Last July 2 Gabrielle “Gabby” Petito, from 22 years old, and her boyfriend, Brian Laundrie, of 23, began what they called the journey of a lifetime across the US Two months later, he returned home to Florida, but she never returned. What happened?
After 10 days after Laundrie returned, Petito was declared missing.
Laundrie refused to speak to the police investigating the disappearance of his partner and days later, also disappeared.
This was reported to the North Port, Florida police by his parents. The 17 of September, the family told authorities that they had not been informed of their son’s whereabouts for three days.
On Sunday, authorities found a body in Grand National Park Teton, in Wyoming, and this Tuesday they confirmed that it is that of the missing young woman.
A coroner reached the initial conclusion that her death was a homicide but did not give any details of how it was produced.
Here we collect what is known about the case.
Who is Gabby Petito
Petito started the trip with Laundrie in July from his hometown in Long Island, New York.
Laundrie and Petito were sweethearts since high school, who attended Long Island, New York.
They had moved in together at Laundrie’s parents’ home in North Port, Florida, in 2019, and they got engaged in July 2020, according to their social networks .
The two young men documented their nomadic “van life” through the national parks of the American West on Instagram and YouTube.
What happened during the trip
The details of what happened during the trip are not yet clear.
What is known is that Petito and Laundrie started a trip by truck on July 2 , from New York.
The plan, according to their relatives, was to travel the country for four months, visiting and camping in national parks.
The couple was publishing images and videos of their adventure on their networks social.
Laundrie returned home alone on September 1 and 10 days later, Petito’s family reported her as missing.
Petito had been visiting Grand Teton National Park with Laundrie when she was last seen.
Following news of Petito’s disappearance, police in the city of Moab in southern Utah, where the couple had passed, released a video recorded on 12 August, about two weeks before the disappearance of the young woman, which shows that they had had an altercation.
The video was recorded with a body camera of an agent who responded to a call for a possible incident of domestic violence that involved Petito and Laundrie.
In the images, the young woman is seen crying and complaining about her mental health and acknowledging that they had been arguing more frequently.
According to a police report of the incident, Laundrie said that Petito had hit him after an argument.
The police officers who recorded the video recommended they spend the night apart, but no charges were filed.
On 19 of August, a video was published on a YouTube channel registered with Petito’s email.
The recording showed the couple smiling, kissing and running along some beaches. has been played over 3.2 million times.
Petito made a video call with his mother on 24 August to tell him that he was leaving Utah and headed for the Teton Mountain Range in Wyoming, according to Rick Stafford, Petito’s attorney.
His mother Nicole Schmidt told CBS New York that she and Petito used to talk three times a week during the trip.
The 25 August, Petito posted for the last time on Instagram, with the message “Happy Halloween.” Your photo gallery did not include information about your location.
The couple’s social media updates on Instagram ended abruptly in late August.
The last time Petito’s family heard from her was the 30 August, via a text message that read: “No sign in Yosemite,” a reference to the California national park.
Schmidt, the mother, doubts who sent this message.
Now the van in which the couple was traveling is being examined by the police for clues.
What we know about Brian Laundrie
The police consider Laundrie as a “person of interest” in the investigation, but has not been charged with any crime.
After the disappearance of the young man, North Port Police Chief Todd Garrison published the Wednesday a request through It is from Twitter addressed to Laundrie’s lawyer, Steven Bertolino, asking him for a meeting with his client.
But through a statement, Bertolino said that he had advised Laundrie not to speak to the authorities because, in his experience, the couple is often the person on whom the authorities “focus their Attention in cases like this. ”
“ The warning that ‘any statement you make will be used against you’ is true , regardless of if my client had something to do with Miss Petito’s disappearance ”, said Bertolino.
Investigators searched for Laundrie in the Carlton Preserve, a nature park north of North Port, where his family believed he had traveled.
The search operation carried out over the weekend included trained dogs and drones.
Finally, this Monday, the police suspended the search, stating that they had “exhausted all avenues to search” the area.
On the same day, authorities from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) inspected the Laundrie family home.
What remains to be known
Once it has been confirmed that the body found is that of the young woman, the investigators have to reveal how and where the body was found.
In addition, it is expected that the cause of death will be published once the final results of the autopsy are obtained.
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