Police reports, social media provide timeline of Gabby Petito’s disappearance after road trip with fiancé
Earlier than 22-year-old Gabby Petito went lacking, she and her fiancé, Brian Laundrie, have been in love and able to embark on the highway journey of a lifetime.
The couple started a cross-country tour of nationwide parks in July, documenting their journey on YouTube and Instagram utilizing the hashtag #VanLife.
Now, authorities throughout the U.S. are mounting a seek for Petito, who hasn’t been heard from since late August when she was believed to be in Grand Teton Nationwide Park close to Jackson, Wyoming. Not less than a half-dozen regulation enforcement companies, together with the FBI, are trying into her disappearance.
Police in Florida this week known as Laundrie a “individual of curiosity” in Petito’s disappearance and have stated he’s been uncooperative within the investigation.
Laundrie won’t communicate on the matter on the recommendation of his household legal professional, Steven P. Bertolino, who stated police too typically give attention to the intimate accomplice.
On Thursday, Bertolino declined to remark.
Early days of the connection
Petito and Laundrie met in highschool, Petito’s mom stated, and introduced their engagement final yr.
“Brian requested me to marry him and I stated sure!” Petito wrote on Instagram. “You make life really feel unreal, and on a regular basis is such a dream with you.”
Petito, of Blue Level, New York, later moved to North Port, Florida, to dwell with Laundrie, Petito’s mom, Nicole Schmidt, stated.
This yr’s highway journey wasn’t Petito’s first. She documented a western-bound journey on Instagram in 2019. In a January 2020 submit, she stated driving throughout the nation to California and Oregon was an “absolute dream.” And in Could 2020, she posted that she could not wait to get again to “touring the world” with Laundrie.
“She needed to cross the nation within the camper van and dwell the van life and dwell free. This was her dream,” Schmidt instructed NBC affiliate KSL.
Highway journey begins in early July
Petito and Laundrie left Blue Level, New York, on July 2 in a 2012 Ford Transit van, in line with her social media posts and Schmidt’s statements to KSL.
The couple chronicled their journey on their Instagram accounts and YouTube below the moniker Nomadic Statik.
The social media posts and statements from Petito’s household present a footprint of the couple’s travels, indicating they drove about 3,800 miles, to Kansas, Colorado, Utah and Wyoming earlier than Petito was reported lacking.
In a blurb on the couple’s sole YouTube video, they famous they’d traveled collectively earlier than.
“After our first cross nation journey in slightly Nissan Sentra, we each determined we needed to downsize our lives and journey full time,” they wrote.
Instagram posts from July present she and Laundrie trekked the nation’s nationwide parks, visiting Monument Rocks in Kansas and the Nice Sand Dunes Nationwide Park in Colorado earlier than heading to Utah.
“There’s no place just like the tiny house we constructed,” Petito wrote in a July 4 submit from Kansas.
A submit from July 16 positioned them in Utah’s Zion Nationwide Park.
“The previous two nights tenting in Zion have been so cool, actually,” Petito wrote on Instagram. “We hiked up right here in about 100 [degrees] and it was so good coming again to our campsite, watching the sky fill with darkish clouds, and look at the lightning storm within the good cool air of the sunshine rain.”
5 days later, Petito posted from Bryce Canyon Nationwide Park, additionally in Utah. Posts later that month positioned the couple at different landmarks across the state, together with Mystic Scorching Springs and Canyonlands Nationwide Park.
August altercation documented by Utah police
On Aug. 12, police in Moab, Utah, responded to a report of a “home drawback” between Petito and Laundrie, in line with police reviews launched this week.
The alleged altercation occurred as Petito and Laundrie have been driving towards Arches Nationwide Park, in line with a police report. A responding officer reported that the couple’s van was touring about 45 mph in a 15 mph zone. Because the officer turned on the lights to tug over the van, it swerved and hit a curb earlier than coming to a cease, in line with the report.
One other officer wrote that Petito had slapped Laundrie after an argument, at which level Laundrie allegedly tried to lock her out of the van. She pressured her means again in earlier than Laundrie drove off, in line with the report.
The 2 instructed the officer that “they’re in love and engaged to be married and desperately did not want to see anybody charged with against the law,” in line with the report.
The pair was instructed to separate for the night time, with Petito sustaining possession of the van. No expenses have been filed.
Petito and Laundrie additionally instructed officers they have been combating their psychological well being, and neither have been on treatment. The lengthy highway journey was taking a toll on them, Laundrie instructed an officer.
“The time spent created emotional pressure between them and elevated the variety of arguments,” the report stated.
Bodycam footage launched Thursday additionally captured a few of the encounter with police.
It confirmed an officer speaking to Laundrie and an emotional Petito after authorities pulled over the van. Petito could possibly be seen wiping away tears as she instructed the responding officer she was struggling.
“I’m sorry,” Petito stated after the officer requested why she was crying. “We’ve simply been preventing this morning. Some private points.”
Laundrie added: “It was an extended day. We have been tenting yesterday.”
When the officer requested Laundrie about scratches on his face, he responded: “She had her cellphone and was making an attempt to get the keys from me. I stated, ‘Let’s simply step again and breathe,’ and she or he bought me together with her cellphone.”
Petito reported lacking
Within the days after the Moab incident, Petito’s communications together with her household stopped, police have stated.
Schmidt stated the couple left Salt Lake Metropolis for Grand Teton Nationwide Park in Wyoming round Aug. 24, which was when she stated she final spoke to her daughter on a FaceTime name. She stated she acquired texts despatched from her daughter’s cellphone till Aug. 30, however she wasn’t positive whether or not her daughter despatched them.
Petito’s final textual content to her mom learn: “No service in Yosemite.” It’s unclear whether or not the couple ever made it to the California state park. Petito’s final submit on Instagram is dated Aug. 25, with no location specified.
What occurred subsequent is generally a thriller, her household and officers say. What is thought is that Laundrie made it to Florida with the van, in line with police.
Police in North Port stated they recovered the van Sept. 11 on the house the couple shared with Laundrie’s mother and father. Police stated Laundrie returned to North Port on Sept. 1, 10 days earlier than Petito’s household reported her lacking.
“Every single day the seek for Gabby continues the Schmidt and Petito household turns into extra determined,” Petito’s household’s legal professional, Richard Stafford, stated this week. “They’re frantically looking for solutions and data of their daughter’s disappearance whereas Brian sits within the consolation of his house.”
Laundrie’s household legal professional, Steven P. Bertolino, stated in a press release Wednesday that Laundrie won’t communicate on the matter as a result of “intimate companions” are sometimes the primary police give attention to.
“I’ve been knowledgeable that the North Port, Florida. police have named Brian Laundrie as a ‘individual of curiosity’ on this matter,” Bertolino stated. “This formality has probably not modified the circumstances of Mr. Laundrie being the main focus and a focus of regulation enforcement, and Mr. Laundrie will proceed to stay silent on the recommendation of counsel.”
