Before starting this article I want to give a warning that the contents of this article are heavy and can be found disturbing. If you need help and are in a similar situation, please reach out for help at these hotlines:
Butte County Crisis Line: 530-891-2810
Chico State Counseling Center: 530-898-6345
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255
National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-7233
If you haven’t already watched the new Netflix documentary American Murder: Gabby Petito about the murder case that caused a social media uproar in 2021, here’s all you need to know.
Gabby Petito is a 22 year old woman from Blue Point, New York and the oldest of 6 other siblings. She graduated high school in 2017. From September 2017 to January 2019 she lived and worked in Carolina Beach, North Carolina where she also applied to community college but never attended. In March 2019, Petito started dating Brian Laundrie who she had previously known from high school. Gabby moved in with Brian and his parents in North Port, Florida. Previous to dating Gabby, Brian confessed his feelings to another friend from high school but was shut down.
When Petito was living with the Laundrie family there were a few instances where Brain’s mother Roberta acted unwelcoming towards Gabby. Gabby had sent a few texts back home to her mother about strange behavior from Roberta such as sending Gabby’s mail back to her house in New York.
Gabby gained a close friend, Rose Davis, in Florida. Rose and Gabby got very close and Brian would often get jealous of the time Gabby was spending with Rose. This often caused fights and tantrums which Rose found peculiar.
In late 2019 and early 2020, the couple embarked on a cross-country drive from New York to California. Along the way, they visited Las Vegas, Yosemite National Park, Pismo Beach, and other points of interest. In March 2020, Petito celebrated her 21st birthday in Nokomis, Florida. She and Laundrie visited Sope Creek, Georgia, in June 2020, and the two were engaged the following month. Rose, Gabby’s Friend, was very shocked by this news and found it to be a sudden surprise.
In December 2020, Gabby purchased a van to renovate for her and Brian next road trip adventure. Gabby got a job at Taco Bell to save up for her trip because this had been a dream of hers. Gabby was working about 50 hours a week. Brian wanted to get the van ready and save up for the trip and take the trip before getting married, this he was adamant about.
On June 17, 2021, Petito and Laundrie visited her native Blue Point for her brother’s graduation ceremony. On July 2, 2021, they left Blue Point in the Ford Transit Connect van for their trip. Later that month, they visited Monument Rocks, Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve, Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, Mystic Hot Springs, and Canyonlands National Park. Gabby began a youtube channel to document her life and travels.
Although through social media the couple was seemingly happy, there was more going on behind the cameras. On August 12, 2021, a witness called 911 to report that a couple were fighting in front of the Moonflower Community Cooperative in Moab, Utah. The caller said they saw a man slap a woman, after which the man and woman ran up and down the sidewalk, then the man hit the woman again before they drove off together. Another witness described the incident to police as looking like Petito and Laundrie were talking “aggressively” and that Petito “was punching him in the arm”. The witness said it looked like Laundrie was trying to leave Petito behind and take her phone with him. Before they drove off together, she climbed into the driver’s seat, moved over into the passenger’s seat so he could drive, and asked him, “Why do you have to be so mean?”
Officers from the Moab City Police Department pulled over Laundrie and Petito near the entrance of the Arches National Park. The officers stated that the van was driving erratically. Laundrie was driving and Petito was crying in distress in the passenger seat. The officers first asked Petito to exit the vehicle and stand over by the officers vehicle while she explained what was going on. Gabby stated that the couple was having a rough morning and fighting a lot. She said that she has OCD and was trying to clean up and was apologizing to Laundrie because she felt he was upset with her, and she stated that she put her hands on Laundrie first. Petito was noticeably down playing what had happened and accusing herself of being the main attacker. Through the whole interview Gabby never stopped crying or heavily breathing. The Officer sat Gabby in the back of his vehicle and told her to try to calm down. Gabby also had scratches and blood on her face.
Laundrie was also asked to exit the van and asked to explain the situation. Laundrie said that Gabby got worked up and she was getting aggressive. He also stated that he was trying to calm her down and telling her to take a breather and that he knew he shouldn’t but when she came at him he pushed her away. Brian also had a few scratches on his face.
Neither Petito nor Laundrie wanted to press charges as a result of the incident, which was characterized by police as a mental breakdown rather than domestic violence, which would have required an arrest. The police separated the couple, arranging for Laundrie to spend a night at the Bowen Motel in Moab, and for Petito to stay in the van.
Here is the police bodycam footage of this instance:
Unfortunately, the couple did not listen to the officer’s request and met up later that night.
Gabby’s mother asked Gabby to come home but Gabby promised everything was fine and that they were going to continue the trip.
After the incident, Gabby contacted her mother and told her that Brian was going to fly home to clear out a storage unit, and Gabby was going to stay back in a hotel to work on the youtube video. On August 22nd, 10 days after the Moab incident, Gabby sent a text to her ex boyfriend, Jackson. She said she really wanted to talk but was only alone for a little bit. She told him about the argument and to Jackson, the phone call was a cry for help. She told Jackson that she had a plan to leave Brian. She was very vague but Jackson told her to be careful. On August 27th, Gabby called Jackson but he was unable to answer.
On August 27, Petito and Laundrie were filmed by CCTV at a Whole Foods store in Jackson, Wyoming. They arrived at the parking lot at 2:11 p.m. and entered the store at 2:14 p.m. before exiting at 2:30 p.m. and heading back into the van. After about 20 minutes of sitting in the van, they eventually drove away and got on Highway 89, the road north to Bridger–Teton National Forest campsite at 2:56 p.m. This is the last footage of Petito alive.
Gabby’s mother reached out to Gabby, and Gabby told her that she was camping alone in the van at a campsite and Brian was in the tent in the woods. After that, Gabby’s mother reached out multiple times with no reply. After a few days, Gabby’s mother contacted the authorities. Four days later, Laundrie was named a person of interest. His parents hired a lawyer and, based on his advice, remained silent and refused to talk to anyone about the case. Laundrie returned home with the van. When Police showed up to his house the parents answered and said Brian was home and he would not be speaking to them and they didn’t know where Gabby was. On September 17, Laundrie was reported missing by his parents, who claimed not to have seen him since September 13.
On September 19, human remains matching the description of Petito were found at the Spread Creek Dispersed Camping area in Wyoming, not far from where the Ford Transit Connect was previously observed. Her identity was confirmed and an autopsy determined that the manner of death was homicide by “blunt-force injuries to the head and neck, with manual strangulation”, which occurred three to four weeks before the body was found.
On September 23, the United States District Court for the District of Wyoming issued an arrest warrant for Laundrie due to his unauthorized use of Petito’s debit card to obtain $1,000 or more between August 30 and September 1. The FBI took material to match Laundrie’s DNA from his home. On October 20, Laundrie’s skeletal remains and some of his belongings were found in the Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park, in an area that had recently been underwater due to flooding. His cause of death could not be determined by an autopsy, and his remains were given to a forensic anthropologist for further examination. On November 23, it was announced that the anthropologist had concluded that Laundrie died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.
On January 21, 2022, the FBI revealed that Laundrie’s notebook, which was found near his remains, contained an entry in which he admitted to killing Petito and deceiving people that she was still alive via text messages. He was officially blamed for Petito’s death by authorities and the investigation was closed. There was also a note found from Brian’s mother that was titled “Burn after reading” In the note she wrote “If you need to dispose of a body I will show up with a shovel and garbage bags.” Law enforcement still doesn’t know the extent of Brian’s parents’ involvement. In June 2022, the Laundrie family’s lawyer released the full notebook entry, in which Laundrie claims that he killed Petito after she had fallen and injured herself: “I ended her life. I thought it was merciful, that it is what she wanted, but now I see all the mistake I made.” The note ends with his plans for suicide: “I am ending my life not because of a fear of punishment but rather because I can’t stand to live another day without her.”