In June 2021, a 22-year-old woman named Gabby Petito and her fiancé, Brian Laundrie, went on a cross-country trip in a white van, according to the North Port police chief, Todd Garrison. As CNN reports, Garrison stated that, “She maintained regular contact with her family members during her travels; however, that communication abruptly stopped around the end of August.”
On August 12th, 2021 in Moab, Utah, police reported that after the couple argued they got into a physical altercation. Officer Eric Pratt reports, “both the male and female reported they are in love and engaged to be married and desperately didn’t wish to see anyone charged with a crime.” He that the couple stay apart for that night, and also says that he did not believe that the situation evolved into a domestic assault case or a mental health issue because both parties had their cell phone in case anything happened (cnn.com). A caller had reported a domestic dispute and described a white van with a Florida license plate later that day (cnn.com). The audio states: “The caller said that as they were driving by, ‘the gentleman was slapping the girl.’ ‘Then we stopped,’ the caller added. ‘They ran up and down the sidewalk. He proceeded to hit her, hopped in the car and they drove off.’” (cnn.com)
The last time Petito’s family heard from her was on August 30th, when she wrote to them that there was “No service in Yosemite,” but the family doubts that she actually wrote the text herself. In September, a woman named Miranda Baker claimed on Tiktok that she and her boyfriend picked up Laundrie on August 29th after he said that he was hitchhiking (cbsnews.com). Once Laundrie found out that Baker and her boyfriend were not going to Jackson, and rather Jackson Hole, he got mad, and asked that the vehicle be stopped. Another woman, Norma Jean Jalovec, told CNN that she picked Laundrie up at the same place that Miranda Baker dropped him off, and then drove him to Spread Creek, where Petito’s remains were later found (cnn.com).
On September 1st, the police reported that Laundrie returned to their hometown which his parents also live in (cbsnews.com). North Port authorities went to Laundrie’s home after Petito’s family reported her missing after not being able to contact her, and the police stated that they “were essentially handed the information for their attorney.” During a new briefing on September 16th, Gabby’s father asked Brian’s family to help the Petitos find Gabby, but Laundrie’s family refused to help (cbsnews.com). On September 18th, Laundrie’s family reported that they also cannot find Brian, and called the police to tell them, and ask them to go on a search for him (cnn.com). On September 23rd, the FBI issued an arrest warrant for Laundrie, accusing him of bank card fraud, they said that he used an unidentified person’s Capital One card and withdrew over $1,000 during the time which Petito was still missing. Authorities believe that the cause of death was asphyxiation and saw that during bodycam footage from August 12th in Moab, Utah, Laundrie grabbed Petito’s face during a domestic dispute (foxnews.com). On October 12th, after doing an autopsy, Teton County Coroner Dr. Brent Blue ruled that the cause of death was strangulation, and he said that there was more information revealed by the autopsy, but they are keeping the information since the case is still pending (nypost.com).
