Justice must be served for Gabrielle Petito as well as her family. It’s extremely rare to piece a case together so quickly– within a matter of days– it’s honestly amazing. If cases like Gabby’s went national regularly and received recognition as hers did, with everyone coming together many cases that remain unsolved could be cracked. After Gabby’s case gained national interest, amateur investigators assisted in solving it. It is believed that Gabby’s race and age were major factors in the recognition of her disappearance.
Gabrielle Petito; a 22-year-old woman on a cross-country road trip traveling from the East Coast and across the United States, with her fiance, Brain Laundrie mysteriously vanished and was later found dead. “On September 11, 2021, Gabby’s mother Nicole Schmidt reported her missing after she had not received a word from her daughter in 13 days…” said Aliki Kraterou, writer and author of the Gabby Petito timeline article. Petito was last seen on August 27, 2021. The investigation into this case went extremely viral; and is currently ongoing as Brian Laundrie, 23, is missing, presumed on the run, and declared as a ‘Person of Interest’ in the case. A massive manhunt for Laundrie has been launched although no traces of him or clues have surfaced, many questions have.
What really happened? Why is Brian hiding if he honestly didn’t know what happened to Gabby or had any part in what happened? Why did Brian drive Gabby’s van to Florida alone, after she vanished?
This investigation went worldwide, with thousands scrambling, sometimes grasping at straws to find Gabby. Many came together on different social media platforms such as Tik Tok, Instagram, Facebook, and more, to help piece the case together. It was noticed by many people how toxic and aggressive Brian has appeared to be in various contexts, involving body language, speech, and behavior.
On August 12, 2021, Gabby and Brian were pulled over by police in their van in Moab, Utah. Officers pulled the two over in regards to a phone call, which involved a domestic dispute between the couple. It had been noticed from police bodycam footage that Brian’s behavior was “off” as well as his speech. Brian seemed nervous whenever he spoke before officers asked questions. When police started to side with Brian, it seemed as if he felt comfortable and less nervous. Brian procrastinated whenever he spoke to the police who were asking him questions, trying to play things cool while Gabby had a full-on breakdown. Gabby was emotionally distressed in the footage, expressing and pointing to factors of domestic violence that she experienced prior to getting pulled over.
August 27, the last day Gabby was seen alive, a woman named Nina Celie Angelo claims to have seen Laundrie arguing with a waitress at a Wyoming restaurant. She extended this claim by explaining how although she didn’t hear the argument, Brian’s body language was described as “aggressive”. It is presumed that sometime around this incident Laundrie in some way orchestrated Petito’s disappearance.
Another witness named Miranda Baker came in physical contact with Laundrie, being the first to give Brian a ride Since Gabby’s disappearance. With Miranda heading towards Jackson from Colter Bay, “Laundrie ‘freaked out’ when he realized she and her boyfriend were going to Jackson” said Alice Kelly, the author of another Gabby Petito article. A woman named Norma Jean Jalovec was the second person to give Laundrie a ride. After this, Laundrie went off the grid and is still yet to be found.
The remains of the 22-year old were found in a deserted area of Bridger-Teton National Forest. “Her remains were found inside Grand Teton on Sunday, just north of Jackson Hole. The nature of her death has been preliminarily declared a homicide though a cause of death is yet to be determined” said Luke Kenton, writer of another Petito-based article. This leaves some questions answered, starting with why Laundrie might freak out about going toward Jackson, it just so happened to be where Gabby’s remains were located.
UPDATE: Gabby Petito’s cause of death has been ruled as a homicide due to strangulation.