Investigators who began monitoring the comings and goings at the Laundrie home on Sept. 12 mistook Laundrie’s mother for him on Sept. 13, after she drove up in her son’s grey Ford Mustang.
Roberta Laundrie, according to Taylor, was wearing a baseball cap at the time.
Taylor told WINKon Monday the mother and son are “built similarly.”
In a statement to PEOPLE, Taylor says that “this misidentification did not have a big impact on costs and the investigation.”
He adds: “Other than confusion, it likely changed nothing. There is a very good possibility that Brian was already deceased. He still needed to be found. We just wanted people to better understand why we thought we knew Brian was in his home.”
Officials had assured the public at a Sept. 16 news conference that they were aware of Brian’s whereabouts.
Taylor says in his statement the belief that Laundrie was still inside his parents' home “was a direct result of a lack of cooperation from the family early on in this investigation.”
Christopher and Roberta Laundriereported Brian missingon Sept. 17.
Laundrie’s skeletal remains were located Oct. 20 in Florida’s Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park.
The coroner’s office has yet to determine when Laundrie may have died.
According to authorities, Petitodied from strangulationwhile on a two-month-long, cross-country road trip with Laundrie, who was named a person of interest inPetito’s disappearanceon Sept. 15 — two weeks after he returned home alone.
The 22-year-old Long Island, N.Y., woman’s remains were found in Wyoming’sGrand Teton National Parkon Sept. 19.
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Brian’s family refused to meet with the FBI to discuss Petito’s missing persons case, referring them instead to their attorney, Steven Bertolino, a longtime family friend.
A week later, the Laundrie family reached out to the FBI to alert investigators thattheir son was missing. Bertolino said Brian wasvisibly upsetas he was leaving their home on Sept. 13.
The FBI and local Florida authorities quickly launched a search for Brian in the 25,000-acre nature preserve, wading waist-deep throughsnake- and alligator-infested swampsin some areas.
source: people.com
