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Gabby Petito Search: Authorities Combing Wyoming Wilderness For Missing Woman, Fiancé's Whereabouts Remain Unknown

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- It's been one week since Long Island native Gabby Petito was reported missing, and authorities are still trying to find her, as well as her fiancé, Brian Laundrie.

As CBS2's Nick Caloway reports, police scoured thousands of acres of a wooded area near North Port, Florida, on Saturday, looking not for Petito, but for Laundrie.

His family told police they were concerned about his well-being.

All the while, Petito is still missing.

Gabby Petito Search: Timeline Of Road Trip With Fiancé Brian Laundrie, Notable Dates And Events

By air and by land, police are searching for Laundrie. On Saturday, local and federal officials descended on the Carlton Reserve.

"We've got about 50 law enforcement personnel back here in the park. This is kind of an opening to more than 25,000 acres that are over here into the Carlton reserve, so obviously it's a vast area," said Josh Taylor, public information officer for North Port, Florida, Police.

The search was called off Saturday evening after police did not find anything and is set to resume Sunday morning.

Police also tweeted that reports of a body being found in the area where they were searching for Laundrie were "completely fake."

 

Laundrie hasn't been seen in days. His family told police he left on Tuesday and reported him missing on Friday.

That's when police and the FBI were seen searching the Laundrie family home as about a hundred people gathered outside, yelling, demanding answers for the missing woman's family.

"I want to know where is Gabby. Please tell us. Tell everybody. Her family deserves to know," North Port resident Karen Bennett said.

Some 2,000 miles away, a group of Grand Teton National Park rangers are looking for Petito in the Wyoming wilderness.

The FBI and other agencies have also joined that search.

Petito told her family she was in Grand Teton National Park the last time she spoke to them on the phone on Aug. 29.

Earlier this week, police released body cam video of an altercation between the couple during their cross-country trip this summer.

Tips have been coming in from all over the country.

At a candlelight vigil in Florida on Saturday, community members came out to pray for Petito's safe return.

Laundrie returned home to Florida on Sept. 1, alone, driving Petito's van, and authorities are clearly frustrated by a lack of cooperation from Laundrie and his family.

"We've been trying to reach the family and them to get answers in this case since Saturday. The first time that we've had any in-depth full conversation with them was yesterday," Taylor said.

Questions remain about why police were not monitoring Laundrie's movement before he disappeared. Officials say he is a person of interest in Petito's disappearance.

CBS2's Nick Caloway contributed to this report. Editor's note: This story was first published Sept. 18.

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