Jump to content
IGNORED

Gabby Petito is Missing Update: Found Dead; Arrest Warrants Issued


Howl

Recommended Posts

Another case with a likely bad outcome.

Gabby Petito, who stayed in Utah for weeks, has gone missing

Gabbie Petito (22) and her boyfriend Brian Laundrie were on a cross country trip, visiting national parks in Utah and Wyoming, camping and living out of her van.  She  was submitting frequent posts to Instagram and youtube about their trip to her 62,000 followers. 

Everything looked lovely, except she was last seen in an Instagram photo on August 25th.   Her parents received a few texts around the end of August  but are unsure if they were written by their daughter.  

Brian Laundrie showed up in North Port, Florida at his parents home on Sept. 1, with Gabby's van, but without Gabby.  The parents have hired a lawyer and are not allowing law enforcement any contact with their son, so they've been unable to question him.  He's now considered a person of interest.  Gabby's parents (in New York?) reported her missing on Sept. 11. 

On Saturday, law enforcement got a warrant for the van and have removed it from Brian's parent's property for forensic evaluation. 

Recent: Around the first or second week of August(?) Moab, UT police were called by a third party about an incident involving  Gabby and Brian, but the police noted that whatever was going on did not rise to the level of a criminal incident, they were not charged and no other details are available.  Wild guess, but it sounds like a verbal altercation w/ screaming and yelling that was disturbing enough to fellow campers/guests that someone called the police. 

  • Sad 7
  • Thank You 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

There is now a description of the episode in Moab:  

Utah police detail physical altercation between couple days before she disappeared No charges were filed and no significant injuries were reported

Although there was no arrest, emotions were extremely intense and there was slapping and pushing. 

Spoiler

A witness called 911 around 4:30 p.m. on Aug. 12 over "possible domestic violence" near Moonflower Community Cooperative and said he saw Petito and Laundrie arguing over a phone. 

"The driver of the van, a male, had some sort of argument with the female, Gabbie," a responding officer wrote in the report, citing conversations he had with Petito, Laundrie, and the witness. "The male tried to create distance by telling Gabbie to go take a walk to calm down, she didn’t want to be separated from the male, and began slapping him," the report said. "He grabbed her face and pushed her back as she pressed upon him and the van, he tried to lock her out and succeeded except for his driver’s door, she opened that and forced her way over him and into the vehicle before it drove off."  

An officer eventually pulled the van over and said that when he approached, Petito was "crying uncontrollably" in the passenger seat. 

One of the responding officers said the incident can be "more accurately categorized as a mental/emotional health ‘break’ than a domestic assault," and that "no significant injuries" were reported. 

Gabby Petito's family is frantic to find her.  They think she may be in Grand Teton or Yellowstone. 

The Laundries are all at home in Florida; their lawyer made a statement that they are  "staying in the back ground" and Brian has still  refused to be interviewed. 

So, stalemate until the van forensics implicate him in her death or there is other evidence sufficient to arrest him, or they find her. 

  • Thank You 8
Link to comment
Share on other sites

OK, correcting that one more thing. She was last seen on a security video leaving a hotel in Salt Lake City.  The last time she talked to her mother on the phone, she said she was either in Grand Teton Nat'l Park, or headed there. 

 

  • Thank You 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

15 hours ago, Howl said:

The Laundries are all at home in Florida; their lawyer made a statement that they are  "staying in the back ground" and Brian has still  refused to be interviewed. 

So, stalemate until the van forensics implicate him in her death or there is other evidence sufficient to arrest him, or they find her. 

How can the last person likely to have seen her, who showed up IN HER VAN, just refuse to be interviewed? It seems like showing up with her van but without her would be close enough to car theft for them to be able to at least bring him in.

It's like if I was going to write instructions for "how to seem as guilty as possible" I'd write exactly what he's doing. Not report her missing, refuse to speak to police, just leave with her van and head states away without a word, leaving her alone with no transportation if she is alive...

You can't just ditch somebody in the wilderness and take their car across multiple state lines and be like "la la la, nothing to see here. I'm sure she's fine. Somewhere. No idea where."

  • Upvote 11
  • I Agree 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, Alisamer said:

How can the last person likely to have seen her, who showed up IN HER VAN, just refuse to be interviewed? It seems like showing up with her van but without her would be close enough to car theft for them to be able to at least bring him in.

It's like if I was going to write instructions for "how to seem as guilty as possible" I'd write exactly what he's doing. Not report her missing, refuse to speak to police, just leave with her van and head states away without a word, leaving her alone with no transportation if she is alive...

You can't just ditch somebody in the wilderness and take their car across multiple state lines and be like "la la la, nothing to see here. I'm sure she's fine. Somewhere. No idea where."

Yaaaaas!!!! Do these husbands/boyfriends not follow any True Crime podcasts, shows, etc.??? It’s veeeeeery hard to convict someone without a body (Barry and Suzanne Morphew case is showing this), but you’d think they’d at least *try* to act less suspicious. Right off the bat they should be 1) appearing to cooperate with police 2) appearing concerned at the press conference/s 3) helping or setting up their own search and rescue attempts.
Doing those things just makes you look less guilty.

  • Upvote 4
  • Rufus Bless 1
  • I Agree 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I can't get over the fact that he took her van. Even if she wanted to go off on her own, wouldn't she want her vehicle with her? It would have been less suspicious if he had flown home or rented a car then told the police that they've broken up and that she decided to stay and finish the trip on her own.

After thought: I haven't seen his age anywhere but she was 22 so it's possible he was not yet 25 so renting a car was not possible.

Edited by BensAllergies
  • Upvote 8
Link to comment
Share on other sites

52 minutes ago, BensAllergies said:

I can't get over the fact that he took her van. Even if she wanted to go off on her own, wouldn't she want her vehicle with her? It would have been less suspicious if he had flown home or rented a car then told the police that they've broken up and that she decided to stay and finish the trip on her own.

A reporter sorted out the number of actual driving hours (not counting stops to gas up, eat , bathroom, sleep) and it was 42 hours from Wyoming to the parent's house in FL.  It's not looking good relative to when she was last heard from. 

If there's something incriminating that comes up in the forensic exam of the van, then yes, they can question him.  At this point in time no crime has been committed, so he's still being shielded by the family lawyer. 

I'm counting down until the b-friend says it was an accident and he panicked. 

  • Upvote 8
Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, DalmatianCat said:

Now the boyfriend is missing!!! 😱😱😱

Oh my gosh, what?! wow. I’ve been following this case. I could be completely wrong (and I hope I am) but it seems like he may have done something to hurt her, and now he has done something to hurt himself. 

I hope, for her family, that answers are found quickly 😢

  • Upvote 5
  • I Agree 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, adidas said:

Oh my gosh, what?! wow. I’ve been following this case. I could be completely wrong (and I hope I am) but it seems like he may have done something to hurt her, and now he has done something to hurt himself. 

I hope, for her family, that answers are found quickly 😢

My thought too…his lawyer and parents both claiming to not know where he is isn’t good. If it was just one or the other I would think he was hiding.

  • Upvote 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

TikToker claims she picked up Brian Laundrie hitchhiking alone 4 days after Gabby Petito last made contact with her family

After sharing this info with police, a TikToker has posted information that she offered a solo Brian Laundrie a ride in Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming on August 29. He claimed to have been hiking/camping solo while his fiance worked on her social media, but he didn't have the correct gear for backpacking. 

He wanted a ride to Jackson (where they were ultimately going), offered them $200 for the 10 mile ride, but when they told him they were going to nearby Jackson Hole, he wanted out immediately and they dropped him off at a parking lot by Jackson Dam. 

There is nothing normal here.  In the video released by police in Moab, UT, a sobbing Gabby mentions her OCD.  I'm starting to wonder if both had/have mental health issues that somehow triggered each other, manifesting in a very, very bad outcome. 

The FBI searched the Laundrie home yesterday (Friday) and are currently searching for Laundrie in the Carlton Reserve, a county park in Florida's Sarasota County.  He's thought to have entered the reserve on Tuesday.  I checked online; it's an amazing place, but maybe too much space to hide: carltonreserve.org/

Also, Brian apparently left home on Tuesday, but the family lawyer didn't make a statement until yesterday.  WTAF w/ these people. 

  • Upvote 2
  • I Agree 1
  • Thank You 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

And one more thing, from The New York Post via The Daily Mail, two not stellar sources, but interesting if true. Lots of detail. 

Brian Laundrie was controlling, suffered ‘episodes’, Gabby Petito’s friend says

According to "the friend", Laundrie was jealous and controlling and had episodes where he couldn't sleep and heard voices.  No info on how often these episodes happened or their duration. 

The friend reported that after fighting with Brian, Gabby would retreat to the friend's house for a break. 

 

Edited by Howl
  • Upvote 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, adidas said:

I was reading this article and I had no idea about the ‘zone of death’. Very concerning.

This was part of a plot twist in a C.J. Box murder mystery I read and then when the search was on for Lori Vallow Daybell's missing kids, JJ and Tylee, it was a hot topic.   The last photo of the kids was taken in Yellowstone, so there was some attention given to looking for them in the park.   IIRC, the zone of death is not easy to get to, though.  

I think there are cameras at the Yellowstone park entrance stations, so I'm sure that security footage has been reviewed or is being reviewed to see if they ever entered the park.  

Right now the FBI is searching a dispersed camping area outside Grand Teton National Park.  FBI now focusing on a specific camping area in search for Gabby Petito

 

  • Upvote 2
  • Thank You 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

A body was found in the Grand Teton National Park in the area being searched. No identification yet made.

ETA: Press conference at GTNP Visitor Center at 4:00 pm MDT. 

There have been two other people missing in GTNP recently. 

Edited by FiveAcres
  • Upvote 2
  • Thank You 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

@adidas Where is this guy?!?! How could they let him slip away like this?! I know at the time no crime had technically been committed but come on. We all kinda knew this is what the outcome would be. He could be anywhere in the world! His parents are most likely going to prison too now...

Edited by meep
  • Upvote 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, meep said:

@adidas Where this guy?!?! How could they let him slip away like this?! I know at the time no crime had technically been committed but come on. We all kinda knew this is what the outcome would be. He could be anywhere in the world! His parents are most likely going to prison too now...

Accessories after the fact?

  • Upvote 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 minutes ago, FiveAcres said:

Accessories after the fact?

They're gonna have to explain keeping quiet to all parties involved now that we know a murder has taken place. Did they know it was a murder? I think so but if they claim otherwise, they're gonna have to have some impeccable explanation as to the conversations the had with their son and what they thought was happening when Brian returned all by himself with Gabby's van and her reported missing with zero contact to anyone. Not even mentioning the fact that they drove the Mustang back to their home on Tuesday night. 

Edited by meep
  • Upvote 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think we all knew this would be the outcome; it's still incredibly sad.   I think it's likely the 2nd outcome will be finding Brian's remains, but I hope not.

I've also been taking some time to remember with compassion  all the women and girls who have gone missing, particularly native women and women of color, and the country didn't turn itself upside down to find them. 

  • Upvote 10
  • I Agree 7
  • Love 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I turned on the television and CNN is both acting like they found her body and saying that remains "match the description of Gabby Petito", but they are waiting for some final confirmation. It's not clear what the confirmation is. It could be someone has to identify the body or DNA testing or both.

My heart goes out to her family. I'm sort of glad that they found her if this is her. It's easier for the family to know what happened to have an unending mystery.

  • Upvote 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

@Bluebirdbluebell The News Conference had law enforcement offering their condolences to the family. So I think they are like 99% percent sure it is her, but they don't have DNA/dental records/etc yet to absolutely confirm without a doubt. But they are confident enough to have contacted her family saying it's her.

  • Upvote 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 minutes ago, Bluebirdbluebell said:

I turned on the television and CNN is both acting like they found her body and saying that remains "match the description of Gabby Petito", but they are waiting for some final confirmation. It's not clear what the confirmation is. It could be someone has to identify the body or DNA testing or both.

My heart goes out to her family. I'm sort of glad that they found her if this is her. It's easier for the family to know what happened to have an unending mystery.

A news chopper showed a canopy being put up over what appeared to be disturbed ground. If the dogs hit, I am guessing it was shallow grave, which means that her remains were probably not disturbed. She apparently had distinctive tattoos. 

  • Rufus Bless 1
  • Thank You 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now



×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.