Police have said there is a 50 per cent chance Gabby Petito's missing partner will be found dead - while one expert said it is "highly unlikely" he is alive.
Brian Laundrie, 23, disappeared from his home in North Port on September 14 after telling his parents he was going for a hike.
His fiancée Gabby was reported missing a few days earlier Laundrie returned from a cross-country road trip from New York to Oregon without her.
Gabby was last seen leaving a hotel with Laundrie in Utah, Salt Sea Lake, in late August.
After a widespread search for her, the social media influencer's remains were found in a remote area in Wyoming, US, on September 19.
Authorities confirmed they belonged to Gabby just two days later.
The death of the YouTube star was ruled a homicide but an official cause of death is yet to be determined.
Following a three-week manhunt for Laundrie, police have now spoken out to say there is 50 per cent chance he is still alive.
Laundrie had been named a "person of interest" as authorities searched for his girlfriend, while it has recently been revealed that he was put under surveillance after she vanished.
Josh Taylor, the North Port police spokesperson, told CNN that nothing significant linked to Laundrie has been found in the Carlton Reserve, Florida.
The reserve became a focal point of the police search after Laundrie's parents said he intended to camp there.
Robert Urban, founder and instructor of Urban Survival Academy, told the same outlet that it is “highly unlikely” that someone could have survived so long in the Carlton Reserve without professional tactics.
It comes after an ex-FBI agent said the police should've done more to prevent Laundrie from disappearing after Gabby was reported missing.
Stuart Kaplan, who now works as a lawyer in South Florida, told The Sun that police should have ensured he didn't slip through the net.
He said: "I think hindsight being 2020, had they realised that at the very beginning this was more than a missing persons case, it may have been better served to have him in pocket. And that's the lingo.
"I think certainly had he been kept in pocket, we probably would not be having this discussion.
"He probably would be arrested and facing prosecution, not only for the bank fraud, but also for the murder of Gabby Petito."
Laundrie and Gabby were high school sweethearts, having met in Bayport, New York.
In 2019, the couple moved to North Port to live with Laundrie's parents.
In July 2020 Gabby announced through Instagram that she and Laundrie were engaged.
They began their cross-country trip in New York, and were supposed to be away for four months while visiting national parks.
They documented their travels on their Instagram account and YouTube, showing pictures and clips of them kissing and scaling rocks.
Gabby was reported missing when her fiancé returned from the road trip without her.
