Found Deceased WY - Gabrielle ‘Gabby’ Petito, 22, Grand Teton National Park, 25 Aug 2021 #57

[ThoughtFox]

Brian may be good at being on the run, as it turns out, but he sure does know how to draw attention to himself. I can't get a handle on why someone who had just killed their girlfriend would get in her van, drive it to his parent's house, and leave it sit in the driveway for days. He ended up using bank cards on her name for who knows what--why not just take a flight back to Florida? He could have easily ditched the van anywhere but in the driveway of his house. If he was planning to run, why not run west? His trail would have gone cold very quickly. If he was going to keep the van, why not just go ahead to Yellowstone and the other places they had already scheduled out? Well, I guess it's a good thing that he isn't a calculating type of guy because he could have made some different moves to avert the attention he drew at Spread Creek and back in Florida, and GP's body would probably never have been found.

BL is no criminal mastermind, for sure, and not a very logical guy either. He drove home in Gabby's van and didn't try to hide it anywhere, which seems like the height of stupidity. Indeed, he could have rolled it down a cliff with Gabby's body inside then told police she got angry and took off in it, and she wasn't a great driver anyway - which she said herself in the Utah bodycam video. No one would have looked at him as a suspect then.

What could his thought process possibly have been in keeping the van? It could be simply that he felt entitled to having it. He had helped to fix up the van for the trip and he was the main driver. He felt like it was his, even if that is totally illogical, just as he felt entitled to use Gabby's money on the way home. Maybe he envisioned keeping the van and traveling around by himself on his own terms, the way he liked it. Without Gabby. JMOO

 

[ChuckInHouston]

IMO, from the beginning BL has been tucked away somewhere. I think everyone got off on the reserve because he and GP were traveling around camping out etc.
If you saw my daughters social media, you would thing they were doing all kinds of things they don't really do, but never pass up a photo op. That is their whole generation. If he's running, he's doing it slow, or someone would have tackled him by now. I mean, all these reported sightings. What would any of you really do if you saw him. Me personally, I would snatch him up and call LE. Done deal.

 

[Crazyjster]

@Tiff23fr

I think he is in a comfortable place with people <modsnip> hiding him out. I think he is possibly out of state and keeping in touch with his parents and family attorney and is nowhere in a reserve.

 

[Hyway]

I agree. The comments about water are strange, and they both mentioned it, away from each other. Strange to me, because I am sure they could have filled up in Moab. BUT, the longer I think about this, maybe they wanted to fill up at the campsite because it had potable, natural water from a spring or well. My husband and kids would have preferred that on our trip out west, if we had a choice and it was just a few miles away. My two cents on that one, but I agree, curious statements about that. MOO!

Agreed. Any number if reasons why he was going in there to get water that are more logical than he isn't outdoorsy and is too stupid to get water. But I got the sense the way he was saying the but about water that there was something more. Later he said something about still getting the hike in that day.

 

[Tiff23fr]

The problem is, that this is a situation where the parents may have helped him by hiding him in a remote spot. With the ability to have groceries delivered to a home, if he were staying hidden in a specific location, it would be really easy for him to continue to stay there for quite some time.
But I agree, it's time to look at this in the same way we would a missing persons case, or a typical runaway case.

I am trying to place myself in the situation.. If I was hiding someone out I personally wouldn't do grocery delivery because that can be verified and monitored if using an app. At minimum it would be bring in a third party for delivery which I would find very risky.
Outside of that, yes I agree, if he is put up somewhere he could be there for a while. IMO

 

[cbeagle]

The campground may have been flooded or very muddy, too.

Unlikely due to Hurricana Ida, which had little impact on SW Florida, it made landfall over 475 miles away from Tampa.

Just trying to say any campground cancellation was very very unlikely to be related to Hurricane Ida.

 

[SMK777]

Given those facts, I would add the assumption that cameras would have captured his entry into the reserve. Perhaps the focus there, and seeming lack of interest in other "sightings," means that cameras show that he never left reserve.

That’s a good point, and probably means he’s deceased. Why would the FBI not disclose for example that cameras have no record of his having left? It would save people the trouble of phoning in all these sightings. Or are there likely ways to leave a reserve without being recorded?

 

[woods]

If they didn’t want to drive back together and she didn’t like to drive the van and he was the one tasked with bringing it back and he thought she was meeting a friend - isn’t there a report of a friend saying they were meeting and she didn’t show? They are adults. 22 is four years into adulthood. The age many graduate college. Young yes but kids no. If he thought she was taking care of herself and he was the only one who could get the van back maybe that’s the arrangement they made. Maybe you do have the perp right. From outside looking in on something new and hearing it all in a span of a few days I was just pointing out some things that didn’t make sense. Most glaringly going back and carrying on with life as normal for two weeks instead of running immediately if you knew you killed someone. Then leaving when everyone learned in the same period of time that she is missing and not just an adult doing her own thing. That points to him realizing he might be in trouble then not two weeks prior. Not clouded by emotions of following it, it’s JMO. A killer would have ran from day 1. Unless he is extremely stupid to just go bike riding and camping and wait til he got caught to run. My opinion is he left when he realized she was in trouble and that wasn’t until two weeks later. Not a popular one, I realize.

It appears that the van was always with Gabby, regardless. The Florida trip that Brian took from August 17-23 was by airplane, while the van was parked outside of the hotel that Gabby was staying at. Her and her friend were supposed to just *discuss* plans and they were supposed to meet up some time in September. Gabby didn’t answer her phone calls on August 29. Then the fake text message was sent from her phone to her mom on August 30, which read “No service in Yosemite” when her body was discovered in Spread Creek. Her phone was turned off from that day forward. He used her bank cards on the way home. He doesn’t notice that essentially all of her important belongings are still in the van?

Authorities also don’t have the phone Laundrie had with him on the couple’s trip nor do they have Gabby’s phone. Neither phone was in Gabby’s van, which Brian drove back to Florida.

 

[ThoughtFox]

We can hope that the "liaison" got some information out of the adventure. I'm sure that Dad enjoyed the outing. Looked like he even had lunch in his bag. A picnic! JMO

Aw, I missed the lunch bag! Great detail!

 

[JuneRose]

That’s a good point, and probably means he’s deceased. Why would the FBI not disclose for example that cameras have no record of his having left? It would save people the trouble of phoning in all these sightings. Or are there likely ways to leave a reserve without being recorded?

oh there is lots of ways to leave it.

 

[ShadyLady]

There are other reasons that might give insight into why someone might have this weird behavior after the event. Many people see it, but its not allowed for discussion.

Wish I could post what I think happened....but....

 

[nhmemorymaker]

@Tiff23fr

I think he is in a comfortable place with people <modsnip> hiding him out. I think he is possibly out of state and keeping in touch with his parents and family attorney and is nowhere in a reserve.

I feel there is communication, somehow....

When I hear that the parents keep stressing that he is in the reserve... its almost as if they are trying to keep the searching local and not so spread out to create 10x more resources being utilized....

Like "we know NOTHING, but don't really search TOO much, OK?

 

[Koplinsky]

IMO, from the beginning BL has been tucked away somewhere. I think everyone got off on the reserve because he and GP were traveling around camping out etc.
If you saw my daughters social media, you would thing they were doing all kinds of things they don't really do, but never pass up a photo op. That is their whole generation. If he's running, he's doing it slow, or someone would have tackled him by now. I mean, all these reported sightings. What would any of you really do if you saw him. Me personally, I would snatch him up and call LE. Done deal.

I think you're underestimating how easy it'd be for a person with a backpacking hobby to survive in the SE US. If he's running, I can almost guarantee he isn't "moving slow." In fact, he's been a week ahead this whole time while they're still in Florida lookin. Bleaker by the day.

 

[aeaea]

I am trying to place myself in the situation.. If I was hiding someone out I personally wouldn't do grocery delivery because that can be verified and monitored if using an app. At minimum it would be bring in a third party for delivery which I would find very risky.
Outside of that, yes I agree, if he is put up somewhere he could be there for a while. IMO

Maybe contact-free delivery?
I was shielding and sometimes still shout out the window I’ll pick it up from the front door for my grocery shops. Definitely think he’s hiding out somewhere too - much safer, you know your territory as opposed to potentially running into someone with a phone camera (or worse), avoids all the problems of needing cash, mobile pings.. yeah, someone knows where he is for sure.

 

[Tiff23fr]

Given those facts, I would add the assumption that cameras would have captured his entry into the reserve. Perhaps the focus there, and seeming lack of interest in other "sightings," means that cameras show that he never left reserve.

That could be a very good assumption. If they don't show he left, could it still be possible he did so but not via the same direction he came? (I apologize I haven't had time to sleuth or look at things too deeply given the demands of these threads. Has anyone looked at where the most probable areas of entry and exit would be such as walking trails or found indication on the internet of where nature cams may be at the reserve?)

 

[cady]

BL is no criminal mastermind, for sure, and not a very logical guy either. He drove home in Gabby's van and didn't try to hide it anywhere, which seems like the height of stupidity. Indeed, he could have rolled it down a cliff with Gabby's body inside then told police she got angry and took off in it, and she wasn't a great driver anyway - which she said herself in the Utah bodycam video. No one would have looked at him as a suspect then.

What could his thought process possibly have been in keeping the van? It could be simply that he felt entitled to having it. He had helped to fix up the van for the trip and he was the main driver. He felt like it was his, even if that is totally illogical, just as he felt entitled to use Gabby's money on the way home. Maybe he envisioned keeping the van and traveling around by himself on his own terms, the way he liked it. Without Gabby. JMOO

AGREE. I also think he thought that being her fiancé entitled him to her and everything she owned, including her time her money and her van. He probably thought the van was his and so was the money and didn't even consider that he had done anything illegal except kill her. jmo

 

[TheGardener]

Finding accomplices to facilitate escape. Taking into account our POI's talent for making bad judgements, do you think he had a cache of ready and willing accomplices lined up between Wyoming and North Port? And could he round them all up, unload his tale, create a plan, and make it back to North Port at top speed? Hmmm.
Maybe, there was a call (from the missing original phone) back to North Port, and the advice to rocket back (just don't get stopped by a cop) and we'll figure it out when you get here. Outside of the family unit, who did BL have an opportunity to plan the great escape with? And if planned while out on the road, why come home?
And all that time between arriving home and the report of GP being missing...
I'll bet there isn't a fingerprint, a nose hair, or a skin cell left anywhere in that van (I'm hoping they M-vac the entire interior). Spanking new, as if it came right off the assembly line.
Using deductive reasoning, and if you think BL is being assisted in his escape, who is orchestrating his disappearance?
MOO

 

[tiara1972]

It appears that the van was always with Gabby, regardless. The Florida trip that Brian took from August 17-23 was by airplane, while the van was parked outside of the hotel that Gabby was staying at. Her and her friend were supposed to just *discuss* plans and they were supposed to meet up some time in September. Gabby didn’t answer her phone calls on August 29. Then the fake text message was sent from her phone to her mom on August 30, which read “No service in Yosemite” when her body was discovered in Spread Creek. Her phone was turned off from that day forward. He used her bank cards on the way home. He doesn’t notice that essentially all of her important belongings are still in the van?

Authorities also don’t have the phone Laundrie had with him on the couple’s trip nor do they have Gabby’s phone. Neither phone was in Gabby’s van, which Brian drove back to Florida.

Do we have a source that reflects that essentially all of her important belongings were still in the van? We might, I just don't remember reading that, except for something about a hard drive. Thanks much!

 

[Koplinsky]

That could be a very good assumption. If they don't show he left, could it still be possible he did so but not via the same direction he came? (I apologize I haven't had time to sleuth or look at things too deeply given the demands of these threads. Has anyone looked at where the most probable areas of entry and exit would be such as walking trails or found indication on the internet of where nature cams may be at the reserve?)

When thinking why they're still searching there, this crossed my mind. Very curious what kind of paper trail BL left behind via CCTV in the area. Afterall, the FBI did get the Laundrie's to correct the date he was was last seen. Clearly there's something we're unaware of.

 

[EvieIvyOver]

I’m bringing forth a post I made yesterday during a fast moving succession of posts that may have been overlooked. I need some help. My entire focus is on trying to locate Brian. I feel there is much to discuss after he is found.. even more during and after his trial. I worked awhile on a couple of things I need help with. I was exhausted by evening tossed the iPad shortly after 5 to fix supper. I’ve not picked it back up until after I wake up the next morning. It’s been a sanity saver. Anyways, would someone look at this post and see if any of it makes sense before I end up in another rabbit hole by the end of today?

I feel he has had to have someone helping him those first few days. If this is the Publix they worked at, this might be how he was able to obtain assistance. He could have left the Myakkahatchee Creek area this way and snuck back through the same way. What led me here is I’ve been looking for an Interstate with an overpass as I think that’s how he began hitchhiking. He could be hitchhiking from overpass to overpass on down the interstate. Bridge people live underneath those with the homeless. In every single cubby hole underneath, there is evidence of entire families and others living up there. They stay up there at night and come out during the day for the free services and companionship. A spotter usually stays down to guard the belongings and to notify if anyone is coming. The homeless are so loyal and generous to one another. If anyone asks for help, they come running. Bridge people jump from one to the next, receiving info from others where they can get food, water, medicine, etc., then back on to hitchhiking. The best overpasses are those with a simple dollar store of some sort, a “quick shop” that has a little bit of food, a liquor store or a grocery store. The smaller the store the better, the homeless can be a very sensitive group of people and they don’t want people staring at them.

So, talk me out of this so I can have peaceful garden day.
Found Deceased - WY - Gabrielle ‘Gabby’ Petito, 22, Grand Teton National Park, 25 Aug 2021 #56

eta: if this access to an overpass isn’t feasible, does anyone know of another interstate with easy access to this campground.
edited to tell “autocorrect” she’s not smarter than me but I don’t know what I’d do without her though.

You could be on to something....
especially the part about getting assistance, which makes me wonder now if one of his friends could have assisted him in setting up his getaway.