Laundrie Family Lawyer Confirms Brian Flew Home Right Before Gabby Petito's Disappearance - And May Have Just Given Us A HUGE Clue

Another piece of Brian Laundrie and Gabby Petito’s ill-fated road trip timeline has been confirmed.

As we previously reported, Brian’s sister Cassie Laundrie is pretty ticked off at the rest of her family, and she let a LOT of details slip in a recent conversation with protestors outside her house. One of those details was that her brother had flown home to Florida and then back to Utah shortly before Gabby was killed.

This was something we had not heard about their trip before. Did he leave her alone for selfish reasons? They were roughing it — except for when he took a flight home to hand out for a week? Or were they getting along so poorly they had to take a break?? This was, after all, after the infamous fight they had on August 12, the one so bad witnesses called the police.

The reason Brian flew back and left a fragile Gabby by herself could be a major key to figuring out this case.

On Wednesday, Laundrie family lawyer Steven Bertolino –whom Cassie accused of previously “throwing [her] under the bus” — confirmed the sister’s account. The 23-year-old had indeed returned to North Port, Florida on August 17 and flown back to Salt Lake City on August 23, just days before Gabby’s family last heard from her.

(Innerestingly, the couple’s first and only “van life” YouTube video was posted on August 19, while Brian was away.)

But WHY did he fly home? In a statement obtained by People, Bertolino explained:

“Brian flew home to obtain some items and empty and close the storage unit to save money as [he and Petito] contemplated extending the road trip. To my knowledge, Brian and Gabby paid for the flights, as they were sharing expenses.”

Cassie also mentioned the storage unit in her conversation with the protestors, though she didn’t know where it was. It’s unclear if the unit is relevant to the investigation. But the saving money part…

We can’t help but wonder what Gabby doing all alone in that week. Foraging for berries? Or doing the safer thing and staying in a hotel? Flights and a weeklong hotel stay, all this is starting to sound expensive for two kids without jobs. We can’t help but wonder if money problems caused more stress between the couple.

Reports have so far indicated that Gabby and Brian’s relationship was becoming increasingly strained in August. Maybe he did go to give their relationship some space? It didn’t help him cool down, however, as we know his biggest blowup came on August 27 when he got into an “aggressive” fight with female employees at a restaurant in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. That fight? Reportedly about the couple’s bill.

How big an issue was money becoming??

Again, we can only hope Brian is found soon in order to answer these questions.

[Image via Nomadic Statik/YouTube.]