Found Deceased WY - Gabrielle ‘Gabby’ Petito, 22, Grand Teton National Park, 25 Aug 2021 #37

[cady]

It was probably to her immediate benefit that he did not get a ticket, imo. That could only have added to the stressors piling on. But I get your point. It feels unjust.

Guess who would have had to pay the ticket? JMO

 

[rleigh123]

Remains would suggest he's been in that swamp all along, which in turn would suggest that he didn't flee with money, supplies, food etc to a comfy cabin in the woods somewhere c/o assistance from his parents.

The parents demeanor suggests they've known he was somewhere safe, not somewhere where he was potentially struggling to survive.

They've shown no panic, no grief, no devastation or worry. These would be natural reactions and emotions if your son was truly in a place where he'd be struggling to survive after a couple of days.

I've always said if he IS in the swamp, he won't be found alive, but the very reactions of his parents (or lack thereof) have made me almost certain he's not in there.

MOO

BBM
IMO I think there might be evidence that they helped him previously, based on what we know so far. MOO

Yet it's hard to imagine he's still alive - I think they would've found him. As for what I bolded above, I'd normally agree.

However, IMO, it seems this couple may not react or behave in ways that many people would consider "normal" or expected. MOO. So I think any outcome is possible at this point.

 

[SuziQ]

True. But in doing so, they ignored the least biased account of what happened, which was what the person who saw it happening saw and reported to 911 right away, as close as possible to the time when it was happening. LE gave more weight to what a DV and her aggressor said during the stop, and a written account that happened hours later. We know that DV victims and aggressors don't always give accurate accounts. The only person whose account had no real agenda and no time to have memory distortions was the person who called 911. Which we now know was accurately relayed to the officers.

As someone with expertise in memory, it's fascinating to me. The officers unconsciously edited their memory of the dispatch call to conform with the narrative that they jointly constructed, in collaboration with the DV victim and aggressor, at the scene. Aside from being tragic, it's also a fascinating example of the reconstructive nature of memory, and how biases enter narratives about events.

BBM. That is a very interesting observation.

 

[Estelle]

I guess it depends on where you go. If I have ever seen this happen, I can't remember it in a restaurant. In a bar yes, but it's usually drunks and it's handled quickly.

Was BL complaining about the price? They are usually on the menu. What do you think made him angry?

 

[steveml]

I don't really blame LE. Hindsight is the easiest thing in the world to jump to when making conclusions after the fact. I actually thought they played everything by the book. They couldn't arrest anybody - however they made the most sensible suggestion to split the two people apart for the night. They did not have to do this - they could have simply took this to be a domestic issue - which they all deal with day in and day out. They didn't. They realised that the couple were not in a normal communal situation, with no friends or family about, and they made the best call that they could do. If you think LE were going to do a stake-out on this couple, you really need to educate yourselves on the time and manpower that this would take. It normally takes 6 to 7 people to properly track what one person is doing. That would have meant 14 LE staff were simply watching these two. That manpower is simply not available. Added to the fact that 80 percent of DV cases end up without anyone eventually pressing charges. We can all sit and judge, but until we do, it's only fair to think how we would manage the resources that we've got? 'After the fact' is the easiest thing to comment on. 'During the fact' is far more relevant and important.

 

[Lillymac]

Most of the time as long as they can get them to leave, there's no need to call LE. At my place of employment (DMV), we deal with out of control people on a constant basis and if we ask them to leave and they comply there's no need to call anyone.

That's true of most places, but it was stated he left and came back in 4 times!

 

[Bertha96]

He is a small man both literally and figuratively. I bet that he never spoke to men like that.

Exactly. A real man doesn't hurt women. Period. Males who are violent towards women are cowards. IMO.

 

[bellesnwhistles]

Was it the tall bearded officer who followed up with this witness who “was not entirely sure what he had seen, but feared the worst?”

I ask because I’d be concerned that this particular officer, whose arrival at the scene IMO totally shifted the dynamic at the scene to align with his own bias, may have influenced this witness just as he worked at influencing GP (telling her she played a role in worsening things by “spiraling” BL’s anxiety) and the officer who had arrived at the scene initially (when he pulled that officer aside to summarize that they were required to identify either GP or BL as perpetrator and that they should choose GP as such based on GP’s and BL’s statements on scene and visible marks on BL, but COMPLETELY ignoring (1) the witness’s call to 911 reporting BL hitting and chasing GP, (2) BL’s speeding and temporarily evading the officer chasing him as he drove, and (3) the obvious size and strength - POWER - differential between the two.

It is notable that the original officer at the scene, when calling to arrange a hotel room for BL (as the decided “victim”) for the night, asked the person he was calling whether it would be possible to arrange that room for GP instead, even though she was the one who’d be cited for DV. He was apparently told that wouldn’t be possible; however, that he asked seems to me to indicate this officer is not sold on the idea that GP was the primary abuser. He may have considered her actions reactive to BL’s.

It is also notable the female officer (ranger) does not appear at the scene to be in concurrence with the conclusion of the other officers. And reports since indicate she was advising GP to recognize she was being mistreated, deserved better, and should get help removing herself from the relationship.

I think tall bearded cop pushed his own agenda on everyone at that scene, thus enabling BL, dismissing GP and potentially contributing to her continued codependency, and completely bypassing his fellow officers’ own intuitions and conclusions. At no time after he stated how he saw things did he ask that fellow officer what he thought. He didn’t want to know.

ETA: On occasions such as this where there is not clarity, there ought to be options besides required citation of one party, including temporary citation and sheltering of both of the persons involved, with social worker counseling outside of the immediate crisis to discern the reality of the relationship dynamics.

It makes me sick to think about how both GP and BL left that encounter, him emboldened and her weakened. And when I consider that she was both living with BL in his parents’ home AND working for them at the juice bar, I think she’d been living with a substantial power differential for a long while.

Yep. Agree 100%

 

[MassGuy]

I did think of that as well but hope there will be much circumstantial evidence to support. Part of the sum of it all.

Yeah, I think digital evidence is going to play a large role. I expect it to show that he did in fact send texts pretending to be Gabby, and he was no where near Wyoming when he sent them.

We also don't know how and where she was killed, which also may produce compelling forensic evidence.

The longer this goes on though, the more concerned I am that this all becomes a moot point. I just hope he's alive.

 

[diggndeeperstill]

Yes, not saying that the DNA is from BL's relatives. I just copied the first part of the text and hoped people would read the whole thing (if they are interested).

Collecting DNA of a missing person is standard procedure.

Sorry, I responded matter of factly. I know you didn't say that. I just knew I had read someone suggesting it and I just wanted to throw it out that it likely was DNA for Brian they were collecting and not the parents as it doesn't appear to have been collected that way.

Interestingly, you would have thought they would have already collected DNA w/ the missing report or even on the search warrant day. It is strange to me that they are doing it formally today.

I would love to know the answer about how the CODIS system is referenced. For instance, now that possibly Brians's DNA will be placed in the missing person section of CODIS, is it standard or "allowed" for them to run any DNA found on Gabby or at the crime scene through all repository sections of CODIS? I have never really looked at the law in that regard. If it is allowed and legal to do that, then obviously having a missing person's DNA would be a back door to matching DNA at the crime scene. I just want to find the legalities of that.

 

[Jettson]

RSBM.

I felt very strongly while watching the bodycam footage from this stop that the bearded LE officer was leading the first-on-scene LE officer. Lots of "it's your call, I trust you to make the call" comments, but they were all either prefaced by or followed up with "but this is what I'd do" type commentary.

I got the impression that the bearded LE was a senior officer; that the first-on-scene was newer.

Definitely will be some disciplinary action for those officers based on what was relayed by dispatch because of the negative outcome.
LE didn't even bring it up once.
Gross oversight.

I think it's too heavy-handed to say that "they could have saved her life" -- that's a bold, loaded statement that places too much blame on the wrong shoulders -- but the trajectory of what happened next could have definitely been impacted had the claim that BL struck GP been explored while on scene.

I'd be interested in hearing what the officers could have done to change the trajectory. When I think about it I can't envision what they could have done that would have stopped GP and BL from reuniting.

 

[SuziQ]

I disagree. The situation was very weird and nuanced. You’re seeing it with 20/20 hindsight. They didn’t have that advantage.

I don't think the Utah attorney agrees with you.

https://mobile.twitter.com/sara_ballou/status/1442212502993965059

 

[Balthazar]

Gabby Petito case exposes dark side of ‘van life’

Van life has gained steam amid the pandemic, with young people untethered from office work and looking to travel by car. On Instagram alone, there are 11 million posts tagged #vanlife, many of them featuring young, nubile travellers in front of beautiful scenery. But those in the community are quick to note that the lifestyle isn’t all it’s Instagrammed to be, and that a dangerous underbelly lurks beneath.

The 165cm, 52kg Crump, who mainly travels solo, has endured a number of incidents with creepy men making crude comments and threatening her, leaving her scared for her life. She sleeps with her keys within reach, should she need to make a quick exit.

Other van-lifers note that they are constantly on guard. Sunny Flaherty, 24, who has been on the road with boyfriend Jordan Summerlin, 26, for the past five years, recalled a terrifying incident a few years back. She and a caravan of friends were huddled around a campfire in the Arizona desert when a menacing man approached the group.

I do wonder if what happened was that Gabby and Brian pitched their tent in that stand of trees and had a campfire there and that is why Gabby was found there. I guess we won't know until more evidence is released.

 

[TUTUFUN]

Guess who would have had to pay the ticket? JMO

Moving violations follow the driver. Parking tickets follow the vehicle.
Unfortunately, had BL been ticketed, I suspect that the fine would have been paid by Gabby.
He would have blamed her for his speeding.

 

[Shellinaya]

Forget LE, apparently it wasn't even considered serious enough at the time to summon the restaurant manager!

It's been a long time but I have waited tables. And I worked as a hostess while in college. If the manager wasn't involved, it probably wasn't a big deal to the staff. Irritating, of course. Wait staff have a hard job and restaurant patrons can sometimes be jerks. But I do sort of wonder if the witness isn't exaggerating a bit.
JMO

It did sound kind of exaggerated to me also. I worked in restaurants and bars during college. People could get drunk and mean and often did but unless I felt physically threatened I would never have called the police on anyone even if they got really loud and nasty. You get immune to it if you do work like that.

But BL just sounds like the biggest jerk ... how could Gabby stand being around him so long? He was embarrassing her and not even helping her with her #vanlife plans at this point. I can't help but think this was the last straw for her and she told him they were done, she'd had enough, after this restaurant incident. And who knows what that triggered in his little boy brain.


JMO

 

[WellThen]

I've found another image on MSM showing the item that was removed from the house from a totally different angle. It rules out pump bottle and sponge IMO as the shape now resembles something else!

I can link/attach an image if Websleuthers so wish, but I think some people are already tired of this line of conversation...

just saw some pics and news stories about this...not sure if I totally believe the attorney's statement about FBI visiting to obtain items with Brian's DNA. Maybe that was one of the reasons. Or not at all. And the FBI probably won't comment on the nature of their visit either way so the attorney can say whatever. DNA from the parents, sister and other relatives can be used to identify Brian, although they may not voluntarily provide that. Would think the FBI previously obtained items with Brian's DNA? In any case, that house has probably been thoroughly bleached up and down many times over...

just my opinion

 

[Trooper]

I agree with the hundreds of posts in regard to the lack of comprehension on the part of the poor Moab LE chaps.. They did miss the trick , though, by ignoring the speeding, and the original headsup from the public re Brian's propensity to batter women in the main street in broad daylight.... but....

In my opinion... Brian has been doing this all his life.. He was in a state of utter relaxation after bringing Gabby into line, she's a sobbing wreck, her morning ruined, her aspirations denigrated, her psyche shattered , and now, he has an opportunity to actually bring down a heavier oppression on her, what a moment for him, hence his casual stroll out of the car to begin his instant method of deflection.

She's crazy, I'm long suffering. She has silly aspirations, while I try and manage the fall out. She needs a bit of a talking to, while I must have some blokey understanding.... and so on.

And he is good at it. Long years of practice, probably on every human being he ever came in contact with has been subjected to Brian's peculiar gaslighting tactics, with always the very same result, Brian coming out of whatever nonsense he got up to , as clean as a whistle. That is the goal. This is what LE needs training in, the smooth operative who is instantly cool in circumstances that he should be a tad rattled in.

If he has to diminish Gabby, or whomsoever, that is what happens.

I don't think Gabby lasted long after that restaurant episode. .. ( interesting to me was that it was all women wait staff, Brian's favorite , ) and his four goes at claiming the high ground gives a bit of an insight into how far he liked to go. Because he liked to push things to the limit.

Gabby going back in to apologise would have been seen as the ultimate betrayal by Brian, ( no clue as to civil discourse at all ) and she would have shamed him, and he would not, could not live with that , under any circumstances.

Is he dead?... He isn't in that swamp, alive.

He isn't an attractive man, she could have done so much better...

 

[Estelle]

Guess who would have had to pay the ticket? JMO

I have occasionally wondered if Gabby paid for most of the expenses on that trip.

 

[diggndeeperstill]

I'd be interested in hearing what the officers could have done to change the trajectory. When I think about it I can't envision what they could have done that would have stopped GP and BL from reuniting.

Hypothetically, if they had followed the law. Someone might be in jail and in need of bond money. And in having to get bond money from a possible parental figure, said parental figure might just insist on separation. There is no downplaying an arrest to a parent, but it is possible it was downplayed in the back of the police cruiser if it was mentioned at all.

 

[Bertha96]

That's true of most places, but it was stated he left and came back in 4 times!

In that case, I would have called. When a customer makes other customers or employees feel unsafe by not complying with our requests that is no bueno. No one has the right to make other people feel that way and someone has to take control of the situation.