Found Deceased WY - Gabrielle ‘Gabby’ Petito, 22, Grand Teton National Park, 25 Aug 2021 #48

[10ofRods]

Problem is LE might decide to keep cause of death details for trial. I wish they would disclose...but fear they wont. And if Brian is never found, dead or alive, will we ever know the details??

Always an interesting question. Since this happened on federal property, I don't know the answer. I do think her family will know and it may be up to them whether they choose to reveal it publicly.

I don't think there could be a trial without the details - but if BL isn't found...I don't know what will happen. We can only guess.

 

[Sassafrass]

I love The Gardeners post, and I've lost the one about the metaphysical Brian, mooning about self examining his wonderfulness and brooding on other peoples failings.....

It crossed my mind, and it's been at least 20 years since I visited Orlando Disney, (( I wondered if it looks a bit like Chernobyl now )... that it would be the perfect place for Brian to hide out in, coming out at night, 'hiking' thru the 'jungle'. .. being both scared and emboldened by papier mache hippo's rising regularly out of the 'river'.... sleeping thru the day in a tree, perhaps raiding the concession stands...

Walt Disney World is possibly one of the most managed properties in the world. You don't even see garbage because of the infrastructure and oversight. There's a whole world there that isn't small.

Not saying it is impossible to hide at Disney, but of all the places, that would be the one with the most actively monitored cameras, employees ensuring no overnights, etc.

 

[nocommoncents]

IIRC, he said "I don't really have a phone". I thought I read that he had a phone but not service so it was useless without wifi. I can't find that anywhere now though. Can anyone verify?

 

[ThoughtFox]

Regarding hiding along the AT and the comparison to Eric Robert Rudolph.

It is believed that Rudolph was able to hide for 5 years because he had a lot of help. That area of N.C. was his home turf. It is likely that he was living under someone's roof and being supplied with food and clothing.

BL isn't likely to have that kind of support.

I live close enough to the Nantahala area that whenever we would see a raggedy-looking hiker on the road we wondered if it was Eric Rudolph. I live just a few counties over from Murphy where he was caught behind the Piggly Wiggly while dumpster diving for food. I think I was on Websleuths that night, and we all wondered if it was really him. I read many books about him and the fact is, he was sick of hiding in the woods, even with his skills and help from the locals.

But comparing him to BL doesn't work for me. Eric Rudolph was a military-trained bomb expert who was able to throw the blame for his crimes onto other people and groups. BL is not a mastermind like that, although it's possible he may commit other crimes while on the run.

 

[Jurisprudence]

Should also add to that post there's a potential argument on the other side of this that always has to be considered and weighed. That being that he is "NOT" attempting to avoid apprehension or prosecution because the indictment was returned on 9/22/2021 - after he reportedly went missing. MOO

Therefore "how can he be attempting to avoid apprehension or prosecution when he does not even know???" And this, for as crazy as it may sound, may work and start that clock running unless the govt can prove otherwise. So it is too risky to fool around with it when it is not necessary to file an indictment at this time. MOO

https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.wyd.59306/gov.uscourts.wyd.59306.1.0_1.pdf

 

[priyaya]

Yes, exactly!!! it's the body's natural response to flight or flight. adrenaline, fear, panic, paronoia, ruminating about the event, thinking non stop how to get out of the mess. . . all of it. I mean if i allegedly just committed a heinous crime, counting sheep would not be on my list of things to do. His mind (IMO) must have been like a hamster wheel. Analogy, you are 12 and your mom's friend just saw you smoking, you know she's going to out you.. . . panic, fear, excuse making.. .. wondering how are you going to get out of this one. BL is this, multiplied x one million. JMO.

yes this is my thought too... he was manic and on a mission. i found it hard to believe he could do it at first but if you've ever known someone prone to bouts of mania, its totally doable

 

[ZoriahNZ]

IIRC, he said "I don't really have a phone". I thought I read that he had a phone but not service so it was useless without wifi. I can't find that anywhere now though. Can anyone verify?

I would also love to see a link. I know that it was offered up as a possible speculative reasoning for him saying that (to get around it being an obvious lie or discrepancy), but I don't recall it ever being a verified fact.

 

[Sassafrass]

BBM
I know I'm behind on the threads again, however the parent's attorney made it clear that Brian saw her at her home on the 1st and then he stopped at her home on the 6th. Seeing that we expect him to be telling the truth, we accept his statement.

Family attorney says sister saw Brian Laundrie twice after his return to Florida: report

"Cassie saw her brother Brian on September 1 when he stopped by her home and again on September 6 at Fort De Soto Park,” Bertolino told the TV station in a text message.

The quote you pulled out says she saw him at DeSoto, not that he stopped by her house (your 1st Para).

 

[Cool Cats]

I wonder if this applies to the FBI though? Wouldn’t that be federal, as opposed to state laws?

State Laws all still apply because the FBI is only leading the Case. The FBI has not taken over the Case 100%. Florida's North Port Police Department is assisting in the investigation.

I presume that the FBI is involved because the Case crosses State borders.

Per Florida Statute 777.03, a person commits a felony offense when they assist an individual to evade detection, arrest, trial or punishment after the fact. Relatives of the offender, however, are largely protected from being accessories. This would include the parents of Brian Laundrie, who now has a federal warrant out for his arrest for allegedly committing bank card fraud.

However, attorney Cory Baird told WESH-TV that while the parents are protected from any charges stemming from how they may have helped their son, "if they made misleading statements or lied to officers, obviously that’s a crime in Florida, and they’re not protected from that."

 

[JerseyWasHome2]

They had plenty of time to run the plates, as they drove 6 miles north before they stopped him (LE is trained to use the first available offramp, and to try not to use the roadside of large highway - because it has resulted in many accidental deaths of LEO's).

So they already knew that (and doing it before a stop is now firmly part of community police protocol where I live, barring only circumstances where probable cause is established by the actions of the car/driver itself/themselves).

..

Thanks for your thoughtful reply here. Except that the transcript I read indicates they assumed it was his van which would mean they never looked up the plates at all. Quoting from the transcript :
Gabby Petito & Brian Laundrie Utah Bodycam Footage Transcript Before Disappearance


Officer Robbins: (31:31)
Does she have a good drivers license?

Brian Laundrie: (31:38)
Yeah she’s good she’s got a drivers license, yeah.

Speaker 5: (31:40)
You trust her with your vehicle?

Brian Laundrie: (31:40)
Yeah she can handle it.

 

[ExpectingUnicorns]

Yes, one of his many prejudices. Poor guy, southerners are awesome!

Southern Speak: "Bless his heart."

 

[Sassafrass]

He got a tremendous payoff, I reckon.. Being seen as the appendage of a beautiful young woman, no one else is ever going to look at him the way Gabby did. His status was raised from a flatfooted swivel eyed ning nong to a Brad Pittish character, in his own eyes and probably others.. ( and we saw a glimpse of this at the Moab stop, we he gained so much credibility for being chosen by this gorgeous girl, yet had the gooleys to exert control and discipline over her.. every mans dream, some would say ) ...

"flatfooted swivel eyed ning nong"

 

[10ofRods]

Should also add to that post there's a potential argument on the other side that he is NOT attempting to avoid apprehension or prosecution because the indictment was returned on 9/22/2021 - after he reportedly went missing. MOO

Therefore "how can he be attempting to avoid apprehension or prosecution when he does not even know???" And this, for as crazy as it may sound, may work and start that clock running unless the govt can prove otherwise. So it is too risky to fool around with it when it is not necessary to file an indictment at this time. MOO

https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.wyd.59306/gov.uscourts.wyd.59306.1.0_1.pdf

Exactly. And it's so coincidental that it is making a lot of us very suspicious that this was a planned escape.

 

[Bekind89]

I am so sorry you had to go through such pain. I am like you, a loner. I see a world I no longer recognize. It is frightening.
I wonder if he regrets what he has done to his life? I do not think he has a conscience about anyone else.
But I do wonder what he is feeling right now. I agree that he is evil.
He has a price on his head, the entire country hunting him like an animal.
He deserves to live in fear, just like he made poor Gabby live.

 

[Warwick7]

Yes, exactly!!! it's the body's natural response to flight or flight. adrenaline, fear, panic, paronoia, ruminating about the event, thinking non stop how to get out of the mess. . . all of it. I mean if i allegedly just committed a heinous crime, counting sheep would not be on my list of things to do. His mind (IMO) must have been like a hamster wheel. Analogy, you are 12 and your mom's friend just saw you smoking, you know she's going to out you.. . . panic, fear, excuse making.. .. wondering how are you going to get out of this one. BL is this, multiplied x one million. JMO.

Bam!!! Great post!

 

[Kapua]

Greetings, all. I'm new in these parts and apologize if I'm posting this in the wrong way -- or in the wrong place.

Please forgive me for piping up as a newcomer instead of just staying mum and lurking like a normal person, but I created an account expressly to make an impassioned plea for something I've found missing from much of the internet discussion and media coverage that considers Brian Laundrie's options as a fugitive.

Namely, historical precedent.

What do I mean? Pundits say that Laundrie's only option is to hide out in nature; that even there he can't survive for long; that as ‘normal’ people, neither he nor his parents can pull off a long-term-hiding scenario; that the post-9/11 world is too vigilant for Laundrie to leave the country successfully; etc.

Yet, such arguments make me think of:

Precedent #1: With less than 3 days of lead-time, Alex "Preppy Rapist" Kelly's parents managed to help him jump bail and escape from Connecticut to Europe for 7 years – all of them spent living in reasonable comfort with an assumed name and faked ID papers. Although Kelly earned income as a popular worker on the European ski resort circuit throughout the period, his parents also funneled him money -- through a system so well-constructed that neither U.S. LE nor Interpol could crack it.

But expert detective work eventually ended Kelly's 7 years on the lam, right? Nope. As you doubtless recall, LE hadn't a clue where Kelly was. He was caught only after his parents failed to destroy photos they'd recklessly made and retained after a holiday visit to Kelly overseas.

Precedent #2: Although I've sadly suspected since the outset of Brian's odyssey that his parents wittingly sent LE on a snipe hunt in Carlton Reserve -- and I feel much the same way about the De Soto Park 'lead' -- Eric "Abortion Clinic Bomber" Rudolph's 5-year fugitive sojourn in North Carolina's Blue Ridge Mountains gives some credence to the viability of an Appalachian hideout for Brian, per his much-discussed love of the AT.

Indeed, Rudolph's case proves that it is not only possible to survive in the Southern U.S.'s mountain ranges, but to do so indefinitely -- especially if one has help. And that, to me, is the only stumbling block for Brian: while anti-abortion, anti-government sympathizers fed, hid, and otherwise helped Rudolph, folks ticked off about Brian's widely-publicized "stupid Southerners" quip in a Wyoming bar in August are unlikely to roll out the red carpet.

And, as you guys doubtless know better than most, sheer serendipity played an even larger role in LE's apprehension of Rudolph than Kelly. Although LE were uncertain of Rudolph's whereabouts, one of his main protectors died unexpectedly in his 5th year as a fugitive, forcing Rudolph to venture out of the mountains for provisions. He was caught rummaging through a dumpster for food.

Finally, the post-9/11 vigilance thing? When folks say there's no way that Laundrie could make it past screeners to board a plane or cruise ship, I consider that just recently, a group of UK high school girls -- none of them older than 17, IIRC -- managed to get the requisite papers and fly from England to the Middle East to join an extremist group, despite the UK's robust pre-flight screening and the girls’ lack of documented parental consent.

So if historical precedent augurs future possibilities, then Laundrie could be gone for a very, very long time – and just might be found in surprisingly distant surroundings when/if he is found. (Just MOO.)

[ETA: Fixed age reference.]

Welcome to Websleuths, LilithG! Excellent first post, and you make some good points. I'll say this: The amount of lead time that BL had opens up a lot of possibilities. He managed to sneak by the authorities and the media. Maybe we all need to be more open-minded.

 

[ZoriahNZ]

Doesn't a defendant have a right to a speedy trial as one of the basic rights of due process? As soon as he is arrested on charges and taken into custody, the clock starts ticking. Discovery has to be shared with the defense and so on. It seems a fairly common strategy to arrest a suspect on a lesser, more provable charge so that they can continue investigating and interrogate the suspect before adding the far more serious charges.

 

[ringbearer]

Maybe there was an extra set of keys but they were with her stuff in the van?

I rarely have had an extra car key and, if I do, I leave it at home so I have no chance of losing both. I haven't had an extra car key for at least 8 years, and have had one for only one vehicle in my lifetime that I recall. I guess it depends on the type of person you are. I am the lazy, worry about it later type

 

[Cool Cats]

IMO: This Florida Law isn't relevant anymore. It shouldn't apply anymore since it is now a Federal Investigation.
Please correct me if I am wrong.

State Laws all still apply because the FBI is only leading the Case. The FBI has not taken over the Case 100%. Florida's North Port Police Department is assisting in the investigation.

I presume that the FBI is involved because the Case crosses State borders.

 

[Chrissy1958]

The following is simply my humble opinion with a few links tossed in for the veracity of my assumptions.

Dog stated a few days ago that the team of dogs he hired are sniffing for "adrenaline" that comes from one being on high alert while in a (constant) state of higher vigilance.

BL allegedly flew home to clean out storage on Aug 17, five days after the Aug 12 Moab incident, and back to Utah on the 23rd where Gabby checked out of the SLC Fairfield Inn near the airport on Aug 24. If this is confirmed, she was murdered just a couple of days later. So, did BL fly back to Utah in order to murder Gabby? And, in order to steal her bank cards?

Gabby Petito's Utah hotel, where she was last seen publicly, was 2 blocks from FBI field office: report

<modsnip: Wrong thread>

Campsite planning app offers new clues in case of missing woman Gabby Petito

"Petito and her fiance were in Moab around the time of Aug. 12, the same day Petito posted images to Instagram of herself in Arches National Park. Moab police also responded to a “domestic problem” that day involving the couple that was later categorized as a disorderly conduct incident, records show.
No one was charged in relation to the incident, which was reported outside of Moonflower Community Cooperative in Moab, where Schulte worked."
Authorities rule out link between Gabby Petito case, couple killed in Moab

There is a specific reason for him traveling to FL on the 17th and returning to kill Gabby. I agree with John Walsh in that he beat her, strangled her and possibly stomped on her face because she would not stop talking. Did she know anything about the couples' murders and he feared she may tell on him?

With a clear conscious, I will unequivocally state, Gabby's murder was premeditated. He very well may be a serial killer. JMHOO

He's done several things that I feel were planned well in advance, including what he's doing at this very moment. Other than killing a precious human, his name is now known worldwide just as Chris Watts and Ted Bundy's are. I believe he quite enjoys his notorious claim to fame.

Sociopaths are like that in that they adore attention whether it's good or bad attention. He's playing Catch Me If You Can. The FBI got egg on their face when Dog tracked the Laundries to the campground 75 miles N of their home. Again, jmhoo.

He'll be a fugitive for a while because he planned this part, too.

Since the Big Lie told by CL on GMA has been revealed by Brian Entin, it further shows the Laudries possess a lack of respect for typical ethical behavior most of us live by.

#JusticeForGabby

Yes. The timeline is too perfect to be coincidental IMO. Is it possible too that GP somehow became aware of this and that contributed to her demise

 

[ZoriahNZ]

Just a little detail, but did anyone else notice how BL held onto those van keys in the body cam footage? I remember it irked me how he was gripping them at times and how he almost hesitates to hand them over to the officer to give to Gabby near the end.