Hey, all. Given that it's now three weeks since BL disappeared and ...
(a) there have been no confirmed sightings of him since then and
(b) LE, who have better information than anyone have shown almost no interest in searching anywhere but the reserve
(c) Brian 'Flip Flops' Laundrie shows no signs of being a master criminal or expert survivalist
(d) His parents are human beings and probably aren't evil enough to simply cover up a murder
... I've somewhat changed my view of this case. The simplest explanation now seems to me to be:
- BL killed GP on the 27th or morning of the 28th August
- He fled the scene and hitch-hiked around, trying to set up and alibi and figure out what the hell to do.
- He returned to the scene of the crime on 29th and for whatever reason chose to take the van, the debit cards, and drive back to Florida. He probably notified his family he was heading home at this point, and may have told them he'd broken up with Gabby and she was heading to Yellowstone on her own to meet up with a friend.
- He told his parents the same *advertiser censored* and bull story he planned to tell LE, and they bought it
- He told his parents he needed a clean break with GP because the relationship had become toxic ('crazy ex-girlfriend') and they needed to ignore calls from her family etc
- He told his parents he'd lost his phone and so they helped him get another one
- They took him camping to 'cheer him up'.
- Around the 10th September the parents finally became aware that Gabby was missing when the cops turned up asking where she was
- The parents interrogated BL about what had actually happened and he either did or didn't confess to them. There was probably an enormous argument either way.
- The parents called a lawyer who was a family friend, who said (correctly) you have enormous potential legal exposure. Even if BL is innocent you should not talk to the cops.
- Parents continued interrogating BL about what had happened and he couldn't take it any more, so took the Mustang and fled.
- The parents haven't begged for his return because they want to dissociate themselves from him, but they won't talk to the cops because they are worried about their own legal exposure
- BL either took his life or died of some other cause in the swamp.
One other minor point about the Mustang, which apparently picked up a ticket on the day BL went to the reserve: I'm not sure where he parked it but the Myakka Park has an entrance fee and if he didn't buy a pass for the car it could well have been ticketed that day.