Cassie Luycx, 31, has kept a low profile since the abduction and death of Gabby Petito, her future sister-in-law, and during the quest for her younger brother, Brian Laundrie, 23, who is now wanted for alleged debit card theft and a person of interest in Petito’s killing.
On Friday, the focus moved to Luycx when her family’s attorney, Steven Bertolino, disclosed that the eldest sibling saw Laundrie with their parents at a campsite on Sept. 6, as well as on Sept. 1, when he came home to North Port without Petito.
“These dates are well known by law enforcement authorities,” Bertolino told Fox News on Friday.
“Any earlier Cassie contact that does not reflect these dates is merely a difference in reporting an answer to a query that Cassie misread or that the inquirer put incorrectly.”
Since Gabby Petito’s death and disappearance, Cassie Luycx has been the only member of Brian Laundrie’s family to speak publicly.
Since Gabby Petito’s death and disappearance, Cassie Luycx has been the only member of Brian Laundrie’s family to speak publicly.
(Source: ABC News)
The only member of Laundrie’s direct family to speak publicly about Petito’s disappearance is Luycx, who told ABC News on September 17 that the strangest thing about the scenario is that she hasn’t “been able to communicate to [Brian].”
“I wish I could speak with him,” Luycx said to the news organization.
“I know it’s all because of the attorneys’ advice not to say anything,” says the narrator.
The day before the pair embarked on their cross-country road journey in June, Petito and Laundrie went to Luycx’s residence.
“Obviously, my family and I want Gabby to be found safe,” she told ABC News two days before Petito’s body was discovered in Wyoming.
“She is like a sister to my children, and all I want is for her to return safely and for this to be a great misunderstanding.”
According to screenshots uploaded to Twitter by a WABC reporter, Laundrie and Petito mailed postcards to Luycx’s family and texted and FaceTimed with them on their road trip.
“Oh my god, I can’t believe school has already begun!!!
I noticed your Instagram picture and laughed!
So adorable!!
Please send me a picture of the boys so I may show it to Brian!!
I adore their bags as well!!”
On Aug. 10, Petito texted Luycx, one of the final times the two interacted.
“We’re now in arches, so we don’t have the finest WiFi, but we did send you some letters.”
On Sept. 19, Luycx issued a statement expressing her sorrow when Petito’s bones were discovered in Wyoming’s Bridger-Teton National Forest.
According to WPBF, she stated in a statement on Sept. 20: “Right now, my husband and I would want to offer our sympathies and prayers to the Petito family.”
“Gabby was a positive role model for ‘the lads,’ as she referred to them.
We will treasure every moment we spent with her.”
Gabby Petito’s body was discovered in Wyoming on Sept. 19, three weeks after she vanished.
Gabby Petito’s body was discovered in Wyoming on Sept. 19, three weeks after she vanished.
Steve Petito (Steve Petito)
Luycx grew up in Bayport, New York, the same place where Laundrie attended high school.
She now lives in Lakewood Ranch, roughly 40 miles north of North Port, with her husband, 32-year-old James “Jimmy” Luycx.
According to Sarasota County documents, the pair married in December 2015 in a ceremony in which Laundrie acted as a witness.
Her spouse is Guatemalan, and before moving to Florida, the pair lived in West Grove, Pennsylvania.
