Brian Laundrie search: Family lawyer addresses rumors parents planted evidence in Florida swamp
With the media watching the parents’ every move for weeks, the possibility that they could have planted evidence seems unlikely.
"When I spoke to them Tuesday night, they said, ‘We want to go in the preserve tomorrow," Bertolino told Fox News Digital Thursday. "What do I think about that? I told them it was a great idea, and I thought we should notify law enforcement so there's no issue."
He said he told authorities with a text message.
"They texted me back and said, 'Thanks for the heads up,’" he said. "And as you could see, law enforcement was there on Wednesday morning."
The parents arrived at the park shortly before 7:30 a.m. Roberta put on a red backpack stuffed full of water bottles, which were visible through the fabric.
Chris got out of his red Ram truck empty-handed.
A moment after they parked, two members of law enforcement arrived in another pickup truck and wearing hiking gear. They tailed the couple into the park as Chris looked off the trail into a handful of brushy areas and Roberta largely stuck to the beaten path.
Roughly 30 to 45 minutes into the search, they reached an area that Bertolino said the parents previously directed investigators to examine as they looked for Brian Laundrie.
While the parents found a white bag and another item a few yards off the trail, authorities separately found a notebook and backpack believed to have belonged to their son. They also found human remains, which have not yet been identified.
The Laundries together stepped through a patch of brambles, toward another clearing. That’s where they found a white bag on the ground next to a dark object about 12 to 18 inches across.
After a whispered discussion, they placed the object in the bag and picked everything up. Bertolino later told Fox News Digital that the items they found there belonged to Brian Laundrie and that the parents did not want to leave it on the ground as they went to fetch investigators due to the presence of a reporter.
So they picked it up, made their way back toward the entrance of the park and handed the bag to an officer. The parents appeared heartbroken at the officer’s words before exiting the area.
"Chris confirmed with me just this morning that when him and Roberta looked, I believe it was on the 14th (of September), the whole area was waist deep or higher in water," Bertolino said. "The FBI confirmed that yesterday that that area until recently had been flooded with water. When that water receded, obviously more things were accessible."