Found Deceased WY - Gabrielle ‘Gabby’ Petito, 22, Grand Teton National Park, 25 Aug 2021 #38

[Mandala]

Interesting about the sister's DNA. I guess siblings are more closely genetically matched than parents (to children).

I wonder when they will release that information. There is so much we don’t know that the FBI can’t disclose.

 

[borndem]

A full sibling's DNA is a closer match than one from either parent.

 

[customCF]

I wonder when they will release that information. There is so much we don’t know that the FBI can’t disclose.

My guess. They will never actually release that particular bit of info. Or some other stuff.

 

[RickshawFan]

Appalachian Trail hikers typically pack about a week's worth of food with them initially, and then typically resupply along different parts of the trail at pre-planned points by going into nearby towns along the trail and purchasing more food or simply mailing non-perishable food supplies to different post offices along the way before setting out at the beginning. There are really no particular survival skills needed for trail hiking of this nature other than a rudimentary knowledge of finding shelter at night (usually the small tent you packed with you). The trail is clearly marked in most places and although the hike is rigorous in places, it doesn't require superhuman physical ability by any means.

There are shelters, privies, and water sources every 7 miles or so on the AT . You can do the whole thing with zero survival skills. Some hikers spend every other night in a motel; others have their stuff driven from road crossing to road crossing, so they only ever take a day pack.

 

[wasnt_me]

And if you find it, would you bring to this thread? I wouldn’t mind a second look

Yes. If I find it, I will put it here and in the media thread. I thought MassGuy posted it, but I will try the keywords the other poster, jjonez suggested.

 

[Panda1989]

Regarding the FBI visit, they most likely have TONS of DNA evidence from the van on BL and GB....they really wouldn't need his parents' for reason to match with his. I'm betting they want the parents' DNA because maybe they found them to be wayyyyy more involved than we all know.

 

[UrsulaWrenn]

Been in this thread every now and then. Still trying to figure out why he wanted to get to Jackson Wyoming so badly. One other note to add , so they were having lunch together mere hours before the Youtubers spotted his van in the campground….super eerie if they had stopped to say hi or something like they had wanted….!

I don't get that, either. The town is named Jackson, but the valley it sits in is Jackson Hole, and a lot of businesses are named "Jackson Hole _______". The "Merry Piglets" Tex Mex restaurant where a manager reported the couple were involved in a commotion was in Jackson, and so maybe he was afraid of being recognized if he went back there...but then why ask to be taken there?

I suspect he may have been half out of his mind at that point, having just murdered his girlfriend and left her in the boonies. But...he was apparently clean and combed, so that makes it sound like he first went somewhere to shower and humanize???

Curiouser, and curiouser!

 

[Panda1989]

Regarding the FBI visit, they most likely have TONS of DNA evidence from the van on BL and GB....they really wouldn't need his parents' for reason to match with his. I'm betting they want the parents' DNA because maybe they found them to be wayyyyy more involved than we all know.

 

[Estelle]

That is a very good question about why BL wanted to get to Jackson. Just my opinion only, but I think he didn't want to take the van at first. I think his original plan was to leave the van where it was but hitch a ride to Jackson and find another way home - bus or plane. He asked two different drivers he rode with about going to Jackson, but ended up going back to the van and the murder scene. Maybe he was just trying to establish an alibi, thinking that he could tell police she was killed while he was searching for a ride to Jackson. But no one found her body while he was hiking and hitching, so his plan B was just to drive the van home and figure out something with his parents, which I believe is what he did.

I just looked up how BL would have flown back home - Jackson to Tampa and it costs one way from $258. I think the alibi idea is what he was up to but also finding a shower.

 

[kittythehare]

Regarding the FBI visit, they most likely have TONS of DNA evidence from the van on BL and GB....they really wouldn't need his parents' for reason to match with his. I'm betting they want the parents' DNA because maybe they found them to be wayyyyy more involved than we all know.

They weren't there long enough to collect DNA samples.

 

[UrsulaWrenn]

You can make money in lots of ways if you get a lot of social media followers. That’s what Gabby was trying to do and it’s called being an influencer because your posts can affect followers, usually to buy things.

“Van life” is today’s version of RV life downsized because of the economy. Some people I’ve known who did “van life” didn’t have much of a choice and made the best of it until they could get back into a better situation. There are many FB groups on this that range from people looking to visit national parks over the summer to people who invest in a van to live in FT because they can’t afford any housing.

RV life tho used to be for retirees and Van Life now skews younger and with social media can be income so it gets glamorized as a lifestyle when for most people the reality is Van Life is a step away from being homeless (but better because you can be mobile).

It sounds like Gabby and BL weren’t going to be on the road forever, I thought they were going to visit a relative in the northwest and then go back to Florida? For Gabby it was probably much more free feeling to have a Van Life than living with her boyfriend’s parents and if she could make it work financially it would give her a lot more independence.

Too bad she had such a dud as a partner.

Yeah; I thought it was to be their "grand adventure" before they got married and went back to whatever work they would be doing. It was essentially a way to have a great time & have it paid for via the blog/vlog platform. My parents did something similar way back in the stone age, so it's just a new twist on an old rite of passage.

 

[customCF]

That is a very good question about why BL wanted to get to Jackson. Just my opinion only, but I think he didn't want to take the van at first. I think his original plan was to leave the van where it was but hitch a ride to Jackson and find another way home - bus or plane. He asked two different drivers he rode with about going to Jackson, but ended up going back to the van and the murder scene. Maybe he was just trying to establish an alibi, thinking that he could tell police she was killed while he was searching for a ride to Jackson. But no one found her body while he was hiking and hitching, so his plan B was just to drive the van home and figure out something with his parents, which I believe is what he did.

I personally do not think he originally planned to take the van. I think he was going to leave Gabby either in the van or outside where she was found. At some point decided to take the van and leave very little behind.

 

[lightwing]

I'm waiting for cause of death. It will be solid insight into how Gabby was killed and also shed light on the mind of her killer. Once that is established, we're all going to know more about what lives in Brian's head.

Yes and after listening to a few newscasts from officers and some family I have a good idea what it's gonna say and I bet then we will all know just how evil overcame BL that day...ugh

Well that's an intriguing comment. My highest bets were on strangulation with his bare hands, as the only method so far with some indicative evidence behind it. But you foreshadow something much worse.. Agreed with TheGardener that what we find out has the potential to tell us a lot more.

 

[Panda1989]

They weren't there long enough to collect DNA samples.

Isn't that what the news reported? An envelope was handed to them and also an item(s) were taken for collection of DNA. Either way, I was replying to the questioning of it on here about the collection of parents' and siblings' DNA being to confirm Brian's. Which they do not need any family member's at this point, because they have a van full of his.

 

[Trooper]

What would be the silliest thing a murderer would do? why, he would appropriate the van they both were driving around in , and for reasons that at this point defy any rationale whatsoever, drive that van from Jackson , Wyoming, to Orlando Florida. 2500 approx.. miles, not klms.. about 3800 klms..

He wasn't going back to a job, or a spare girlfriend, or an inheritance, or a previous appointment, arrangement, a job interview, whatever. He had not finished the journey , there was plenty more of the USA to hoot around in.

Mile after mile, exposed on the freeways and highways, getting meals, using facilities, obtaining fuel.. using the bank..

How did he intend to explain the absence of Gabby ? and his apparent ownership of the van? and why had she turned the van over to him? where was she?.. He must have figured it out that these questions would be asked, and had to be answered, surely?? He is 24, not 14.

 

[Seabunny]

You can make money in lots of ways if you get a lot of social media followers. That’s what Gabby was trying to do and it’s called being an influencer because your posts can affect followers, usually to buy things.

“Van life” is today’s version of RV life downsized because of the economy. Some people I’ve known who did “van life” didn’t have much of a choice and made the best of it until they could get back into a better situation. There are many FB groups on this that range from people looking to visit national parks over the summer to people who invest in a van to live in FT because they can’t afford any housing.

RV life tho used to be for retirees and Van Life now skews younger and with social media can be income so it gets glamorized as a lifestyle when for most people the reality is Van Life is a step away from being homeless (but better because you can be mobile).

It sounds like Gabby and BL weren’t going to be on the road forever, I thought they were going to visit a relative in the northwest and then go back to Florida? For Gabby it was probably much more free feeling to have a Van Life than living with her boyfriend’s parents and if she could make it work financially it would give her a lot more independence.

Too bad she had such a dud as a partner.

A dud and a downer.

 

[kittythehare]

I personally do not think he originally planned to take the van. I think he was going to leave Gabby either in the van or outside where she was found. At some point decided to take the van and leave very little behind.

Did he stop at any carwashes en route home?
Is there evidence the interior has been cleaned with chemicals?
'cos that's the only good reason to take the van home, isn't it? To get help cleaning it up? But he could just as easily have put a match to it and flown home and nobody would have been any the wiser for ages.
I'm not getting the rationale for going home and bringing the van, their home, registered to Gabby.
And it just sat there as if nothing had ever happened.
It must be so very disturbing for all the neighbours.

 

[jtfolden]

Regarding the FBI visit, they most likely have TONS of DNA evidence from the van on BL and GB....they really wouldn't need his parents' for reason to match with his. I'm betting they want the parents' DNA because maybe they found them to be wayyyyy more involved than we all know.

That seems unlikely. Also, they’d have to be able to confirm Brian’s DNA before they could match it to anything in the van or anywhere else.

 

[Panda1989]

That seems unlikely. Also, they’d have to be able to confirm Brian’s DNA before they could match it to anything in the van or anywhere else.

Well they have GP DNA from van, and can confirm hers. Process of elimination would show the other DNA all over Van is his......I'm sure personal items were left behind. Toothbrushes, razors, etc....

 

[customCF]

Did he stop at any carwashes en route home?
Is there evidence the interior has been cleaned with chemicals?
'cos that's the only good reason to take the van home, isn't it? To get help cleaning it up? But he could just as easily have put a match to it and flown home and nobody would have been any the wiser for ages.
I'm not getting the rationale for going home and bringing the van, their home, registered to Gabby.
And it just sat there as if nothing had ever happened.
It must be so very disturbing for all the neighbours.

I have a feeling that the van was mostly empty (Gabby's stuff) when LE got their hands on it. MOO