Arguments, homicide and then disappearance: what we know about Gabby Petito and Brian Laundrie’s deadly road trip – BFMTV

On the one hand, Gabrielle Petito is found dead several weeks after her disappearance. On the other, her boyfriend remains silent and then disappears in turn, until “human remains” belonging to him are discovered. Back to this case, many gray areas remain to be clarified.

A van, the great natural spaces of the American west coast and at the end of the road trip, a drama. The body of Gabrielle Petito, a 22-year-old instagrammer, was found in Wyoming on September 19, three to four weeks after her death.

Her boyfriend, Brian Laundrie, had returned without her from their trip in early September, without giving an explanation, before disappearing in turn. BFMTV.com takes stock of this case with many twists and turns and still steeped in mystery.

Worrisome disappearance

In July, Gabrielle Petito embarks on a van road trip with her boyfriend, Brian Laundrie. For almost two months, lovers regularly post photos of their wanderings. But on September 1, Brian Laundrie returned home on his own in North Port, Florida.

The young woman nicknamed “Gabby”, whose last contact with her family dates back to the end of August, was last seen in the very majestic Grand Teton National Park, in Wyoming. Brian cannot explain his disappearance.

Brian refuses to tell Gabby’s family where he last saw her. Brian also refuses to explain why he left Gabby alone and drove the van to Florida. These are critical questions that demand immediate responses, “reacts the family of the traveler in a statement.

Troubling argument

Soon, the young man was considered a person “worthy of investigation” by the police. He is questioned by investigators but his silence does not work in his favor. Especially since a video, made public by the police in Moab, a small town in Utah, accentuates the confusion around the role he could have played.

Gabrielle Petito appears there in tears in a police car, called to settle a marital dispute.

“She gets annoyed sometimes,” Brian Laundrie tells officers, explaining that they had a dispute and that she hit him with his phone.

But, according to The Independent, new images of the police, filmed that same day, show the young girl affirming to the police that she was abused by her boyfriend. In this new footage, she says:

“He didn’t hit me in the face or anything … He grabbed me and with his fingernail … I got cut right here (points her cheek). When I touch her, it burn “.

The main suspect vanished

The case arouses a strong emotion on social networks and in the media which point with insistence Brian Laundrie, always silent. But this central figure – from whom the parents of the victim awaited explanations – in turn disappeared on September 13, according to his relatives.

The US federal police issued an arrest warrant against him and launched an intensive search to find him. Investigators focus primarily on a Florida swamp reserve.

“The Carlton Preserve is a large and hostile area at times. It is currently waist-deep inundated in many places. It is dangerous work for search parties advancing through alligator infested swamps and snakes, “North Port Police said in a Facebook post.

Gabby’s body found, victim of a homicide

At the same time, a woman’s corpse was discovered on September 19 in an area of ​​a Wyoming national park, the last place Gabrielle Petito was seen.

The autopsy confirms that it is indeed the young missing woman and reveals that she was the victim of a homicide by strangulation. He died three or four weeks before his body was discovered.

Human remains belonging to Brian Laundrie found in Florida

Since the sudden disappearance of Brian Laundrie, numerous reports have been given by Americans who believe they have seen him across the country. But it is on October 20, after a month and a half of all-out investigations, that the investigation takes a new turn: “human remains” and objects belonging to Gabby Petito’s fiancé are found in a Florida nature reserve. .

“Investigators found what appear to be human remains along with personal items such as a backpack and notebook belonging to Brian Laundrie” in an area that was “until recently underwater,” reveals Michael McPherson, agent special of the federal police, without specifying to whom these “human remains” may belong.

Thursday, the FBI announces that the human remains found correspond to the influencer boyfriend.

Strong emotion at the funeral of the victim

After learning of Gabby Petito’s death, her relatives and family gathered near New York to celebrate her funeral, which was broadcast live on the internet due to the interest in the case in the country. The young woman’s father opened the ceremony, urging not to feel sadness over his daughter’s death, but rather joy over her short but adventurous life.

“When you step out of here today, be inspired by what she has given us – for the whole world knows this woman’s name now. I couldn’t be prouder as a father,” said, in general emotion, Joe Petito.

The death of the young man complicates the manifestation of the truth. Investigators will therefore have to redouble their patience and thoroughness to retrace the scenario of this deadly road trip.