Found Deceased WY - Gabrielle ‘Gabby’ Petito, 22, Grand Teton National Park, 25 Aug 2021 #56

[TheGardener]

We've likely all heard the story (probably a myth) that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle sent telegrams to 12 upstanding acquaintances in the community saying "Flee, all is discovered." And most of them did.

While flight can be used legally in court as evidence of guilt, there are times it's evidence of guilt but not because the person is guilty of the crime currently being prosecuted. But we all feel guilty about something.

IF BL didn't kill GP (big if) I could still see him fleeing IF he found GB dead at the campsite. Fear of being accused especially after Moab and the Mexican restaurant, fear of being in danger from "the killer" himself (if he believed she was murdered), guilt over what happened to GP. Innocent people DO leave crime scenes. They DO leave the bodies of loved ones. They DO engage in stupid incriminating actions.

I'm not saying I think BL is innocent. I haven't fully decided but think he's likely guilty. But if I were a juror, I'd need to see alot more than testimony G&B fought alot and slapped each other around, she was killed, and he fled to be convinced of his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
JMO

This....and we STILL don't know the cause of death. MOO

 

[bluwaters]

I keep playing over and over in my head that the Petito's and the Schmidt's thought both Gabby and Brian were missing together!! The L's knew that Brian was not missing and didn't bother to inform Gabby's parents. Gabby's parents had no idea that Brian was home until LE informed them where the camper was. Think about that!! Parents starting to get frantic and total silence from Brian's parents then and still to this day...

This is why I can't give the Ls a pass on this.
The S & P families were worried about Brian too!
Yet the Ls didn't even return their frantic calls.

 

[LRinCA]

That's the lot size, not the home itself. About a quarter-acre?

I think so. When I first read it I was thinking they were referring back to their home in New York. The 10,000 makes sense as a lot size.

 

[KidonGadol]

This is what I keep coming back to - she was left out there alone for weeks in the dirt with the insects and animals and weather. What person does that to someone they supposedly loved? Even if he killed her in the heat of the moment, how do you then steal her money and drive off home in her van and go bike riding and camping with your family, knowing she’s out there, knowing her family are clueless about her whereabouts? That almost more than the actual killing tells you how little value and respect there ever was for her, how dark this person’s soul is, IMO.

But from a cold perspective - the minute you have found a grave site with someone with signs of violence on them you (FBI) instantly know you have a covered up murder. If the murderer leave a body out where it may well get washed away next spring there is always the chance that the body might be mis interpreted as a wild animal kill.

I'm wondering if BL came up with that by himself ( it 's not often a middle class person has a body to dispose of in the wilderness) or if his family or even a family lawyer was the helpful ideas person. (wondering as in have wondered for the last two weeks).

KG

 

[NYC Girl]

I think taking the father into the woods could simply be a strategy to unnerve the couple, and possibly "shake something loose."

 

[kittythehare]

A similar scenario has crossed my mind.

This is long, folks, but stick with me...

I've watched the video filmed by Red, White and Bethune, of them passing in their van, and for whatever reason, each time I watch it I get the chills, and I've watched it a good few times now. It was giving me the chills even before it was revealed that GP's body was found not far away.

It's the setting and location that gives me the heebie-jeebies, and here's why:

As we know, Gabby's van was parked in a place that was very visible to passing vehicles (the van of Red, White and Bethune being a prime example), yet at the same time it was away from the main camp ground and parked in an undesignated spot, if I understand correctly.

It did strike me that - as a woman - if I was camping alone or sleeping in the van alone in that spot, I'd feel very, very vulnerable.

The van is far enough away from other campers who could come to your aid if need be, but somewhere where a passing vehicle - driven by an opportunist with unsavoury intentions - could quite easily spot that there was a female there alone.

And the darkness - it would be absolutely pitch black there! There were trees that someone could've hidden behind and watched her, not to mention the fact that the van was positioned close to the little footbridge that was an 'escape route' for a perpetrator in terms of quickly getting her body out of sight of any other vehicles driving past.

When Red, White and Bethune approached the van door was pulled shut from the inside - was this GP in there alone feeling a little unsafe and afraid?

These thoughts are obviously based on the presumption that at some point, BL took off on foot, leaving GP in the van alone.

Maybe they'd had another argument and he took off for some head space in his beloved wilderness, and she stayed behind to work on her beloved blog (the two things that were seemingly pulling them in opposite directions).

• Did he then return and find her gone?
• Did he drive off without looking for her as he was still sulking from their earlier fall-out?
• Did he look for her and find her body then fly into a blind panic thinking he didn't stand a chance of this not being pinned on him, especially after the Moab traffic stop by police.

Although BL's actions indicate otherwise, we can't rule out that something along those lines actually happened.

MOO, JMO etc

against that theory is the imprint of a tent and a campfire at the location where her body was found.
Also, it appears as though the person who killed her also took the tent...thus depriving her body of any shelter at all from the elements.

 

[Arkay]

I don't think any juror would believe that story. They might consider it, but not ultimately believe that's what happened.

Occam's razor means that the most obvious thing that happened is probably what happened.

Occam's razor - Wikipedia

Especially given BL's behavior afterwards. If you saw the love of your life fiance (maybe) being beaten to a pulp, why would he "panic" and then run? I stand by the idea that that would be extremely bizarre behavior and not at all normal or likely. Would it even enter a guy's mind that he can't report this crime because they might pin it on him? (When you should have no blood or wounds on your hands, no scratches, no bruises, if you are innocent?)


All JMO

SBM

Agree 100%. I also think of the doctors' credo, "when you hear hoofbeats, think horses, not zebras." Obviously sometimes a patient may have symptoms that point to a rare illness, but the majority of time the symptoms point to something well-known in the medical profession.

I imagine someone I love having a heart attack or other emergency in front of me. Would I run out of the house, as far as I can go, for days, or would I call 911? IMO the answer is obvious.

 

[Loveallmyhorsesdogsandcats]

If I had an attorney I trusted and a possibly questionable relationship (due to insight gained from their daughter over the years) with people asking me questions, I think I could be compelled to tell the officers to communicate what I knew and didn't know through my trusted attorney. Who cares how the information was shared, if it would have been the same regardless?

We have no idea about the family dynamics. And in the midst of even crazier divides regarding politics and the pandemic (which are very real), there may have been some hard lines drawn regarding engaging in toxic dynamics, with threats of police involvement, etc.

And who knows, maybe a pattern of behavior that made it awkward. We do NOT know! Well, I don't. MOO. IMO. JMHO!!!

Absolutely agree communicate thru your attorney, smart and what I would do, but they refused t0 do that in regards to information that could help in the search for Gabby. Per LE, they did not cooperate in any manner at all.

 

[JudgeJoe]

Do you think Gabby's family may have been aware of repeated DV between GP and BL? They seem very engaged with the DV message in such a way that they seem very familiar with it. I wonder why they wouldn't have been more negative with regards to their daughter going off on a long term, long distance trip with a DV perpetrator? They seem to portray that they were very supportive of the trip, but also that GP was the victim of DV by her travel partner. I guess no one ever expects that things would actually end this way.

No. The 4 have stated publically that they saw no signs of abuse. But in the aftermath of this viral nightmare, DV victims have reached out to them through SM with “touching stories” of their own experience with DV. So it has become a focus point. See Dr P interviews & others, links in media thread.

They’ve also stated Gabby’s foundation will have several purposes.
1) to bring the missing home- help loved ones with what to do.
2) bring awareness to the signs of DV
3) honor Gabby’s life so that her death will not be in vain.

Idk if this is stated clearly or succinctly yet. Just what I recall to have come up in interviews thus far. To the best of my recollection…

 

[Warwick7]

I agree any potential "loop hole" is closing...but we aren't there yet

I do not know how you did this. But you quoted me. And then added things, changed my words, added sentences that I did not post.

 

[tiara1972]

They wouldn't have charged BL with stealing Gabby's cards if they didn't have some proof. For one thing, they surely know where he used the cards and they probably have surveillance video of him doing it. Even if he knew her pin numbers and had used the cards with her permission while she was alive - still a crime. There's really no way he can get out of that charge, but it it even worse if he knew she was dead, drove away in HER van, and then used HER cards for gas money.

I keep going back to the fact that so far, there is no evidence her card was involved unless someone here knows the last four digits. The indictment doesn't name the owner, which is, well, interesting to me. Is this typical? MOO!

 

[LeeJay55]

No, I agree they didn't know. I just don't know how he kept the truth from them. Lie? Say nothing? Half and half? None of it really fits. I have a theory but it's grasping.

I don’t think they realized something was wrong till the calls started coming. Abs then the cops! All on the 10th
I believe he told them they broke up
Jmo

 

[meatandcookies]

The only explanation I can come up with for the Laundries not returning the texts is that they’d lawyered up before the Petitos/Schmidts started to call them, and they’d already been instructed to stonewall. I wouldn’t be surprised if they’d done it before the Fort DeSoto trip, and used that time to strategize. I think once LE came by on the 10th and 11th, they knew BL needed to get the hell outta dodge and had anticipated it would happen eventually. BL knew LE would find something in the van and/or the financial records. They had a nice last meal of melons together, and he was gone early Monday AM if not overnight Sunday.
I believe the Laundries know Brian killed Gabby and that he committed bank fraud. I believe SB knows as well.
MOO
(all subject to changes pending new info or phases of the moon, lol)

 

[putnam6]

I do not know how you did this. But you quoted me. And then added things, changed my words, added sentences that I did not post.

oops I go back make it obvious these are my thoughts I apologize

 

[Scatcat]

I feel so sorry for Gabby and her loved ones, I'm from the uk, lots of love to everyone here whatever time zone.*advertiser censored*

 

[LeeJay55]

I'm pretty sure they were not aware their much loved daughter was being physically abused in her relationship.

Obviously no one was!

 

[elmomom]

It was 19 days into September before Gabby's body was found due to NO assistance from BL or his parents. Despite their silence.

They were content to let her rot in the wilderness, possibly be scattered by animals or to be never be found at all.

Just remember that.

Even if they knew she was beyond help, that doesn't mean she didn't deserve to be found and properly laid to rest by her loved ones. Before she no longer was recognizable.

Not to mention the evidentiary value of finding her body before too much time has elapsed. If it had been an accident or self-defence or someone else, don't you think finding her more quickly would be MORE beneficial for proving BL's Innocence?

To this day, BL and his parents will not co-operate with regard to the circumstances of Gabby's death.

I'm sorry but I'm going to negatively judge them for that. As GP's family rightfully does. JMO.

I have nothing to add, not at all. I just wanted to quote you, in entirety, so that people who did not read it the first time will now have another chance.

 

[Angels Advocate]

So much of what you wrote I can totally identify with. I've thought the flip flops outside the back door were Gabby's, they were so neatly side-by side, like she stepped out of them to get in the back and close the door if she was alone and didn't want the coming vehicle to see her, if she were alone like you mentioned.

When that Bethune video was first released and some talented person did a slow motion version where you could clearly see the door closing, I decided to rewatch the whole thing very slowly. That's when I noticed a red trailer parked off to the left at approx 1:07 minute mark and a dark pick-up truck parked off to the left at about 1:12 minute mark. Both of these vehicles appear on the left, like Gabby's van, and appear prior to the Bethune's coming upon Gabby's van. So those 2 vehicles were there on the 27th, at that time. I always wondered if LE tried to get in touch with those people or if those people came forward privately to reveal to LE anything they may have observed.

I have seen the regular speed video and that was eerie enough - and when I did it made me feel like she had already been killed or injured. There is so much darkness (energetically) around the van in that video. I would really like to see the slow motion one - can you post a link? I also didn't know the door was closing when they drove by. That is really eerie. Also the two vehicles is new information to me.

 

[Tiff23fr]

Thread Closed. Check back in a bit.

 

[Tiff23fr]

WS Friends,
We have been at this for weeks. It has been a whirlwind of a case, and the ups and downs just keep coming at us. I can sense that tensions have been building through out the day in the thread. Don’t forget the reason you are here to begin with. It is about justice for Gabby, and at this time that includes finding Brian.

We can have these discussions without personalizing responses toward other posters, and without trashing individuals that are not named POI’s. Posts engaging in this fashion do not advance the conversation toward justice or finding Brian.

If you need a break, take a break. If you are frustrated with where we are and what we don’t know, don’t take it out on fellow posters.

Thread is open..