Brian Laundrie's parents display 'unusually united front & show little emotion' after autopsy, says body language expert

BRIAN Laundrie's parents displayed an "unusually united front" and showed little emotion following their son's autopsy, a body language expert says.

Chris and Roberta Laundrie were pictured at a Walmart store on Tuesday after it was revealed that their son, 23, died from a single gunshot wound to the head.

Body language expert, Patti Wood, who has analyzed the Laundrie family before, observed the photos of Chris and Roberta shopping and said the couple was "very close" based on the proximity of their bodies.

In the photos, Chris and Roberta are in casual clothes walking through the store and pushing a shopping cart. Both are wearing face masks while Roberta holds a purse.

The Laundries stand face-to-face in one of the photos which Wood claims are their "desire to be connected" even while in a public setting.

"You don't always see that in couples," Wood said. "Usually one person is walking in front of the other or calling the other person from another aisle. You don't really see this face-to-face connection."

But Wood says it's not just their faces that show the closeness between them but rather how close their bodies are to one another.

"It's obvious that they know each other and that they have a close relationship even if you didn't know they were a couple,"she said.

Wood said that the direction of the couples' feet is very important.

She noted that in almost every photo, Chris and Roberta either have their feet pointed at each other or they're walking in sync.

"That is the most primal part of the body," Wood said. "It is the most honest part of the body as it is under the least amount of conscious control."

Like the rest of their bodies, the Laundries' feet were facing one another. Because of how close the couple is, Wood says that it, again, shows their closeness with one another.

Roberta's feet were pointed directly at Chris's in one of the photos, which Wood said showed that she was seeking connection to him at that moment.

IN SYNC

Another quirk of the couple that Wood pointed out was how in sync their movements were. In the photos, both Chris and Roberta had their arms in similar positions.

"They're matching and mirroring one another," Wood says, adding that it's more obvious when the couple walks in sync.

"Walking is a very different kind of analysis nonverbally," she said. "Because when you're walking, your emotional brain and your critical brain are working together as you move through space."

Wood, who has done readings on thousands of celebrity couples, said that it's harder to keep that synchronization consistent as you're walking if you're faking that personal connection.

"How it reflects on a relationship is often very revealing."

Because the Laundries are walking in sync, Wood believes that the two of them have a good relationship and aren't faking their closeness with one another.

"Because there is so much going on with the feet, little things would be able to reveal if either of them were pretending."

Wood observed that Chris and Roberta had their hands pointed toward one another, almost as if they were holding hands.

"Their arm orientation is toward one another, their fingers are actually very close."

Wood calls this "symbolic reaching", where two people, even if their hands aren't actually touching one another, they keep their arms and hands close to the other.

"Primally, they want to be holding hands," she said, adding that it could be a symbol of the two attempting to comfort one another while they're out in public.

One thing that Wood pointed out as "unusual" between the couple is how they haven't shown any signs of mourning their son publicly.

Normally in stressful or traumatic events, such as the death of a child, Wood says that, typically, the female is "totally collapsed" whereas the male is either holds on or comforts the other.

But Wood says she hasn't seen Roberta in that "collapsed mode" which she finds interesting.

"It's not super typical, but not in an unhealthy way."

This revelation coincides with what the public already knows about the Laundrie family. The couple has been tight-lipped to the media about their son, only speaking through their lawyer Steven Bertolino.

Bertolino said the couple was "heartbroken" upon the discovery of Brian's remains back in October.

ROBERTA'S PURSE

Wood said it was "interesting" that Roberta appears to be holding her purse in several photos.

"That purse is a lot of protection for her," she said, pointing out Roberta is symbolically "shielding" the vulnerable part of her body.

She notes that Roberta holds the purse away from her husband which Wood says is because she doesn't have to shield from Chris.

"Sometimes I see women blocking their partners with their purses while they're out in public, but I don't see that here."

The expert says that the couple's "orientation" shows their connection to each other, and the way Roberta holds her purse allegedly says that she wants to block others out except for Chris.

Roberta appears to have her head down while Chris pushes the shopping cart.

Wood says this is because she knows he is being photographed while Chris, has his head up and is looking straight ahead.

That shows more of the "blocking" behavior that Wood said before, but also stresses Roberta's "comfort" with Chris.

Even with the analysis, Wood said she can't make any statements about what the future could be like for the Laundries. She does say that, so far, Chris and Roberta have shown immense support for one another during this stressful time.

"While I can't be predictive because the circumstances are extreme, I can say that the language they're showing to one another is not something I've seen from other couples in similar situations."

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