The human remains found in a Florida reserve in the search for Brian Laundrie were bones, it has been revealed by NewsNation.
Multiple law enforcement sources told the outlet on Thursday that the partial remains were skeletal. It may be days before they are formally identified.
As forensics teams work to complete that identification, the search in the area around the Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park continues.
Cadaver dogs are combing through the preserve and drones are scanning overhead for more traces of Laundrie, who vanished on September 13.
He is the sole person of interest in the murder of his fiancee Gabby Petito, who was found strangled in a remote part of Wyoming six days after he vanished. She had not been seen alive since August 26, when she was traveling with Laundrie in Utah.
Authorities say the areas now being searched in the park are treacherous and largely underwater. They made the discovery of the remains along with a backpack and notebook believed to belong to Brian as his parents, Chris and Roberta, joined them for the first time.
The lawyer representing the couple has denied speculation that they may have planted the evidence.
Chris and Roberta Laundrie joined law enforcement yesterday for the first time together at the Carlton Reserve in Florida, where they believed their fugitive son had been hiding for weeks after the strangled body of his fiancée, Gabby Petito, was found in Wyoming.
On Wednesday night, Laundrie family lawyer Steven Bertolino told CNN's Chris Cuomo that it is 'hogwash'. He also revealed that he told the parents not to speak to the media or Gabby's family, which they have been admonished for, and said the pair are 'heartbroken'.
'In nice terms, it's hogwash,' he told Cuomo when asked about the suggestion that they may have planted the evidence.
'Chris and Roberta went to this area first and as happenstance was, they stumbled upon these items,' he said. On Thursday morning, he added to DailyMail.com: 'Speculation is just that.'
The search of the park continued on Thursday with cadaver dogs, dune buggies and police cars, but authorities are being tight-lipped on what exactly they have found so far, and what they continue to seach for.
Lee County Sheriff Carmen Marceno held a short press conference on Thursday afternoon but he mostly thanked and praised his law enforcement colleagues for working in 'treacherous conditions'.
'Today I got to see the treacherous conditions they were working under. We're talking about water levels up to the chest area, rattle snakes, moccasins, alligators...These are very, very difficult conditions...you're searching in areas where you can't just walk up and look. It's not like you're searching a house or a car. These areas are huge and they are covered by water.'
'It is challenging times. I know everybody wants to know exactly what’s going on every second possible. All of America is watching. But we will never jeopardize an investigation to give that information out until the time is right. I want to reiterate, things change by the second, by the minute,' he said.
Chris and Roberta Laundrie are shown arriving home on Wednesday after human remains, a backpack and a notebook were found in the Florida nature reserve where their son Brian is believed to have been hiding for five weeks. The couple have not spoken to the media or to the family of Gabby Petito, their son's fiancée who was found murdered in Wyoming. The couple arrived home to flowers and cards on Wednesday, but there were also hecklers
Sheriffs departments, the North Port Police Department and the FBI are all still at the nature reserve on Thursday
The search of the nature reserve continued on Thursday morning. Authorities held a briefing on Thursday to say they were still working in the reserve but that they had not discovered anything else
There remains a large media presence at the nature reserve on Thursday
A police officer is pictured walking in the Carlton Reserve with what appears to be the dry bag discovered by Laundrie's father in the preserve. The discovery was made on Wednesday, five weeks after he went on the run following the disappearance of his fiancée Gabby Petito. She was found strangled to death in September in Wyoming
Chris and Roberta Laundrie (pictured) alerted investigators on Tuesday night that they intended to search Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park for their son on Wednesday morning. The FBI and North Port Police Department agreed to meet them at the park
Brian Laundrie, 23, is the sole suspect in the murder of his 22-year-old fiancee Gabby Petito. Her strangled body was found in September, weeks after she was last seen alive. The pair were on a cross-country camper van trip when she vanished and he went home in September
The remains and backpack were found near a bridge between Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park and the Carlton Reserve, just four miles north of Brian Laundrie's home, just a mile or two into the park. The Laundrie parents say they told the police that it's where Brian might have been, but the portion of the land was submerged in water when cops first searched it in September
The FBI, North Port Police Department and the Lee County Sheriff's Office all remain at the scene.
Bertolino also told CNN that he told the parents not to speak to Gabby's family, the media, or 'anybody' after he vanished on September 13.
'Now is not the right time to talk about the situation with Gabby.
'The family was following my directions. I told them not to talk with anybody, not to say a word, I was the intermediary between the family and law enforcement.
'Everybody has the right to remain silent and that's what I told my clients and that's what they did,' he said.
Bertolino added that the remains are likely those of Brian, but that the family is waiting for a formal identification to take place.
Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno spoke briefly to the media on Thursday to say the search was ongoing
Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno and North Port Police Department Chied Todd Garrison address the media outside the Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park in North Port
'The probability is strong that it is Brian's remains, but we're going to wait for the forensic results to come in and verify that,' Laundrie family attorney Steve Bertolino said in a phone interview with CNN host Chris Cuomo on Wednesday night.
The remains were discovered alongside items including a backpack and notebook belonging to Laundrie earlier on Wednesday, five weeks after he disappeared after going on a hike in the alligator-infested Florida swamp, and on the day his parents joined the search together for the first time.
Police activity Wednesday was focused on the nearby Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park, where television news reports showed numerous law enforcement vehicles arriving and a tent set up inside the woods. The location is where a Ford Mustang that Laundrie drove to the wilderness was found.
In the interview, Bertolino said the belongings were found near a bridge connecting the the Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park and the adjoining Carlton Reserve. The bridge is about four miles north of the Laundrie family home.
When asked why the parents had not joined the search at the park earlier, Bertolino pointed out that it had not been open to the public before Tuesday.
'The parents had assumed that the experts, the FBI and all the tracking teams they had, would be able to locate Brian based upon the information that we had provided them to