Brian Laundrie Who are missing boyfriends parents Christopher and Roberta Laundrie

Christopher and Roberta Laundrie have remained steadfastly silent amid intense public scrutiny as their son Brian became the subject of a nationwide FBI manhunt.

Chris, 62, and Roberta, 55, live in a normally quiet suburban neighbourhood in North Port, population 75,000, about 50 miles north of Fort Myers.

Like their son Brian, the couple have led a nomadic life; public records show Chris has lived all over New York state including Woodhaven, Bayport, Bohemia, Maspeth, Forest Hills and Sayville.

During Brian’s teenage years, they lived on Long Island, where he met Gabby Petito while attending Bayport-Blue Point High School.

A Laundrie neighbour confronts a protester on Wednesday evening

(Fox News)

From 2011 to 2020, Roberta was listed as working for the Suffolk County Government in an office position.

Chris Laundrie also lived in Hanaha, South Carolina, before moving to North Port in 2017, like millions of so-called snowbirds seeking the warmer climate of Florida.

Upon settling in North Port, Chris and Roberta established Juicer Services, a company that sells and services commercial juicing equipment. He is the president while Roberta is the vice president of the company, which is based in North Port.

The business is listed as “temporarily closed”.

Chris is affiliated with the Florida Democratic Party.

Gabby Petito moved in with the Laundries sometime in 2020. She lived under the Laundrie family roof, and it was there that the couple converted a Ford Transit van to travel around the USA on their ill-fated van-life trip.

When North Port Police showed up at the family home on 11 September, the Laundries appear to have been ready for them.

They refused to speak with authorities, who seized the young couple’s van, and handed over contact information for their lawyer Steve Bertolino.

Since then, the only public statements to come from the Chris and Roberta Laundrie have been through their lawyer.

“Chris and Roberta Laundrie do not know where Brian is. They are concerned about Brian and hope the FBI can locate him,” Mr Bertolino said earlier this week.

Laundrie’s sister, Cassie, gave her only public statement on 17 September, revealing she had not spoken to her brother since he returned from his trip.

Cassie Laundrie told ABC’s Good Morning America that she hopes Ms Petito will be found, in the first public interview given by a member of the Laundrie family.

“Obviously me and my family want Gabby to be found safe,” she said.

“She’s like a sister and my children love her, and all I want is for her to come home safe and found and this to be just a big misunderstanding,” she told GMA, while praising her brother for being a “great uncle”.

Since 16 September, the Laundrie family home has been besieged by protesters who have staged daily demonstrations outside calling for Chris and Roberta to cooperate with the investigation into their son.

A camping trip taken by the Laundries in early September has also come under the microscope.

On 6 September, Brian and his parents travelled to the Fort De Soto Park and are believed to have spent two days at the campsite.

Gabby Petito and Brian Laundrie visited the Fort De Soto historical Fort in February

(Instagram/GabbyPetito)

The timing of this trip is significant, as it was around the time that Ms Petito’s mother Nichole Schmidt was desperately trying to reach Brian and Roberta to find out why communication with her daughter had suddenly stopped.

Ms Petito’s father has been particularly scathing in his public comments about the Laundries, and police have urged them to come forward with any information that could help find their son.

Hundreds of concerned members of the public have also left flowers at a makeshift memorial at the home.

A neighbour of the Laundrie family was arrested on Wednesday for alleged battery of a protester.

Duane “Dog the Bounty Hunter” Chapman announced he was joining the search on Saturday, and showed up at the North Port home, only for Roberta to call the police on him.

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