Gabby Petito Everything we know about YouTubers mysterious disappearance on road trip

Gabby Petito’s body has been formally identified and the cause of her death has been confirmed as “homicide”.

Authorities confirmed that human remains found in Wyoming’s Bridger-Teton National on Sunday belonged to Ms Petito.

In a statement, the FBI said an initial determination by the Teton County Coroner Dr. Brent Blue had determined that Ms Petito was killed, and the cause of death had not yet been established.

“The FBI and our partners remain dedicated to ensuring that anyone responsible for or complicit in Ms Petito’s death is held accountable for their actions,” special agent in charge Michael Schneider said.

Family members and police conducted a nationwide search for the missing ‘van-life’ woman, who was travelling across the United States with her partner before Brian Laundrie being reported missing. Her partner returned home without her and no one had heard from her in weeks.

Ms Petito, 22, of Blue Point, Long Island, was last seen on 24 August when she checked out of a Salt Lake City hotel with her partner of two and half years, Brian Laundrie, 23. She was reported missing by her family on the evening of 11 September, said police.

Ms Petito and Mr Laundrie had been documenting their travel experiences as ‘van-lifers’ across the US on a YouTube channel called ‘Nomadic Statik’. She would regularly FaceTime her mother, but her mother grew worried when she hadn’t heard from her for days and notified the authorities.

Last week, North Port Police in Florida revealed Mr Laundrie was a “person of interest” in the case.

They said Mr Laundrie had returned to Florida alone in the van on 1 September, 10 days before his girlfriend was reported missing.

On September 14, Mr Laundrie also went missing, although his family did not report his absence to the police for several days. He was believed to have headed to Florida’s Carlton Reserve with just a backpack, and an intense manhunt was also begun for him in this area.

That same day, the FBI removed Mr Laundrie’s parents from their home and began investigating the house as a crime scene.

While law enforcement was searching for Mr Laundrie in Florida on 19 September, investigators announced they had located a body believed to belong to Ms Petito in the eastern portion of Grand Teton National Park. The discovery was aided by another travel YouTuber who spotted Ms Petito’s van in a video they were editing.

Here is everything we know about the case:

Last contact

According to her mum Nichole Schmidt, Gabby would FaceTime with her around three times a week. But after speaking with her on August 25, she received several worrying text messages in the next few days. She could not be sure they were from her daughter.

Gabby Petito and Brian Laundrie

(Instagram/GabsPetito)

Those text messages sent by Ms Petito to her mother in the days before her disappearance showed growing strain between her and Mr Laundrie, a police search warrant will later reveal.

Ms Schmidt’s suspicions were further raised when she received a final “odd text” in which Ms Petito mentioned her grandfather by his first name “Stan” on 27 August, the warrant stated.

“Can you help Stan, I just keep getting his voicemails and missed calls,” the text said, according to the warrant.

Ms Schmidt said the text was concerning because her daughter never called her grandfather by his first name.

“The mother was concerned something was wrong with her daughter,” the warrant said, and provided “probable cause” that a felony crime had been committed.

Prior to the last communication, Ms Petito is believed to have been in Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. Ms Petito’s mother Nichole Schmidt told Fox News the pair were heading for Yellowstone National Park next, but Ms Petito did not arrive.

Questions surrounding case of missing Gabby Petito

“The first couple of days when I wasn’t getting responses, I believed she was in a place with no service. It was like day eight and nine that I really became concerned,” Ms Schmidt said.

Ms Schmidt now believes the final text message she received from her daughter claiming she was in Yosemite was a fake.

The text message sent from her daughter’s phone on 30 August said: “No service in Yosemite”. Her phone was switched off on 31 August or 1 September.

Yosemite, in California’s Sierra Nevada mountains, is 800 miles from her last known location in Wyoming.

Ms Schmidt told the Daily Mail she was certain the text was faked and suspected her Mr Laundrie may have sent it to intentionally mislead the family.

She wouldn’t reveal the contents of other messages she received from her daughter, but said it didn’t seem like something Ms Petito would say.

“That text was NOT from Gabby I know it!” she said.

Ms Schmidt she texted Brian and his mother Roberta Laundrie on 10 September but they had did not respond.

Gabrielle Petito was reported missing to the Suffolk County Police Department by her family on 11 September around 6.55pm.

Mr Laundrie returned to his Florida home on 1 September without Gabby. Police seized the couple’s 2012 Ford Transit van on the day she was reported missing.

Police in Florida, where the couple had lived previously, said the circumstances of her disappearance “appeared odd”.

In the last post to her Instagram account on August 25, Ms Petito wrote ‘Happy Halloween'

(Instagram/GabsPetito)

Brian Laundrie named ‘person of interest’ and goes missing

On 15 September, North Port Police named Brian Laundrie as a “person of interest” in the case.

“As a father, I can imagine the pain and suffering Gabby’s family is going through,” North Port Police Chief Todd Garrison says in an accompanying press release.

“The lack of information from Brian is hindering this investigation. The answers will eventually come out.”

A day earlier on 14 September, Mr Laundrie left home telling his parents he was going for a hike in the nearby Carlton Reserve, and has not been seen since.

Crucially, his parents didn’t inform investigators that he had left the house and was missing until three days later on 17 September.

A major search also began for him in the swampy area on 18 September, as police said it was possible he could survive there hiding out ‘for months.’

On Monday North Port Police said it was suspending its search for Mr Laundrie in the Carlton Reserve, saying it had “exhausted all avenues” for finding the man in the swamp.

The same day FBI and North Port Police execute a search warrant at the Laundrie family home in North Port, as hundreds of onlookers and members of the media are gathered outside the address.

They remove parents Christopher and Roberta and place them in a police vehicle in the driveway as they conduct an six hour search of the house.

A search warrant revealed they were particularly interested in examining devices including phones, computers and external hard drives for any clues to Mr Laundrie’s whereabouts of involvement in his girlfriend’s death.

Internet browsing history, text messages and other data stored on those devices was of particular focus, the search warrant said.

In establishing “probable cause” of a felony crime, police reveal text messages sent by Ms Petito to her mother in the days before her disappearance showed growing strain between her and Mr Laundrie.

Ms Schmidt’s suspicions were further raised when she received a final “odd text” in which Ms Petito mentioned her grandfather by his first name “Stan” on 27 August, the warrant stated.

“Can you help Stan, I just keep getting his voicemails and missed calls,” the text said, according to the warrant.

North Port police, the FBI and several other law enforcement agencies resume their search of the ‘gator and snake-infested’ Carlton Reserve on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, authorities in Alabama received several sightings of Mr Laundrie in the state on , 600 miles (965kms) from his home in North Port, Florida over the same weekend.

North Port Police released photographs of the van they seized from Mr Laundrie’s home

(North Port Police)

The ‘domestic incident’ and an eerie connection to a double homicide

On Wednesday, police in the small Utah town of Moab revealed they responded to reports of a domestic violence incident involving the couple.

A witness called 911 at about 4:45pm on 12 August to say he “feared the worst” after witnessing the couple come to blows in their van.

“I’m right on the corner of Main St by Moonflower… I’d like to report a domestic dispute,” the caller says in the 49 second audio recording, which was released on 20 September.

“The gentleman was slapping the girl… they ran up and down the sidewalk, he proceeded to hit her and then they drove off.”

The incident happened outside the Moonflower Community Cooperative, where newlywed Kylen Schulte worked.

The bodies of Ms Schulte, 24, and her wife Crystal Turner, 38, were found days later in a nearby camping ground, with multiple gunshot wounds. The double homicide remains unsolved, but the Grand County Sheriff’s Office has said the two incidents were not connected.

Police in Utah also released body camera footage of the incident showing officers separating Ms Petito and Mr Laundrie

Attending officer Daniel Robbins said the couple appeared to have been going through a “mental health crisis”, according to a police incident report obtained by The Independent.

The officer reported that the couple both suffer from a mental illness which caused them to argue more, and they had not been taking medication during their cross-country trip in a converted Ford Transit van.

“That time spent created emotional strain between them and increased the number of arguments,” Mr Robbins wrote.

Police release body camera footage of Gabby Petito and Brian Laundrie together

Mr Robbins wrote that Mr Laundrie had tried to lock his girlfriend out of the van, but she managed to get in through the driver’s door.

“He got into their van and Gabrielle had gone into a manic state. Brian said Gabrielle, thinking he was going to leave her in Moab without a ride, went to slap him,” Mr Robbins wrote.

“As Gabrielle started to swing, Brian pushed her away to avoid the slap.”

According to the statement Ms Petito was off balance but still caught Mr Laundrie’s face and right arm, leaving visible scratches.

Gabby Petito posted several pictures of her and Mr Laundrie at the Arches National Park in Utah on the same day as police attended a ‘domestic violence’

(Instagram/GabsPetito)

Mr Robbins said he did not believe the incident “escalated to the level of a domestic assault”.

He decided to separate the couple for the night so they could “reset their mental states”.

Even though the couple wanted to remain together, police arranged for Mr Laundrie to spend the night at a hotel through Seekhaven, a family crisis centre in Moab.

Ms Petito remained in the van for the evening.

“I instructed both Brian and Gabrielle to take advantage of this time apart to relax their emotions and regain control of their anxiety.”

Earlier on 12 August, Ms Petito posted several pictures to her Instagram account. They included several of herself standing underneath the famous Delicate Arch landmark at the national park, and one of her and Mr Laundrie.

She described hiking to the arch at 7am, and meeting other hikers along the track.

“We also camped for one night in Devils Garden with the cover off of our tent to fall asleep watching the stars, trying to catch a glimpse of the Perseid meteor shower,” she wrote.

‘It’s a bit overwhelming’

Kylen Schulte and Crystal Turner were last seen at a bar in Moab on 13 August, and their bodies were found five days later at a campsite in the South Mesa area of the La Sal Mountains.

After the Moonflower Co-op connection emerged, Maggie Keating, the store’s marketing and community outreach coordinator told The Independent the connection to another high-profile case was troubling.

“It’s a bit overwhelming,” she said.

“We’re definitely still grieving the loss. It’s only been a month and we’ve had to keep trucking along and then this brings it back to the forefront of our minds.”

There is no evidence to connect the two incidents, but the timing and proximity to each other has prompted further unease in the town.

Seeking answers

North Port Police spokesman Josh Taylor told The Independent on Tuesday Mr Laundrie’s parents had refused to allow officers to speak to him, and had given them contact information for the family’s attorney.

Asked if police found anything suspicious in the family’s actions, Mr Taylor said: “There’s common sense at play.

“We don’t even have any evidence that a crime has been committed, other than concern and things not adding up that would leave you to potentially assume that.

“It’s possible that something very bad has happened here, she hasn’t been seen for weeks and now he’s back here with the vehicle and we’ve been told to speak to the family attorney,” Mr Taylor said.

Later that day an attorney for the Laundrie family issued a statement saying they hoped the search for Ms Petito would be successful.

“This is an extremely difficult time for both the Petito family and the Laundrie family.

“I understand that a search has been organised for Miss Petito in or near Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming.

“On behalf of the Laundrie family it is our hope that the search for Miss Petito is successful and that Miss Petito is re-united with her family.

“On the advice of counsel the Laundrie family is remaining in the background at this juncture and will have no further comment.”

Both Ms Petito’s father Joe Petito and mother Ms Schmidt were angered by the Laundrie family statement.

Gabrielle Petito’s father slams fiance’s statement

Appearing on Fox News on Wednesday, Gabby’s father Joe Petito said: “I’m sorry. That’s not a statement.

“Forget Brian, Brian’s home safe. His parents, yeah it’s hard for them. Bulls***.

“You know what? My daughter is not here. Our daughter is not here. We don’t even know where she is, what state she’s in.”

Later that day, Ms Schmidt blasted her daughter’s boyfriend.

“Brian claims he wants to sit in the background while we search for Gabby in the wilderness of the Grand Teton and Yellowstone national parks,” she wrote in a statement released through her lawyer Richard Stafford.

“Brian left Gabby in the wilderness with grizzly bears and wolves while he sits in the comfort of his home. In his home!

“Brian, how could you do this to Gabby?” Ms Schmidt asked, adding his silence was “reprehensible”.

Ms Schmidt implored Mr Laundrie to come forward with what he knew.

“Brian, whatever happened in Wyoming, happened. The only thing you can control is what you do now. Tell us where Gabby is.”

‘At the point that their desperation is turning to anger’

Ms Petito’s parents increased the pressure on the Laundrie family on Thursday afternoon, releasing an open letter to Brian’s parents Christopher and Roberta begging them to tell the police what they know.

The open letter, signed by Jim and Nichole Schmidt, Ms Petito’s stepfather and mother, and Joe and Tara Petito, her father and stepmother, was read out to a press conference by their attorney Richard Stafford.

The full text reads: “We are writing this letter to ask you to help find our beautiful daughter. We understand you are going through a difficult time and your instinct to protect your son is strong.

“We ask you to put yourselves in our shoes We haven’t been able to sleep or eat and out live are falling apart.

“We believe you know the location of where Brian left Gabby. We beg you to tell us. As a parent, how could you let us go through this pain and not help us. As a parent how could you put Gabby’s younger brothers and sisters through this.

“Gabby lived with you for over a year. she was going to be your daughter in law. How can you keep her location hidden?

“You were both at Jim and Nichole’s house. You were both so happy that Brian and Gabby got engaged and were planning to spend their lives together.

“Please, if you or your family has any decency left, please tell us where Gabby is located. Tell us if we are even looking in the right place.

“All we want is Gaby to come home. Please help us make that happen.”

After reading the letter, Mr Stafford told media the parents were “at the point that their desperation is turning to anger”.

“They know that the Laundries know where their daughter is. That’s infuriating.”

Family search

As media and public interest in Ms Petito’s disappearance grew, her family harnessed that attention to repeatedly call for help in finding their daughter.

Gabby’s mum, Nichole Schmidt, at a press conference on 13 September, says: “As a mom, I had concerns about a daughter going on a road trip in general,” Ms Schmidt said. “But I felt safe ... they had a plan, an itinerary, and we were excited for them.”

Addressing Gabby directly, her father Joseph Petito said: “Gabby, we just want you to come home,” he urged. “Call us. Let us know you’re OK. Come home, please.”

Using social media, the family continues to share updates and photographs of Ms Petito, and her father Joe tells a press conference: “Finding her is all that matters.”

But looming over the search has been the continuing silence of one person: her boyfriend, Brian Laundrie.

Ms Petito’s mother and stepfather, father and stepmother issue a direct appeal to his parents Christopher and Roberta on 17 September.

An open letter from the family of Gabby Petito to Mr Laundrie’s parents Christopher and Roberta

(Petito family)

“We are writing this letter to ask you to help find our beautiful daughter. We understand you are going through a difficult time and your instinct to protect your son is strong,” they wrote in the open letter read to media by their lawyer Richard Stafford.

“We believe you know the location of where Brian left Gabby. We beg you to tell us. As a parent, how could you let us go through this pain and not help us. As a parent how could you put Gabby’s younger brothers and sisters through this.”

It may have had some effect as North Port Police went to the Laundrie residence that night, and were informed by Mr Laundrie’s parents that he left the family house on Tuesday, heading for the Carlton Reserve, and has not been seen since.

Mr Laundrie remains missing, and police in several states are actively following up possible sightings.

As the police ramp up their hunt for Mr Laundrie, the search for Ms Petito begins to hone in on an area where their Ford Transit van was spotted in the Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming.

YouTuber Jen Bethune was driving through the Spread Creek Campground on 27 August, recording from a dashcam as she went.

It was only after Ms Petito was declared missing that she realised the significance of a white Ford Transit Connect Van parked on the side of the road.

Once this video evidence was relayed to investigators searching for Ms Petito, they escalated search efforts in the area.

Travel blogger describes driving past Gabby Petito’s van in Wyoming and capturing it on video

Body found

On Sunday, 19 September, the FBI announced that a body had been found in the area they were searching, in the Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming - where Ms Petito was last believed to have been prior to her disappearance.

Following the discovery of a body, police called a press conference and announced that the body they had recovered matched the description of Ms Petito. Ms Petito’s family were informed of the development, and social media was inundated with messages of condolence for the family.

On Tuesday afternoon, Petito family attorney Richard Stafford confirmed the body was Gabby’s in a text message to The Independent.

The Teton County Coroner Dr Brent Blue confirmed Ms Petito’s death was a homicide, but the exact cause of death had not yet been confirmed.

A GoFundMe page has been set up to help the family with their search, and pay for investigators and travel costs. It has so far received contributions of more than $73,000

(YouTube/ Nomadic Statik)

Social media posts

The couple had saved their money and quit their jobs to travel across the US, part of a growing movement of ‘van-lifers’ who eschew a normal lifestyle in search of freedom and adventure.

Their Instagram accounts documented parts of their trip, with the first post on 2 July. They posted about Kansas’ Monument Rocks, Colorado Springs, Great Sand Dunes National Park, Zion National Park and Bryce National Park in Utah and Canyonlands National Park.

“Downsizing our life to fit into this itty bitty van was the best decision we’ve ever made,” Mr Laundrie wrote on Instagram that month. “Sacrificing space to wake up in nature every day has been no sacrifice at all.”

It was these posts that inspired enormous interest in the case, and were seized on by an army of online sleuths who joined the effort to help locate Ms Petito.

They pored over her Instagram posts, searching for any inconsistencies or signs of concern.

Ms Petito last posted a photo on her Instagram account on 26 August.

The post shows her in front of a butterfly mural with a small knitted pumpkin with the caption “happy halloween”.

Her previous post, on 19 August, showed the view of a park from inside her van.

Unlike her usual posts, these two did not have a location tag.

Some Instagram users pointed out that this was not her usual style, and that her hair appeared to have been freshly dyed in the photo.

Mr Laundrie’s social media accounts have also been attracting significant attraction, as the search goes on for the missing “person of interest”.

Mr Laundrie’s ‘Til death do us part’ comment’ has attracted significant interest from online followers of the case

(Instagram)

A Pinterest page suspected of being Mr Laundrie’s is offering new clues into his state of mind in the weeks before his girlfriend Gabby Petito went missing on or about 25 August.

One image being shared widely shows a sketch of ghostly figures, a gravestone, and text scattered throughout which reads “let her go, let her go, God bless her, wherever she may be”.

In a separate post, text at the bottom of an image reads: “Don’t try to find me,” and “I have finally escaped my ‘master’s’ wicked clutches. To the others I say: JOIN ME. Bite the hand that feeds you. Vive La Liberte.”

Another folder titled “Life Goals” and shared by Mr Laundrie, his mother, and Ms Petito were making plans for their wedding.

On Instagram, Brian Laundrie presents himself as an outdoorsman, a devoted boyfriend, and an artist with conspiratorial leanings.

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