The Hunt For Brian Laundrie Led Investigators To 5 Other Bodies

Watauga County, NC – The more-than-a-month-long hunt for Brian Laundrie in connection with the death of Gabby Petito has led investigators to the dead bodies of five other missing people.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has confirmed that a body found in the Yadkin Valley Overlook located in Watauga County was that of 33-year-old Josue Calderon, the New York Post reported.

Laundrie had been rumored to be hiding out in that area, sparking the search that located Calderon.

Investigators said that Calderon was stabbed to death and there was “no evidence to connect” it to Laundrie’s disappearance, the New York Post reported.

Police in Wyoming did credit the search for the 22-year-old Petito as having led detectives to the body of missing 46-year-old Robert Lowery.

Lowery’s body was found on Sept. 17 in Wyoming’s Bridger-Teton National Forest near Grand Teton National Park, about 40 miles from where Petito’s remains were found, The Sun reported.

The father of two children from Houston, Texas was believed to have committed suicide.

The body of 55-year-old Sara Bayard was discovered off a highway in El Paso County, Colorado nearby where Petito and Laundrie had posted pictures to Instagram, the New York Post reported.

Petito shared a post of herself at Monument Rocks on July 4, the same day that Bayard was reported missing to authorities.

Following up on tips in the case also led authorities to what is believed to be the body of missing 30-year-old New Jersey chef Lauren “El” Cho who had been missing since June 28, according to The Sun.

Authorities have not yet confirmed the remains found in California’s Yucca Valley desert are those of Cho.

Police also found a dead body on Sept. 20 that was briefly rumored to belong to Laundrie near a dumpster at a Walmart in Mobile, Alabama, the New York Post reported.

But investigators said the body was a homeless man with no connection to Laundrie.

Laundrie, 23, disappeared in mid-September just days before the body of his missing 22-year-old fiancé was found.

The medical examiner ruled her death was a homicide and said Petito died of strangulation.

Police named Laundrie as a person of interest in Petito’s homicide, but investigators have stopped short of labeling him as a suspect.

The U.S. District Court of Wyoming issued a federal warrant for Brian Laundrie’s arrest on Sept. 22 for use of unauthorized devices, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Denver office announced in a press release.

But by then, Brian Laundrie had disappeared.

During an interview on the Dr. Phil McGraw television show on Tuesday, Petito’s parents and step-parents said the warrant was the result of Brian Laundrie stealing Petito’s bank card and using it “to get home and then [run] from the police,” WAGA reported.