Brian Laundrie: Police divers brought in to search Florida swamp in hunt for person of interest

Police divers have been deployed in the search for Brian Laundrie in a vast reserve near his family’s home in Florida.

A dive unit from the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office arrived on Wednesday to join a multi-agency search of the Carlton Reserve.

North Port Police spokesman Josh Taylor told the Daily Mail they had not found any signs of Mr Laundrie.

“We are looking. Nothing found. We have to work to rule it out though.”

Mr Laundrie, 23, has not been seen since leaving his family home in North Port last Tuesday.

He was declared a person of interest in the disappearance of his girlfriend Gabby Petito, 22, the next day.

Authorities launched a search for Mr Laundrie on 17 September after his parents notified them he was missing.

Ms Petito’s remains were found in the Bridger-Teton National Forest in Wyoming on Sunday.

The Sheriff’s Underwater Recovery Force (SURF) is a team of “highly trained underwater specialists,” who are “called upon to search for evidence of crimes and victims of drowning, water accidents and foul play,” the sheriff’s department website says.

They joined more than 50 officers from the FBI, several police departments in the search of the 25,000-acre Carlton Reserve which began on Saturday.

Mr Taylor described the area as a “vast and unforgiving” swampland, which is largely underwater and infested with snakes and alligators.