Sarasota County

A registered sex offender was arrested by Sarasota police after officials learned he inappropriately touched a child. The victim’s mom, they said, was in a sexual relationship with the suspect for about a year.

Governor Ron DeSantis wants police officers from northern cities to fill vacancies in Florida departments. And, he says, their COVID-19 vaccination status doesn’t matter. 

Brian Laundrie's notebook and backpack were discovered near his remains, and though the area had previously been underwater, investigators say the notebook could provide answers about Laundrie's final days.

Brian Laundrie's parents left their North Port home to grieve privately with family at an undisclosed location in Florida, their attorney said, adding that Chris and Roberta Laundrie are not planning to have a funeral for their son.

Brian Laundrie’s parents unknowingly walked just a few yards away from locations in a Florida nature preserve where police found their son’s personal belongings and remains Wednesday morning.

Joshua Welge, a deputy with the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office, passed away from COVID-19 on Thursday morning, according to SCSO. 

The attorney for Brian Laundrie's parents says an autopsy on their son's remains, which were described as “bones” by North Port police, did not reveal a cause or manner of his death. 

The manhunt for Brian Laundrie is officially over. The body that was found Wednesday is indeed the only person of interest in the Gabby Petito case, officials say.

“This protesting. This witch hunt. This mob-style crucifixion of Chris and Roberta is just wrong. Enough is enough,” attorney Steven Bertolino said of protesters who remain outside Brian Laundrie's parents' home.

More than a month before authorities found the decomposed remains of Florida fugitive Brian Laundrie in a swamp near his home, he allegedly slipped away from his parents’ house under the guise of a hike.

The Laundrie family's attorney says Brian's parents are hoping for more answers from law enforcement on his cause of death after the FBI used dental records to positively identify the skeletal remains. Investigators said the area where they were found had been underwater during previous searches.

Steven Bertolino, Chris and Roberta Laundrie's attorney, took shots at the media, the public and protesters outside of the family's North Port home: "They're extremely upset, and for some unknown reason, there are still people outside of their home, yelling and screaming and causing a ruckus, which any parent grieving the loss of a child should not have to deal with."

FBI agents were still at the Carlton Reserve in Sarasota, where skeletal remains were found Wednesday during the search for Brian Laundrie, the only person of interest named in the disappearance and death of Gabby Petito.

The attorney for the family of Brian Laundrie has chalked up differences in the timeline of when he was reported missing to a lack of communication between law enforcement agencies, saying there is "no discrepancy between the FBI and the Laundries."

The Laundrie family's attorney says Brian's parents wanted to go into the North Port park once it reopened to the public and with water levels significantly lower than last month. They then led authorities to several items belonging to Brian, where human remains were soon discovered. But the proximity of the finds so close to the park entrance raised suspicions from critics as to their authenticity.

Now that human remains have been found alongside Brian Laundrie's backpack and notebook in the Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park, attention is shifting to his parents' actions following Gabby Petito's homicide and their son's subsequent disappearance.