Brian Laundrie flew home to Florida during cross-country road trip with Gabby Petito to 'empty and close' storage unit: lawyer

• Brian Laundrie flew alone to Florida from Utah during his cross-country road trip with Gabby Petito.
• Laundrie went there to "obtain some items" and "empty and close" a storage unit, an attorney said.
• Laundrie returned to Salt Lake City on August 23 to "rejoin" Petito, his fiancée, the attorney said.

Brian Laundrie flew alone to Florida from Utah during his cross-country road trip with his fiancée, Gabby Petito, to "obtain some items" and "empty and close" a storage unit, a lawyer for the Laundrie family said on Tuesday.

Laundrie flew to Tampa from Salt Lake City on August 17 and returned to Salt Lake City on August 23 to "rejoin" Petito on the couple's "van life" road trip, the attorney, Steven Bertolino, told Insider.

"To my knowledge Brian and Gabby paid for the flights as they were sharing expenses," Bertolino said.

Laundrie, 23, went to Florida "to obtain some items and empty and close the storage unit to save money as they contemplated extending the road trip," Bertolino said.

When asked where the storage unit was, Bertolino told Insider he had "no idea."

Authorities have indicated they believe Petito, 22, was killed in late August. Her body was discovered at a remote campsite in Wyoming's Bridger-Teton National Forest on September 19, eight days after her mother reported her missing to the police in New York.

Petito's death has been ruled a homicide.

According to the new timeline from Bertolino, Laundrie flew back to Florida just days after the couple had a run-in with police in Moab, Utah.

Officers with the Moab Police Department responded to a report of a domestic dispute involving the couple, pulling them over near Arches National Park on August 12.

A visibly distraught Petito and an apparently calm Laundrie told police they had gotten into an argument in Moab that resulted in Petito slapping Laundrie, according to a police report and officer body-camera footage the department released.

In a 911 call about the same incident, a witness can be heard telling dispatchers with the Grand County Sheriff's Office that he saw a man "slapping the girl."

In separate body-camera footage showing the aftermath of the scuffle, officers can be seen considering whether to charge Petito with domestic violence. They opted not to when she told them she didn't intend to hurt Laundrie, who police said in their report had minor scratches on his face and right arm.

Instead, police recommended the two spend the night apart.

Laundrie later returned to North Port, Florida, where he lived with Petito and his parents, on September 1 without Petito and with the van the couple had been traveling in, authorities have said.

He's been named a person of interest in Petito's disappearance and death.

Laundrie's family reported him missing to authorities on September 17. The FBI is leading a manhunt for Laundrie.

He was indicted on a charge of bank fraud on September 23. The single-count indictment alleged that Laundrie "knowingly and with intent to defraud" used one or more "unauthorized access devices," including a Capital One debit card, from August 30 to September 1 following Petito's death.