Siraj Iddris
During the second half of 2021, American Vlogger, Gabriel “Gabby” Venora Petito was murdered by her high-school sweetheart and fiancé, Brian Laundrie at an early of 22 while they were embarking on a Van life cross-country tour across the United States visiting and camping in national parks. The trip which was began on July 2, 2021 and scheduled to last four months ended abruptly when Gabby Petito went missing on August 27. This caused a nationwide concern after it was noticed Petito was not uploading her YouTube page and also her breaking contact with her family whom she has maintained regular contacts throughout her travels. Her family reported her missing in September.
In the aftermath of Petito’s disappearance, Laundrie raised suspicion when he returned the van from Wyoming back to his house in North Port, Florida and refused to disclose the location of Petito. The man was considered a person of interest in the case and a warrant was issued for his arrest on charges of withdrawing money from her account. He left his home on September 13 and was reported missing four days later.
In Wyoming’s Bridger–Teton National Forest on September 19, Petito’s remains were found. An autopsy revealed that she had been strangled to death by hand. There was widespread concern surrounding the whereabouts of Laundrie after Petito’s remains were discovered .This sparked week-long extensive search around his Florida home and a vast Florida nature reserve, but on October 20, his skeletal remains were discovered in Florida’s Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park, where Autopsy revealed he died by suicide from a single gunshot to the head. It was later revealed on November 23 by the FBI that Laundrie admitted to killing Petito in a notebook they found beside his skeletal remains.
Who is Gabby Petito?
Gabby Petito was a super cool influencer and YouTuber who shared her amazing adventures and Van life experience with her followers. She had a passion for travelling and exploring the world. Originally born on March 19, 1999, Gabrielle Venora Petito lived in Blue Point, New York. She had six younger siblings and half-siblings. As a result of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in 2013, Petito and her step-brothers appeared in a music video to raise awareness about gun violence in the United States. Her first meeting with Brian Christopher Laundrie, her boyfriend and killer took place at Bayport-Blue Point High School in Bayport, New York, where she graduated from high school. In the period of September 2017 to January 2019, she lived in Carolina Beach, North Carolina, working both as a hostess and in the kitchen at a restaurant in Wilmington. Despite applying to Cape Fear Community College, she did not attend.
During the month of March 2019, Petito began dating Laundrie, and moved in with him in North Port, Florida, with his parents. At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, they quit their jobs and stayed at a Publix in North Port, where she was a pharmacy technician while he was in the grocery department.
In 2019, the couples embarked on an interstate tour from New York to California. Their trip was conducted across the country in late 2019 and early 2020 from New York to California, in which they toured Las Vegas, Yosemite National Park, Pismo Beach, and other locations. The couple traveled the country at the same time in March 2020, and celebrated Petito’s 21st birthday in Nokomis, Florida. In June, 2020, the two of them visited Sope Creek, Georgia and were engaged within a month of their visit.
When Petito and her partner decided to cross the country again in December 2020, she bought a 2012 Ford Transit Connect van converted into a camper, for the couple to take on their next cross-country journey in. Her goal was to save enough money for the trip, so she started working 50-hour weeks at Taco Bell and as a nutritionist, while Laundrie took an organic juice bar job. On social media sites such as YouTube and Instagram, Petito documented her life and her travels. On YouTube, her account which went by the name “Nomadic Statik” had over 180 thousand subscribers and amassed millions of views and interactions.
Circumstances Leading to Her Murder and Disappearance.
According to police reports and records, an eye-witness reported an incident of a scuffle between a man and woman (later identified as Brian Laundrie and Gabby Petito) in front of the MoonFlower community cooperative in Moab, Utah. The eye-witness claimed they saw a man slap a woman, after which they raced up and down the sidewalk, then the man slap the woman again before they finally drove off.
The incident was described to police by another witness as Petito and Laundrie were apparently conversing aggressively, and that Petito was punching him in the arm at that point. In the witness’s opinion, Laundrie appeared to be trying to leave Petito behind and take her phone with him. As they drove off together, she climbed into the driver’s seat, slipped into the passenger seat in order for him to drive, and asked him, “Why do you always have to be so mean to me?”
After identifying the van driving erratically near the entrance to Arches National Park, police officers from Moab City Police Department (MCPD) decided to conduct a traffic stop. It was discovered that Petito was crying heavily in the back seat of the van. During the course of the conversation, the officer pointed out marks on her arm and face and advised her to “just be honest” to him. In response to this, Petito told the officer that she had struck Laundrie first, and urged the officers not to separate them.
According to the police, Petito and Laundrie had neither the courage nor the desire to press charges after the incident, which was characterized by the police as mental breakdown rather than domestic violence, which would have required an arrest. A police officer separated the couple, arranging for Laundrie to stay at the Bowen Motel in Moab while Petito stayed in the van. A subsequent investigation was conducted by the MCPD to determine whether or not its officers had handled the case according to its policies, and its chief of police took a leave of absence during the course of that investigation.
The first of these took place on August 17th, when Laundrie arrived from Salt Lake City International Airport to Tampa, Florida, leaving Petito behind. Petio spent a few days in a Fairfield Inn and Suites hotel near Salt Lake City International Airport and checked out on August 24th.
The mother of Petito said that she last spoke with her daughter on August 25 and was told that the couple was traveling to Grand Teton and Yellowstone National parks both of which are located in Utah. On that same, Petito’s final Instagram post was a photo of herself outside a butterfly mural outside of a restaurant in Ogden, Utah, which she shared with her followers.
In Jackson, Wyoming, the CCTV recording of Petito and Laundrie captured the pair on August 27, when they entered the Whole Foods store at 2:11 p.m. and exited the store at 2:30 p.m. After about 20 minutes of sitting in the van after sitting for approximately 20 minutes, they eventually drove away from the Highway 89 and pulled-over at the Bridger-Teton National Forest campsite at 2:56 p.m. This was the last time Petito was seen alive.
Why did He Kill Her?
Per the note recovered by the FBI from the remains of Brian Laundrie, there was no evidence of a motive behind him executing the gruesome act. However, it is highly speculated that Petito confronted him over a case of infidelity which caused their scuffle which ultimately led him to strangle her to death.
