Search For Brian Laundrie: Gabby Petito’s Mom Received ‘Odd’ Text Message Aug. 27

The state search warrant related to the disappearance of Gabrielle “Gabby” Petito revealed an “odd” text the vlogger sent to her mother on Aug. 27, sparking concerns from her family about how the young woman was doing during her cross-country trip with fiancé Brian Laundrie.

The search warrant filed in the Sarasota County Circuit Court on Friday and made public Monday revealed that Petito, 22, sent a text message to her mother, Nichole Schmidt, on Aug. 27, asking her to “help Stan” as she kept “getting his voicemails and missed calls.”

"The reference to ‘Stan’ was regarding her grandfather, but per the mother, she never calls him ‘Stan.’ The mother was concerned that something was wrong with her daughter," the document stated.

The document further stated that Petito described to her mother “via cellphone communication” how there “appeared to be more and more tension between her and Laundrie.”

The warrant added that Petito’s cellphone was turned off for approximately 15 days. The couple kicked off their cross-country trip in June, but Laundrie, 23, returned to his North Port, Florida, home on Sept. 1, alone. He has been tagged as a “person of interest” in Petito’s case. The young woman was reported missing by her family on Sept. 11.

Investigators from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) searched the Laundrie family’s home Monday. Reporters on the scene said the home was established by officers as a “crime scene.” Laundrie’s silver Ford Mustang was towed, and officers were seen carrying boxes out of the property, Fox News reported.

Laundrie’s parents, Chris and Roberta, were also led into an unmarked van and were later led back into the house.

The warrant ordered investigators to “seize as evidence” items such as “external storage device(s), commercial software and hardware, computer disks, disk drives, tape drives, disk application programs, data disks,” other related operating systems and storage devices, “and other computer-related operation equipment, in addition to computer photographs, graphic interchange formats and/or photographs, or other visual depictions.”

Other items listed in the warrant to be retrieved as evidence included “files that show emails” and “all internet browsing history.” In particular, investigators were ordered to search for a “black Western Digital External Hard Drive.”

Neighbors near the Laundrie family’s home watched on as the FBI raided the property, NBC affiliate WFLA-TV reported. “I feel sorry for his parents, her parents, her most importantly,” neighbor Sheila Hodgson told the outlet.

The raid into Laundrie’s home came one day after the FBI said “human remains consistent with the description of Petito” were recovered at the vicinity of Spread Creek Dispersed Camping Area, which is located in the Birdger-Teton Nation Forest. The autopsy is scheduled for Tuesday.

Laundrie, on the other hand, remains missing after his family told authorities they haven’t seen him since Sept. 14 after he left home with his backpack.

North Port Police spokesperson Josh Taylor said Monday that investigators have stopped searching for Laundrie in a nearby nature reserve as they have “exhausted all avenues in searching the grounds here,” CNN reported.

During the weekend, North Port Police said they were searching for Laundrie at the “vast Carlton Reserve,” which is located near Venice, Florida.