Found Deceased WY - Gabby Petito, Grand Teton National Park #89

[Trooper]

Exactly! Rewatching the Moab footage just reinforces for me that Brian was the aggressor. If she hit him first, it was because he stole her phone and locked her out of the van. The police officers were automatically siding with him ("I've been married 5 years"), and he was the calm, rationale one while she was portrayed as the hysterical, out of control female. He is cold and calculating. Police ignored the witness report of him slapping her. She should have been the one who got the hotel room, not him! Ironically the cop even said after they let them go "Too many times women who are at risk, end up going back to their abuser and getting killed". That's exact what happened in this case.

That house the Laundries lived in, with Brian and Gabby, looked awfully small to me, .. one floor, maybe 3 bedrooms, it would require me to suspend my powers of rationality to believe that Brian did not shove Gabby around at that house, in front of his parents.. He apparently felt no compunction about attempting to strangle Gabby in front of Rose, and his performative tantrum in Moab, broad daylight in a public street held no hesitation for Bri.. hell no, bash and shove and throttle and hit, he must win..

He was not in any mood to conserve a modicum of decorum... doing all this in front of Mum and Dad would be a doddle... par for the course. He expressed total justification for it... When 'rudely' questioned at the traffic stop he got into overdrive that psychopaths enjoy, he was not the slightest bit embarrassed about it.. just a bit of joshing with the local constabulary, nothin ' to see here...

 

[friendlysleuther]

That house the Laundries lived in, with Brian and Gabby, looked awfully small to me, .. one floor, maybe 3 bedrooms, it would require me to suspend my powers of rationality to believe that Brian did not shove Gabby around at that house, in front of his parents.. He apparently felt no compunction about attempting to strangle Gabby in front of Rose, and his performative tantrum in Moab, broad daylight in a public street held no hesitation for Bri.. hell no, bash and shove and throttle and hit, he must win..

. He was not in any mood to conserve a modicum of decorum... doing all this in front of Mum and Dad would be a doddle... par for the course. He expressed total justification for it... he was not the slightest bit embarrassed about it.. just a bit of joshing with the local constabulary, nothin ' to see here...

I just posted some resources about this. I encourage everyone to speak up to your representatives, local officials, or whoever can make a difference-- Law enforcement and medical professionals need better domestic violence protocols and training, including identifying the predominant aggressor (training).

 

[LinasK]

I did learn something new- when he took her van to Florida, the mattress was missing. I had assumed he killed her outside.

 

[LinasK]

That house the Laundries lived in, with Brian and Gabby, looked awfully small to me, .. one floor, maybe 3 bedrooms, it would require me to suspend my powers of rationality to believe that Brian did not shove Gabby around at that house, in front of his parents.. He apparently felt no compunction about attempting to strangle Gabby in front of Rose, and his performative tantrum in Moab, broad daylight in a public street held no hesitation for Bri.. hell no, bash and shove and throttle and hit, he must win..

He was not in any mood to conserve a modicum of decorum... doing all this in front of Mum and Dad would be a doddle... par for the course. He expressed total justification for it... he was not the slightest bit embarrassed about it.. just a bit of joshing with the local constabulary, nothin ' to see here...

Yes, there's just no way his parents didn't know what happened. I saw how they refused to talk to even the cops doing a welfare check on them.

 

[friendlysleuther]

Yes, there's just no way his parents didn't know what happened. I saw how they refused to talk to even the cops doing a welfare check on them.

Were you around when this was all going on?

IMO, Brian 100% told his parents. It was clear as day.. That's why they were so quiet, the letter, I mean-- Yeah, pretty disgusting

 

[LinasK]

Were you around when this was all going on?

IMO, Brian 100% told his parents. It was clear as day.. That's why they were so quiet, the letter, I mean-- Yeah, pretty disgusting

Yes, I followed this case early on. I find his parents lack of cooperation disgusting. I'm not defending them in any way.

 

[friendlysleuther]

Yes, I followed this case early on. I find his parents lack of cooperation disgusting. I'm not one of those defending them in any way.

Ohh, no! I know you're not I was just curious if you had been following it then or just watched the doc recently!

 

[LinasK]

I also learned from tonight's program about her texts to him about him being controlling and calling her names. Things that abusers often do.

 

[LinasK]

I am watching the Netflix series. Just finished episode 1 and thought I would share some thoughts (will come back after subsequent episodes if anything new to add). I also followed the case in the media and here.

- I will start by saying nothing excuses what Brian did to Gabby.
- they seemed very in love - genuinely. This may have changed and social media just glossed over the cracks in their relationship (probably intentionally so) - or they may have remained in love until the moment she died.
- when they were pulled over I think she lied to police to get out of trouble (not for assault, but for the erratic driving).
- the lying seemed to come naturally to her, like a defense mechanism.
- I think it is possible that she was the aggressor in the event that led to them being pulled over and felt terribly about it and wanted to/believed she could make it go away.
- given that I think she lied to the police and would have continued to do so I don’t think there is anything else they could have done to get at the truth if she was indeed scared and abused/in danger.
- him getting a hotel and her getting the van likely had everything to do with it being her vehicle and the fact that the narrative they both stuck to was that she was the aggressor.
- I don’t think the police did anything wrong here.

At this point I would say that hindsight is 20/20 and not every case is cookie cutter. It is so so unfortunate that her life was taken, but so far I don’t see anything to suggest that this outcome was identifiable and preventable at this stage.

Just my thoughts/opinions.

Police are supposed to be able to discern lies. It's their job to see who is lying and why. They ignored the fact that he grabbed her phone and locked her out of the van. They also ignored her injuries and only focused on his.

 

[LinasK]

Were you around when this was all going on?

IMO, Brian 100% told his parents. It was clear as day.. That's why they were so quiet, the letter, I mean-- Yeah, pretty disgusting

I didn't buy that her "Burn after Reading" excuse wasn't written after he killed Gabby. There's no way that was a coincidence.

 

[Trooper]

Police are supposed to be able to discern lies. It's their job to see who is lying and why. They ignored the fact that he grabbed her phone and locked her out of the van. They also ignored her injuries and only focused on his.

Brian's extraordinary handwaving and hand flapping process should have been a indicator that he was spinning a silly yarn and trying to deflect from the core of the issue.. most police would pick up on that almost instantly, it's such a dead giveaway of a scammer..

 

[NCWatcher]

That house the Laundries lived in, with Brian and Gabby, looked awfully small to me, .. one floor, maybe 3 bedrooms, it would require me to suspend my powers of rationality to believe that Brian did not shove Gabby around at that house, in front of his parents.. He apparently felt no compunction about attempting to strangle Gabby in front of Rose, and his performative tantrum in Moab, broad daylight in a public street held no hesitation for Bri.. hell no, bash and shove and throttle and hit, he must win..

He was not in any mood to conserve a modicum of decorum... doing all this in front of Mum and Dad would be a doddle... par for the course. He expressed total justification for it... When 'rudely' questioned at the traffic stop he got into overdrive that psychopaths enjoy, he was not the slightest bit embarrassed about it.. just a bit of joshing with the local constabulary, nothin ' to see here...

BBM
I believe the Laundrie house is a 3-bedroom house that apparently has 1 bathroom. So they were definitely crowded. I'm sure it was a strain on everyone having 4 adults live there. If I were the Laundries, I'm not sure I would have agreed.

But B&G hadn't lived there long. They had initially lived with BL's sister, her husband and kids-- that was probably really super-crowded. The sister said the couple argued a lot but said she never saw any physical violence. I don't know but I expect it was easy to attribute the frequent arguments they had to the crowded conditions rather than to an unhealthy relationship. (High school friends said they argued a lot too so it was apparently longstanding pattern, not just one brought on by the strain of crowded conditions.)

According to G's friend, Rose Davis, GP sometimes slapped BL and he sometimes shoved her. She didn't say she observed it happening, but rather that Gabby told her about it. At the time Rose NEVER said BL tried to strangle Gabby in front of Rose. Never.

If Rose had EVER said such a thing while GP was missing or even after she was found, it would have been "breaking news" for sure. So I am confident she never said it at the time. Of course, Rose may have said something quite different in the documentary. Personally I am not sure she's a reliable source of information as she's said some contradictory things before. And for example, she claimed BL lived alone in the Appalachian Mountains for months, a claim B's sister denied. Regardless, at the time, Rose said things like this from the Daily Mail.

"Rose got to know Laundrie early on when she'd visit their home in North Port.

'I used to consider him a friend, for sure, because I'd hang out with them a good amount,' she noted.

'He had this composure as a sweet, nice, caring guy. But you could tell he's a little off, a little weird. Like, he'd set up our hammocks when we'd go to beach, but wouldn't sit with us, which I found bizarre.

She said the couple wouldn't argue in front of her, but she could tell afterward. Gabby would appear upset, but he'd seem calm."

Gabby Petito's friend claims her fiancé was jealous and controlling

That's a very far cry from saying he tried to kill Gabby in front of Rose! And if they didn't even argue in front of Rose, it seems quite unlikely to me BL attempted to murder GP in front of her. At most, Rose reported slapping and shoving by both G and B that GP told her about.

Rose also said the couple lived alone in a North Port condo the Laundrie parents owned. They were not charged rent by the parents. I don't know what Rose said in the documentary, she might have changed her story on this issue too, but at the time Rose denied the couple ever lived with the Laundrie parents. Obviously Rose must have been out of the loop during that time because there doesn't seem to be any doubt they lived with the L's. But I do believe it was for a relatively short time, weeks, maybe a month or two, just before they left for their trip.

So even if it occurred, I don't know that the Laundries would have seen abuse. Remember Gabby's family denied ever seeing anything alarming too. And yet the couple stayed with her family in NY for over two weeks before starting their van trip. Some reports said the couple went to attend Gabby's brother's high school graduation. But a spokesperson for the NPPD claimed they had moved to NY. At any rate, they were in NY staying with her family for an extended period that spring/summer. Nobody saw anything. And Tara Petito said she had looked because she had been in an abusive relationship before. Gabby's mother said she thought Gabby would be "kept safe" on their trip by BL, a trip GP's family helped to fund.

One hopes there would be multiple instances of DV observed by others. That would suggest there are always multiple opportunities for intervention. But there doesn't seem to have been multiple instances in this case. People closest to GP, people who spent time around the couple, just didn't know. Rose said BL was odd because he was controlling and didn't like Rose. Also he "read books" which she found odd too. But that hardly suggests violence.
MOO

 

[Jade]

That house the Laundries lived in, with Brian and Gabby, looked awfully small to me, .. one floor, maybe 3 bedrooms, it would require me to suspend my powers of rationality to believe that Brian did not shove Gabby around at that house, in front of his parents.. He apparently felt no compunction about attempting to strangle Gabby in front of Rose, and his performative tantrum in Moab, broad daylight in a public street held no hesitation for Bri.. hell no, bash and shove and throttle and hit, he must win..

He was not in any mood to conserve a modicum of decorum... doing all this in front of Mum and Dad would be a doddle... par for the course. He expressed total justification for it... When 'rudely' questioned at the traffic stop he got into overdrive that psychopaths enjoy, he was not the slightest bit embarrassed about it.. just a bit of joshing with the local constabulary, nothin ' to see here...

Right and proven with RL’s civil case admittance that she thought Brian needed a lawyer becouse he had hit Gabby and she was pressing charges. She said it also crossed her mind Gabby was dead.

That’s not normal thinking about your grown son unless you already know he is physically abusive, imo.

Then when he returns to the home Gabby had lived in without Gabby driving her van well that cemented what they say they (strangely) didn’t ask that Gabby was truly gone in that common way of saying:dead.

I can imagine how living in the L home got Gabby even deeper in the toxic family dynamic making it less easy to remove herself like a Stockholm syndrome.

Reading the writings of Roberta and Brian shows us all we need to know about them in excess detail. They appear normal at first then they go off the edge.


All imo

 

[Forest_Wood]

BBM
I believe the Laundrie house is a 3-bedroom house that apparently has 1 bathroom. So they were definitely crowded. I'm sure it was a strain on everyone having 4 adults live there. If I were the Laundries, I'm not sure I would have agreed.

But B&G hadn't lived there long. They had initially lived with BL's sister, her husband and kids-- that was probably really super-crowded. The sister said the couple argued a lot but said she never saw any physical violence. I don't know but I expect it was easy to attribute the frequent arguments they had to the crowded conditions rather than to an unhealthy relationship. (High school friends said they argued a lot too so it was apparently longstanding pattern, not just one brought on by the strain of crowded conditions.)

According to G's friend, Rose Davis, GP sometimes slapped BL and he sometimes shoved her. She didn't say she observed it happening, but rather that Gabby told her about it. At the time Rose NEVER said BL tried to strangle Gabby in front of Rose. Never.

If Rose had EVER said such a thing while GP was missing or even after she was found, it would have been "breaking news" for sure. So I am confident she never said it at the time. Of course, Rose may have said something quite different in the documentary. Personally I am not sure she's a reliable source of information as she's said some contradictory things before. And for example, she claimed BL lived alone in the Appalachian Mountains for months, a claim B's sister denied. Regardless, at the time, Rose said things like this from the Daily Mail.

"Rose got to know Laundrie early on when she'd visit their home in North Port.

'I used to consider him a friend, for sure, because I'd hang out with them a good amount,' she noted.

'He had this composure as a sweet, nice, caring guy. But you could tell he's a little off, a little weird. Like, he'd set up our hammocks when we'd go to beach, but wouldn't sit with us, which I found bizarre.

She said the couple wouldn't argue in front of her, but she could tell afterward. Gabby would appear upset, but he'd seem calm."

Gabby Petito's friend claims her fiancé was jealous and controlling

That's a very far cry from saying he tried to kill Gabby in front of Rose! And if they didn't even argue in front of Rose, it seems quite unlikely to me BL attempted to murder GP in front of her. At most, Rose reported slapping and shoving by both G and B that GP told her about.

Rose also said the couple lived alone in a North Port condo the Laundrie parents owned. They were not charged rent by the parents. I don't know what Rose said in the documentary, she might have changed her story on this issue too, but at the time Rose denied the couple ever lived with the Laundrie parents. Obviously Rose must have been out of the loop during that time because there doesn't seem to be any doubt they lived with the L's. But I do believe it was for a relatively short time, weeks, maybe a month or two, just before they left for their trip.

So even if it occurred, I don't know that the Laundries would have seen abuse. Remember Gabby's family denied ever seeing anything alarming too. And yet the couple stayed with her family in NY for over two weeks before starting their van trip. Some reports said the couple went to attend Gabby's brother's high school graduation. But a spokesperson for the NPPD claimed they had moved to NY. At any rate, they were in NY staying with her family for an extended period that spring/summer. Nobody saw anything. And Tara Petito said she had looked because she had been in an abusive relationship before. Gabby's mother said she thought Gabby would be "kept safe" on their trip by BL, a trip GP's family helped to fund.

One hopes there would be multiple instances of DV observed by others. That would suggest there are always multiple opportunities for intervention. But there doesn't seem to have been multiple instances in this case. People closest to GP, people who spent time around the couple, just didn't know. Rose said BL was odd because he was controlling and didn't like Rose. Also he "read books" which she found odd too. But that hardly suggests violence.
MOO

Thank you for your voice of reason and your link to support it.
There are layers and nuances associated with abusive behaviors. It's clear that Brian Laundrie was abusive towards Gabby based on some eye-witness accounts and his ultimate murder and abandonment of her. In the documentary, we can see Gabby reacting to him in ways that belittled him (the dirty feet as one example). She admitted to being the aggressor in the van in Moab and I believe her. They were both triggering and reacting to the other's immature behaviors and they had no means of escaping the little van to take a time out. Almost every person close to this couple stated they saw no signs of abuse (Gabby's large family, the Laundries, former friends). It's often only in retrospect where people can put the pieces together to see the bigger picture.
MOO

 

[Forest_Wood]

I

Found Deceased Post in thread 'WY - Gabby Petito, Grand Teton National Park #88'

Feb 20, 2025

The documentary illustrated how manipulative and conniving BL was. I don't think it was ever concluded exactly when Gabby died, but it seemed to me that she was killed by him before he went on his long hike. He was plotting and planning his motive, even when he was hitchhiking, to give himself an alibi that he was not at the campsite when she died.
Sending those texts to her, knowing she was dead. And then replying to himself with Gabby's phone, pretending he was her. On his drive home, BL sent himself an e-transfer from Gabby's account for $700 IIRC. In the notes, he wrote something...

• I am not Sherlock H.

• 

---

"Great analysis @Forest_Wood . I wonder if perhaps one or both parents might have gone with BL when he went to the preserve? Maybe two cars? Was someone hidden in the car or trunk?

IIRC there was some confusion as to who had left the house and whether or not it was the mother or someone or BL? And even the mother and sister were IIRC joking then, I believe in texts as to how could anyone confuse them for BL? And sadly IIRC by that time, GP was already known likely deceased or ‘gone’. SMH. And then there was a suggestion that no one knew where BL was? And all of a sudden as others have said within an hour of going to that preserve the parents find him in what is it a 40,000 acre swamp? While authorities and others have been looking for him for days?

The two additional things I would have liked more clarity on were the gun and the silver Mustang. There was a gun shown early when they were both riding in the car and GP was shooting it out the window while she wore earplugs. And then the gun he later used on himself right? I wonder where that come from and who owned it?

And the silver Mustang, was that BL or his parent’s car or his mother’s car? Some of the early video when GP was skateboarding on that closed street, if I remember correctly, BL was filming all of that riding in that silver Mustang.

The last thing was a little point about who owned the van? It seemed IMO that BL parents were trying to confuse police as to who owned it whether it was jointly with BL and GP? But fortunately, by that point Florida detectives were already clear on it, and they impounded the Ford Transit van immediately.

One thing apparent - it’s a good thing that IIRC the Long Island, NY police pressed hard on authorities down in FL early on in the investigation. And it’s unfortunate that that one Moab police investigators initial thoughts on a domestic violence incident in the van wasn’t better followed? IIRC he seemed to feel that GP was perhaps the victim. MOO"

---

Just bringing this forward @I am not Sherlock H.

I don't know how all those people outside, as well as those responsible to watch the house and the cameras, missed him leaving/not returning. It's a mystery and seems that someone wasn't doing their job and then came up with the excuse they mistook his mother for him. I think LE just wasn't paying attention IMO.

It seems the parents knew exactly where to look for him because they knew his patterns and where he liked to frequent in the park. That makes sense to me. He went to his favorite spot in the park to reflect on his life and to end his miserable life. This also illustrates that his parents knew their son very well. They knew him so well that it took them under an hour to find his body, when all those LE workers with all those resources couldn't.

This is why I believe, no matter what they claim, the Laundries knew their son had killed Gabby from early on, likely from the time he called them from Teton.

As for the van, I can imagine that BL put money towards that van too. It was in Gabby's name, but most couples at that age would be responsible for paying for the use of it. It was reported that he helped to fix it up for their trip. It's not unreasonable to think he contributed to the cost of the van or that they considered it "theirs". However, I believe he took the van not because he believed it was his but to support his psychopathic plan that she had left him. He needed a means to get out of there, and her van was it.

As for the gun, I don't recall it being focused on very much. Was it the same gun in that video that was used to shoot himself. Was it his gun or his parents. Where did he get a gun. How long did he have it. Did the parents know a gun was missing if it was theirs. It's a mystery.

MOO.

 

[Jade]

So Brian takes the keys, Gabby’s phone and goes to drive off in Gabby’s van and leave Gabby behind far from home.

(….)

Petito first downplayed the physical altercation; after the officer pointed out the marks on her arm and face and told her to “just be honest”, she said Laundries “kept telling (her) to shut up” and “grabbed (her) face” which caused an injury.

(…)

Killing of Gabby Petito - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

What a guy.

All the conjuring of excuses and victim blaming is what emboldens these toxic male abusers and causes good girls to question themselves unnessarily.

Trooper, he is practiced to grab her by the face.

What’s more grabbing her by the face is so sick that the suspension and change of policy was needed for the failure to notice abuse that extreme.

It indicates so much more to Brian’s beginning of a more dangerous elevation of the cycle of abuse that did lead to his killing Gabby by hand by strangulation the method of serial abusers.


For those interested in learning the facts:

Domestic Violence and Abuse in Intimate Relationship from Public Health Perspective - PMC

In this article we pay attention to the violence which, due to the fear of social stigma, could be hidden from the public eye for a long time but could have serious health consequences for the individual, family, and society – physical and ...

pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

All imo

 

[sapphire blue]

Brian's extraordinary handwaving and hand flapping process should have been a indicator that he was spinning a silly yarn and trying to deflect from the core of the issue.. most police would pick up on that almost instantly, it's such a dead giveaway of a scammer..

Another thing that should have alerted them was he took no responsibility for his part what had happened, he just put blame on Gabby - DARVO.

Also anxiety is often a symptom of narcissistic abuse - gaslighting, belittling (her blog plan), making her feel like it’s all her fault.

 

[Sillybilly]

ADMIN NOTE:

This thread is dedicated specifically to discussion of Gabby's case. It is not for general discussion of domestic violence.

Please read and post in accordance with Knitty's Mod Note from the Opening Posts of this thread:

MOD NOTE

Please keep the conversation about THIS CASE.

Generalized opinions about womens’ safety issues as a whole may be therapeutic, but they veer the discussion AWAY from the individual, and make it more about your experiences, stories and perspectives. If your post does not even mention this horrible crime or Gabby, then you are probably off topic.
Those posts, while helpful to some, are not focusing on this specific case. We cannot right all the wrongs of our society on this forum, and so we ask that you put the attention on Gabby and bringing justice in her name. Going forward, posts that are generalized statements of the state of women’s safety and personal stories, may be removed. Although sometimes valuable, it starts a long line of replies so that at some point members and the visitors who come here may be confused about who the thread is actually about. You CAN have those chats in PMs, and as many as 20 members may participate in a PM. PMs are unmoderated and Private. Only those on the PM will see the messages.

Post accordingly or your post will be removed.

Thank you.

 

[Vaderman]

20/20 show tonight is on Gabby Petito. I'll be watching.

Thanks for the heads up! I'll be watching.

 

[Megnut]

So Brian takes the keys, Gabby’s phone and goes to drive off in Gabby’s van and leave Gabby behind far from home.

(….)

Petito first downplayed the physical altercation; after the officer pointed out the marks on her arm and face and told her to “just be honest”, she said Laundries “kept telling (her) to shut up” and “grabbed (her) face” which caused an injury.

(…)

Killing of Gabby Petito - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

What a guy.

All the conjuring of excuses and victim blaming is what emboldens these toxic male abusers and causes good girls to question themselves unnessarily.

Trooper, he is practiced to grab her by the face.

What’s more grabbing her by the face is so sick that the suspension and change of policy was needed for the failure to notice abuse that extreme.

It indicates so much more to Brian’s beginning of a more dangerous elevation of the cycle of abuse that did lead to his killing Gabby by hand by strangulation the method of serial abusers.


For those interested in learning the facts:

Domestic Violence and Abuse in Intimate Relationship from Public Health Perspective - PMC

In this article we pay attention to the violence which, due to the fear of social stigma, could be hidden from the public eye for a long time but could have serious health consequences for the individual, family, and society – physical and ...

pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

All imo

And based on the docuseries, Gabby was trying to find a way out. There is no more dangerous a time.

JMO