Gabby Petito Found Murdered in US: Trip with Fiancé, Fights and Investigation

A mysterious story that interested millions of people.

In September, the media actively covered 22-year-old Gabby Petito, a blogger from the US who set off on a trip with her fiancé, 23-year-old Brian Laundrie, and went missing.

The mystery of the story was that Laundrie returned from the trip alone, did not talk about his fiancée, and then also disappeared. Meanwhile, police found Petito's body and said she had become a victim of murder. Here is what is known about this crime to date. 

A Happy Journey

Gabrielle Petito grew up in the town of Blue Point (New York State), and met Laundrie at the local high school. In 2019 they began living with the young man's parents, and in 2020 they got engaged. 

In early July 2021 the couple set off on a road trip across the US in a white 2012 Ford Transit van.  Her family said it had been her dream, so Petito saved money while working as a pharmacy assistant. 

On July 2, Gabby and Brian left Blue Point. The trip was supposed to last four months and end in Oregon. On July 4 the girl posted her first photo from the trip, against the backdrop of the 'chalk pyramids' in Kansas. Shortly before her disappearance she uploaded one video to YouTube. 

Quarrels

Until the end of July the blogger posted new photos from national parks in Colorado and Utah, and Brian also often posted something on Instagram. On August 12, Petito posted a photo from Arches National Park near the city of Moab in Utah for the first time after a 12-day break. 

The girl was crying, and Brian said that both of them had experienced psychological difficulties on the road, which is why they began quarreling more often. That day another conflict arose between them, and Laundrie decided they should spend some time apart. He got into the van, and the girl thought he wanted to leave without her and started hitting him. 

The young man pushed her away. Both told police that they loved each other and did not intend to press charges. Law enforcement limited themselves to a conversation but decided it would be better for the couple to spend the night separately. Brian was taken to a hotel, and Gabby stayed the night in the van. 

Last Conversation with Parents

On August 21 the couple was in Utah's capital, Salt Lake City. This became known from Gabby's father. Joseph Petito said the couple had no internet, so he ordered them food delivery. On August 24 they left the city. That day the girl called her mother via FaceTime. It was her last conversation with her parents — before that she had called them about three times a week. 

On August 25 Gabby posted her last photo on Instagram — she poses with a small knitted pumpkin in her hands, captioned 'Happy Halloween'. Users determined that the photo was taken in the city of Ogden, about 45 minutes' drive from Salt Lake City. 

No one saw or heard from the girl again. However, her mother continued to receive text messages from her daughter's phone. The last one came on August 30, saying there was no signal in Yosemite National Park (California). The woman did not find the message suspicious, but after her daughter's disappearance she said she did not believe her daughter had sent it. 

Brian Returned Home Alone

On September 1 Brian Laundrie returned to Florida alone, without Gabby. He did not contact the police or the girl's family. Ten days later her relatives reported her missing. Law enforcement tried to talk to the young man, but he had no status in the missing person case, and he refused to cooperate with police. 

On September 15 police named Brian a 'person of interest'. Two days later the Laundrie family said their son had gone missing on September 14 — he had reportedly said he would go to the Carlton Reserve nature preserve and did not return home. Police organized a search, but 75% of that territory is covered by water. 

A police representative said that in the last days before the disappearance Brian was under 'incredible pressure' because of Gabby's disappearance and his silence about it. He was harassed online. 

Gabby Found Dead

On September 19 authorities said they had found remains of a girl resembling Gabby Petito on a campground in the Bridger-Teton National Forest in western Wyoming. On September 21 the FBI, citing a medical examination, confirmed that the body really belonged to Petito and that the death was violent. 

It is not yet specified how exactly the girl was killed. Shortly before the announcement of the discovery of remains, bloggers Kyle and Jenn Bentan posted on YouTube a video of the white van, which they accidentally filmed on August 27 in Bridger-Teton. They handed the video to the FBI, but the agency did not specify whether it had been useful during the search. 

Meanwhile, blogger Miranda Baker said that on August 29 she gave Brian a ride in Wyoming. According to her, she and her boyfriend picked up the young man not far from where Gabby's remains were found. He immediately offered to pay $200, but got out after 30 minutes when he learned they were heading somewhere other than where he had thought. 

Investigation on Social Media

Gabby Petito's story attracted a lot of attention online. Even before her body was found, people raised $77,000 on the GoFundMe platform for her search. Videos and posts with the hashtag #gabbypetito began appearing on social media, collecting millions of views. 

On Instagram the girl gained 1 million followers, although as of September 15 (according to an audience-rating service) she had fewer than 50,000 subscribers. Users began searching for digital traces of Gabby and Brian in hopes of finding information that would help in her search. They even studied the girl's playlists on Spotify and her fiancé's reading list. 

The media also took an interest in the search for the girl. However, some find the attention paid to her excessive. 

Elvin Williams
co-host of the comedy podcast 'Affirmative Murder' about murders among non-white residents of the US

We can play the game of 'oh, it's because she was a vlogger' and all that, but we can also notice that she is Gen Z, blonde, petite, and that's what gets clicks. 

According to Williams, in the state where Petito was found, 710 Indigenous Americans went missing between 2011 and 2020. However, these stories received not a fraction of the resonance that the girl's story did.