Murder of Gabby Petito: how the Internet and the American media boosted the investigation

It is the story of a young couple who seemingly flourished. On the one hand Gabrielle Petito, 22, from Blue Point in New York. On the other, Brian Laundrie, 23, from North Port, Florida. Engaged for more than a year, they had settled together in the latter’s town, in Saratosa County. On July 1, these two adventure and travel enthusiasts embarked on a four-month road trip across the United States starting from the east coast in New York, with Portland, in the northeast, as their final destination. west, where they were to end up at a family friend’s house to celebrate Halloween. A journey they made aboard their utility vehicle, a white Ford Transit 2012, and which they shared on their social networks.

From their first stop at Monument Rocks in Kansas on July 5 to Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming on August 25, passing through Colorado and Utah, Gabby Petito and Brian Laundrie regularly posted snaps and videos. on Instagram for their hundreds of thousands of followers. On July 28, they launched their website nomadicstatik.com. August 19, they posted a video on YouTube where they made, in eight minutes, a summary of the first weeks of their “adventure in van”. Images where they appeared happy and in love, far from a reality that would lead to a marital drama. On September 1, Brian Laundrie returned to their home in North Port. Alone.

Worried that she will no longer hear from her daughter, Nicole Schmidt reports her disappearance to the New York police on September 11. The next day, the family of the young woman disseminated her wanted notice to the media and on the Internet with a Facebook “Where is Gabby” account, an Instagram account, a website (wheresgabby.com) and an online fundraiser. From September 12, US national media seized on the case, testimonies poured into social networks and allowed law enforcement to focus their research on the Spread Creek campsite in the national park. from Grand Teton. “The affair gained momentum in the American media a week ago”, explain to us Marie gentric, permanent correspondent in the USA for BFMTV and i24News. “When Gabby Petito’s body was found last Sunday and the autopsy confirmed the homicide, the runaway was even more severe.”

Our colleague affirms that the American media were no longer so mobilized for a news item since the Shanann Watts affair in October 2018. “The news channels talk about it a lot, CNN comes back often, MSNBC also, FOX, and so on. Americans are passionate about Gabby Petito’s story and are upset. ” Last Monday, the chronicle “Le petit Q” by “Day-to-day” on TMC evoked the case “Which has held the United States in suspense for several days” to the point of obsession, showing the escalation of special editions, testimonials and news channel duplexes. “Gabby was a very popular Instagram star. Many people find that she embodied innocence, that her relationship seemed idyllic, she had known her boyfriend from a very young age, they were going to get married… Americans see her as their own daughter in a way ”, adds Marie Gentric to explain the enthusiasm for this particular affair.

A craze that also raises criticism. “People from minorities are angry with this story. They claim that if Gabby had been black or Latino, it would never have taken on such a magnitude ”, continues the journalist based in New York. “It is true that missing persons from these communities exist by the hundreds without obtaining such media coverage and such popular appeal. They wonder if it’s not because Gabby was a cute little blonde with blue eyes that everyone is talking about it. ” Several ceremonies were held in the young woman’s home village at Blue Point. “A large sign has been installed at the entrance to his village at the tip of Long Island and several tributes are paid to him.” On the run since Gabby Petito’s body was found, Brian Laundrie is subject to an arrest warrant and is actively wanted by US police forces. On the Internet as in the media, the craze is not waning.