but it keeps you close so where was that phone on August 27th when the last text went out and when you go off network you call someone and your call goes right to voicemail right because at&t knows you you have turned off your phone when did this phone turn off and where did it turn off okay i just set up a new ipad because i have literally worn my ipad into the ground. And it gave me a choice that I had to turn on or off,

like find my iPad. There's a choice of, do you want a notification to be sent to whoever I've got, AT&T or Verizon, when your iPad powers down, when the battery goes dead? What does that mean, Ben Levitan?

And how could that play into this case? That sounds like marketing to me, Nancy, because the network knows when your battery goes dead. It knows the last cell tower you were connected to. I want to know where this phone was when it powered down. Did he send that text on August 27th, drive to Kansas and throw it out the window there? We need to know when the phones were turned on and turned off and where they were turned on and turned off and why on September 4th he felt the need to have a clean phone. thing going.

Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Straight up to Matthew Mangino joining us, former prosecutor and author of The Executioner's Toll. Matthew, why do these little details matter so much? Well, they're extremely important to put a timeline together. And I'm sure that investigators, in conjunction with prosecutors, are looking at these issues right now. Because you want to make sure before you file charges, before you proceed with this matter, that you've dotted all the I's and crossed the T's. You don't want to find that you made a mistake or you missed something. Now, there's no rush to file charges in terms of homicide.

There's no rush to prosecute a defendant you haven't even found yet. But you want to do this methodical investigation, piecing together everything that you can so that you don't get surprised when trial does roll around. And I find it very significant to Dr. Sherry Schwartz, forensic psychologist and author, you know, that you're on a cross country trip. You obviously call or text your mother on August 31 that you're on the way. And then somehow you lose that phone. And when you're on a cross country trip, Dr. Sherry, that's the one thing you have to stay in touch with your family is your phone. So we know he had it on August 31 when mom changes the reservation at the campsite from 2 to 3. She knows he's coming home.

She knows Gabby's not with him. He texted her or he called her. How does he, in the space of one day, lose his only connection to the world, his cell phone? Well, my thoughts on this, Nancy, are that his parents are toxic enablers, and so they rubber stamp whatever behavior, no matter how bad, clearly. And so I think it's entirely possible that mom and dad advise him, lose the phone, stop using it. You can be tracked that way.

And truer words were never spoken, Ben Levitan. Weigh in. That's true. I mean, it doesn't pinpoint you, And truer words were never spoken, Ben Levitan. Weigh in. cell tower to which you are closest. You can get to that area and there's the phone company can ping you. When you call 911, the phone company pings you and gets a location within 150 feet. Once you get to that 150 feet, the FBI has equipment that will pinpoint you to exactly where you are. So the phone is his worst enemy in this whole case and her phone is his worst enemy in this whole case, and her phone is his worst enemy. Why do you say that? I'm very curious. Why do you say the phones are the worst enemies of Brian Laundrie?

It's going to say exactly where her phone was. When you get these records, we know exactly where his phone is over this entire period of time. We know exactly where her phone is. We know when they've been turned and turned turned on and turned off if he took a phone sent the fake text message i want to know where that text message was sent for from then i want to know when the phone went off the network when did it go off the network does he did he uh break up her phone, throw it out? The fact is, if you have a phone, whether you turn your location off or not, the phone network knows where you are, Nancy. So isn't that quite the coincidence, Cheryl McCollum? He can text or call his mother on August 31 when she changes the reservations.

But then in the space of 24 hours, oops, he loses his phone. Well, let's go to premeditation. He lied to law enforcement and said he didn't have one. That phone has been a central part of this thing from the beginning, even before we even knew or he even committed the murder.

He's lying about that phone. And remember, Gabby and Brian Laundrie were fighting because he took her phone and threatened to leave her and they were fighting over the phone. I want to go back to Hunter Maness, who's been waiting patiently. Our special guest joining us along with Masa Saidi. Hunter, please tell me everything you remember about seeing Brian Laundrie there at Bullwinkle's. When we walked from the restaurant into the bar, he was already in there. He was sitting at the short side of the bar.

And the couple we had met a little earlier in the restaurant was at the larger side. And like I said, there were two female bartenders. We sat next to the couple, which actually placed me closest to him. He was on kind of a short, L-shaped side of the bar, and we were on the long side. I really didn't pay that close of attention to him when we first got in there. There wasn't really a reason to. We did notice that he had a backpack that was down beside his bar stool because the door entering from the other part of the building was on that side of the bar. We started a

conversation, my friend did, with the other couple that we had met. And during the conversation, I mean, I think I glanced his way once or twice. Again, I'm not paying that much attention. Nothing stood out that much. He just sat there quietly. I did notice that he wasn't making conversation with the bartenders or anything like that. And then during our conversation, my friend and her husband, as well as this other couple, I guess, are big game hunters. They travel and hunt. So it was a conversation about, you know, the differences in Louisiana.

And this couple was actually from, I believe, Wyoming. And so the difference in animals and the difference in hunting and things like that, which led to guns and later on led somewhat into politics. And that's when he more or less just abruptly interjected himself into the conversation and first said something about stupid Southerners and something about Republicans or conservatives. And it just kind of caught me off guard because he was somewhat to my back right. And so I kind of turned around, and at the time my friend kind of laughed, and she said, which I guess offended her more than it did me. She said, well, you know, stupid Southerners, she said, she and I both have doctor in front of our name.

Do you? And he made some kind of smirk, and I laughed, and I said, well, where are you from? I was trying to make conversation and kind of lighten what seemed to me as kind of an aggressive conversation starter that he had started. And he said, I'm from New York. And I kind of laughed and I said, OK, New York. And he said, I have a name. It's Brian. I said, OK, Brian from New York.

I said, let me ask you. You're in a small town mountain bar in the middle of nowhere in Montana. Exactly what type of people did you expect to run across? And he just kind of looked at me, mumbled something under his breath. And as far as verbal interaction, that's all we had. We more or less went back to our conversation. And he didn't say anything else that I recall. I wouldn't turn my back on him as much as I had it turned on before

because it just made me a little uncomfortable. And my friend, the other couple was leaving, and she mentioned to me that she was a little creeped out and that he just seemed overly invested in our conversation. She said, I feel like we're being watched. This is creepy. So we walked outside. There was a patio out back.

I smoke. She doesn't. So she went outside with me. I said, come on. We sat out there a few minutes. And when we went back in, I said, look, if you're uncomfortable, let's move a couple of seats down, which we did. And he just sat there, and it was more or less like a strange glare at us most of the time. Now, one of the questions that has been asked of me a lot, was he drinking?

Because I know she had said in the body cam footage they don't drink. Of course, most 22-year-olds in a police confrontation would answer that question the same way. But was he drinking? When we walked in, he had a drink in front of him. Now, we never heard him or saw him order that one or another. And it was dark colored. Now, was it an alcohol, a mixed drink, or was it a Coca-Cola? I couldn't say. But what I will say is when we had the verbal exchange with him, his speech seemed sl little bit glassy. I felt like he was maybe not intoxicated or possibly intoxicated. I assume being in a bar and his speech slurring that it was alcohol, but he was, I feel like he was on something. When you left, what was he doing?

When we left, we actually exited back out the front door, and he was still sitting in the same place at the bar. And again, you know, in right around two hours, he never ordered another drink. I never saw him make conversation with the bartenders. Other than what he said to us, he literally just sat there. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Who was that jumping in? That was Matt. Jump in. Well, you know, I think that this timeline, again, is very interesting because we continue to see a deterioration of their relationship.

We had the domestic dispute. Now we, you know, I happen to have been in West Yellowstone this spring in Bullwinkles and had dinner. If you're going to be in there by yourself and you're traveling by van, then we have to assume that the van is out front and your partner is sitting in the van by herself or laying there. We know she was seen the following day in the restaurant with him. So we see this deterioration of their relationship, which can extend some sort of motive here. There's animosity between them. They're strained. Their relationship is strained. There's been domestic violence.

She's been left alone and abandoned. And now, ultimately, it culminates possibly in her murder by Brian Laundrie. So I think this is important because it shows him by himself without her and extends this strained relationship between the two of them. And I've got to say, Cheryl McCollum, if I went on a cross-country trip with my family, with my husband, and he wanted to be alone at a bar as opposed to being with me and the twins, that would hurt my feelings. I mean, just stay at home in the bar if that's what you want. Right. I think it's important that we point out some characteristics that are happening, though. When you start saying things like, you know, dumb Southerners, and now you're bringing in politics, whether it's, you know, Democratic or Republican, the level of anger based on just where somebody's from geographically

tells you again about his lack of tolerance, lack of understanding, lack of empathy, lack of anything. Because again, I mean, you're talking about seveners. I mean, come on. The microwave, the handheld calculator, a little thing called anesthesia. You're welcome. I mean, we've done some pretty cool things.

But he's so angry by this man's accent and what he's saying. It makes no sense except when you look at, is this person capable of an explosive anger event? Why, and Dr. Sherry? I agree with Ms. Sherry completely. Way in, Dr. Sherry. I agree with Ms. Cheryl completely. She's absolutely right. And what I was thinking as Mr. Maness was talking is that this sullen, sulking behavior that he seems to describe,

he's by himself, he's brooding. This is consistent with what I recall reading a friend of Gabby's said, how he would behave. That's a really good point because Manus is describing it just the way Gabby's friend described him. That's a really good connection. Hey guys, very quickly, I want to ask Masa Saidi about a can, a drink can that Dog the Bounty Hunter has just found on an island or an islet down in Florida.

What can you tell me? A lot of people are poo-pooing it, but they poo-pooed Dwayne Chapman when he started looking for laundry, and now he's found all this information about Fort DeSoto. I don't want to discount anything he may find. What can you tell me? Well, I can tell you that part of Dog's tip did turn out to be true. We now know that the family was there from the 6th through the 7th, according to their attorney. I can also tell you that yesterday, the Pinellas County Sheriff told us that they turned surveillance video on Tuesday over to the FBI. So then I contacted the FBI and I said, hey, the Pinellas Sheriff says they gave you guys video of Fort DeSoto on Tuesday.

Did you have knowledge of it beforehand? Had you previously gotten the video yourself? And of course, they did not answer that question. So a lot of people thinking that that is funny as far as what's happening aboard the photo yes dog the bounty hunter has been there with some you know canines fellow investigator friends of his doing a search down there law enforcement has not been there we have flown over that scene we have seen nothing there but nancy this is possibly the most interesting thing that happened yesterday at the Carlton Reserve on the Venice side. This is the side that is further away from his home that is drier, more open. Paul Lamerson, yesterday, Wednesday, September 29th, from about 2.45 p.m. until 5.09 p.m.,

the Sarasota Sheriff's helicopter was flying over this one area, again, for more than two hours. We were looking at that via a flight tracking service. And also, in addition to that, I'm understanding, Master Sayidi joining us, that a fresh campsite has been found in a, quote, perfect spot for Brian Laundrie to hide, including a Monster Energy Ultra Gold drink, which is the type of drink we saw his mother purchasing. Does anybody know about that? Yeah, I'm looking at a picture right now. First off, if anybody sees Dog the Bounty Hunter, do me a favor. Tell him not to touch the freaking can with his bare hands. Oh, I thought the same thing. I'm looking at the photograph right now, and he's holding it with his bare hands.

If this is a piece of evidence, it should have been bagged appropriately. At least put gloves on if you're going to do this. Because now, if you're saying that this is connected to brine laundry, you've just you've bespoiled the evidence potentially. OK, got it. He should have touched it. But I want to talk about the can. It's been found in Egmont Key State Park on Shell Island off the coast of Florida. How far is that from Camp DeSoto where he was earlier? I believe it's about two miles off, but I'll double check that right now. The can shows no sign of rust or fading, suggesting that it was new, had just been consumed, that the mother of Brian Laundrie bought the very same brand when they went on their camping trip.

Okay, that's my understanding. But we're tracking down the photo of that to make sure. That's the very latest. The tip line is 1-800-225-5324. The reward is now up to $170,000. And the search for Brian Laundrie. Nancy Grace, Crime Story, signing off. Goodbye, friend.

You're listening to an iHeart Podcast.