Found Deceased WY - Gabrielle ‘Gabby’ Petito, 22, Grand Teton National Park, 25 Aug 2021 #20

[carbuff]

I still say the most plausible story and the one that makes the most sense is he left her because they broke up, he came home, told his parents they were through, they moved all her stuff into a storage unit and out of the house so she could pick it all up when she got back to town.

Yeah, but then it makes no sense that he went back to Utah.

 

[Krazykatlady]

Along the same lines, one thing I am having a hard time understanding is that if he killed Gabby, why would he proceed to get in her van and drive it across the country back home? ETA: We learned today the van's license plate was read coming back into the area at approx 10:30 am Sep. 1, but it has not been confirmed that it was BL who was the driver

Because he wasn’t thinking clearly b/c he had just murdered his fiancé. Criminals do stupid stuff. I have no problem believing he drove that van back by himself in an adrenaline fueled nearly non-stop trip.

 

[LvsAMystry]

UPDATE: #BrianLaundrie’s family attorney cancelled his press conference originally scheduled for Tuesday afternoon. #GabbyPetito
https://twitter.com/jodigfox5ny/status/1440134413791023107?s=21
https://twitter.com/jodigfox5ny/status/1440134413791023107?s=21

maybe the Laundrie’s lost their checkbook too

 

[rleigh123]

I think they both would have assumed that the very, very public scene near the food co-op was why they were being pulled over. They would have both have gone into the encounter with two goals: 1) Stopping the police from arresting him, and 2) Getting on their way as quickly as possible.

She thought that it was a given that they were worried about her wellbeing. That's why she immediately took the blame as soon as she got out of the van.

You can see that they are both astonished when it starts to become clear that the police think that she's the abuser. I don't think it occurred to either of them that anyone would think she was an abuser -- but it did occur to both of them that people would think that he was.

Excellent point.

 

[Shellinaya]

Why do you think he would have made that trip to Coulter Bay? I can't wrap my head around why he left the van, then had to hitchhike back to it, if that is what he did.

Blow off steam or relieve his own anxiety? I get the feeling BL spent a lot of time in nature hiking around, alleviating his own stress. He just enjoyed it, IMO. Maybe they'd had another fight, maybe she was already dead, and he had to "walk it off" and calm down in order to think straight, and walking long distances was his way to do that. Also had the added bonus of establishing some kind of alibi for him, and he also got to shower. Win win win for him.
Maybe he had some of her possessions, maybe something incriminating, in the backpack and he got rid of that during his hiking.
Maybe her dead body was still in the van and he couldn't bring himself to get rid of the body yet. He had to think about what to do. Maybe even make sure she was really dead.

Speculation - IMO

 

[MLaps]

I'll have to disagree here. I know a psychiatric nurse at the UCLA Psychiatric Ward here in Los Angeles. They said the majority of psych cases they see in the ER are of students who have smoked pot that has triggered a psychotic episode. This can include violence. Not everyone reacts well to marijuana.

MOO.

It could also be marijuana laced with another drug. When I was a teenager, my ex smoked pot laced with heroin once and he had a terrible reaction. He had no idea it was, and I'm just glad I paid attention in D.A.R.E. otherwise I might have been sick right along with him.

 

[Hyway]

As a hiker and a hike leader, I have a saying that "Simple is fast." If there's a choice of walking on the side of a road/on an established trail on the one hand and bushwhacking (making your way through terrain with no trail) on the other, walking by the road or on the established trail will be much faster.

Even if you don't get lost bushwhacking, you may have to make unexpected detours such as when you have to navigate around obstacles such as creeks crossing your path. Even if you're walking in a river valley, you may have to deal with crossing streams emptying into that river or areas where the river bank isn't wide enough to be passable.

Caveats: Some main roads are unpleasant or dangerous to walk next to. I don't know whether there was a path paralleling the road or going from the Spread Creek area towards Colter Bay Village. And if BL was trying to avoid detection as he went north, he might've avoided the road.

JMO

oh agreed, its much easier and you can move faster but it isn't nearly as much fun. Or like you said, road walking is more detactable. On my half thru-hike of the AT, I road walked a lot of Skyline Drive. Lots of Trail Magic. BL wouldn't want that unless he really was using a tarp to hike the snake river and then he wouldn't care if he was seen.

 

[Skigirl]

I don’t think they’d let a delivery guy directly access the guest rooms anyway - it’s not like a motel where the rooms have exterior doors - so IMO delivery drivers probably leave food ordered by guests at the front desk.

I just did a long two-day drive last month and stayed in a large hotel near the Baltimore airport, and Dominos left the box outside my second-floor door, not at the front desk, FWIW.

 

[PhaedraMaeve]

Here’s a screenshot of the book BL was
“caught reading”

 

[Wicked Strong]

Arches park ranger warned Gabby Petito her relationship with Brian Laundrie seemed ‘toxic’

Wow, someone did care at that stop. Sadly, she must have thought everything would be OK.

 

[BigCityAccountant]

Ty

and surely he is on security cam video of gas stations he would have had to stop at? Or maybe it’s all been erased by now. Part of the Laundrie master plan of delay, delay, delay.

Gas stations typically have about 30 days of footage or more.

 

[catchingdelivery]

As a crisis counselor seeing that video sent me over the edge. They way that Gabby was handled not supported or given an opportunity to safely speak was unacceptable. Believe Women Believe the Witness. She was failed by so many including The Laundrie's who guaranteed have seen the abuse first hand since they all lived together.

Did you watch it from the beginning because she was taken away from earshot of BL, allowed to sit safely in the police vehicle and encouraged to tell the LEO exactly what was going on.

From watching that bodycam footage it shows she was given the opportunity to speak to the LEO and tell exactly what had been happening.

 

[Hope4More]

I feel like we all might have different definitions of "people all around there."

A full campground & others cruising the loop to find an open site meets my criteria of people all around.

 

[MLaps]

Blow off steam or relieve his own anxiety? I get the feeling BL spent a lot of time in nature hiking around, alleviating his own stress. He just enjoyed it, IMO. Maybe they'd had another fight, maybe she was already dead, and he had to "walk it off" and calm down in order to think straight, and walking long distances was his way to do that. Also had the added bonus of establishing some kind of alibi for him, and he also got to shower. Win win win for him.
Maybe he had some of her possessions, maybe something incriminating, in the backpack and he got rid of that during his hiking.
Maybe her dead body was still in the van and he couldn't bring himself to get rid of the body yet. He had to think about what to do. Maybe even make sure she was really dead.

Speculationg - IMO

If her dead body was in the van at all, I'd be shocked.

 

[DidYouThinkOfThat]

QUESTIONS:

In the body cam video released by the New York Times on YouTube, at 41:56 Brian reaches into the vehicle to grab Gabby's phone. At 41:59, the officer sticks her hand out to grab the phone. Brian avoids this, and proceeds to do something with the phone before handing it to the officer.

1) Was Brian unlocking the phone? Was he controlling her communication and only he knew the password?

2) Was Brian checking the phone for messages or notifications before handing it over to the officer - is this controlling behavior?

3) What was Brian doing?

Has this been discussed in any of the 20 threads?

 

[jamicat]

All of that is typical of an investigation these days.

And if you’re talking about BL’s attorney, he’s from NY, right?

There are certain things that have to be verified and put in order. BL has not been accused of anything yet. GP‘s autopsy results have not been finalized. Cause of death has not been officially determined.

BL’s family from NY and parents knew the attorney so he was the one they called when BL told them hecwas in trouble

 

[Matic]

Walmart has more security cameras than Carter has pills.......

OMG. My Grandfather and Grandmother both (RIP) used to say that about Carter all the time!! Thanks for that!

 

[Skigirl]

I am nervous that this story about BL going back to move stuff out to a storage container and then flying back is an attempt to confuse matters with exactly this.

If he was so fed up with her and had to prepare for the big break - why not flyout to FL and just ring in to Gabby a "Dear John ". Just Leave her with the van to sort her own life out. Why fly back ? His parents would probably dissuade him.

I think / suspect either he had help on the drive back for perhaps he never drove back at all. It is going to be interesting as to what his cell phone shows and if gas station cameras bear out that version. It is also going to be very interesting to see where Gabby's phone went after her death - if it tracked along with Brian 's phone or not. And if the messages sent to her mother were from BL's phone or just some from Gabby's. I suspect the police used the inside running on this to get the search warrant on the parents' home. The Judge wants more than suspicion as a basis to give you a warrant.

I am entertaining all sorts of things I didn't consider possible yesterday. But why bring the van back to the house? Why not say, "she kicked me out and went on her way, no idea where she is now"?

 

[KidonGadol]

I’m sure when they found Gabby they had an initial clue if it was homicide, accidental, animal or natural causes. Even with the decomp there are things that give that away on scene.

Not with suffocation after that period of time (there is bleeding inside the eyeball (petechial embolism I believe it is called ) in that case but after 21 days out doors there's not much eyeball left in the normal sense ) .

Ditto if she took an overdose of barbiturates - you'd need a lab to tell you that. (that can be ALMOST ruled out if the body were buried in any manner but it appears to be out in the open from non LE reports. )

none of this is open and shut, nor can be guessed at.

K Gadol

 

[RabidDogISC]

I point out it's interesting you say that, considering the amount of people who seem (I am presuming) up-in-arms that the Moab police even considered leaving Gabby alone in the van due to danger.

I mean, we still have people, yea verily, even single women, who pull to the side of an authorized road, park, etc.; and catch a few z's.

Some women indeed still road-trip on their own.

And, last but not least, it wasn't until very recently when we started worrying about the environment vs. wholehearted "car culture", that Americans started moving away from seeing their cars as their sanctuary/equivalent to freedom.

For all we OR the Moab police knew, AFAIK, Gabby was perfectly comfortable sleeping alone in her van/choosing it instead of a hotel room; thus I don't necessarily think they did anything wrong by giving Brian the hotel room and ceding her the van instead.

I think LE gave her the van 1) it was legally hers and 2) it gave her a way to leave him permanently as he was in the hotel with access to go back home to FL from there.

But, she unfortunately chose to continue on with him after their 24 hour separation.