Is This The Tip That Broke The Gabby Petito Case Wide Open?
Gabby Petito is the latest woman to go missing and ignite an absolute media frenzy. The 22-year-old travel vlogger and her fiance, Brian Laundrie, purchased a cargo van and embarked on a four-month road trip across the country, according to ABC 7. Petito kept the public updated on her whereabouts via her Instagram and YouTube. That is, until she disappeared.
The couple had documented stops across Kansas, Colorado, and Utah — up until August 12, when a police report describes they were "engaged in some sort of altercation." Per the report (via ABC 7), the couple got into a physical fight which Petito incited, though she was not arrested because neither of them wanted to press charges.
Petito was last confirmed to be in Grand Teton, Wyoming on August 25, according to the official Gofundme for her search. Her last Instagram post was also on August 25. Her last communication with her family was a text sent to her mother on August 30, though they're not sure Petito sent the message. The message referred to her grandfather as Stan, which she told police Petito does not normally do (via ABC 7).
Meanwhile, on September 1, Laundrie returned back to his parent's home with the van, but without Petito. Police named Laundrie a person of interest on September 15, and on September 17, his family reported him missing. Now there's been a huge breakthrough in the case, and a fellow travel vlogger provided it.
A vlogger recorded Gabby's van where police ended up finding her body
On September 19, authorities found a body that has since been confirmed to be Gabby Petito in Bridgerton National Forest in Wyoming, according to the New York Post. But they only found the body after receiving quite the tip the night before.
Travel vlogger Jenn Bethune explained on "Fox and Friends" that a friend tagged her in a post asking people who had been in the park on August 27 to look through their photos and videos for clues to Petito's whereabouts. "I got chills all over my body and ran right straight back to my laptop, got my GoPro footage, and lo and behold, Gabby's van was on there," Bethune said (she's since uploaded the footage of the discovery).
Bethune recalled that she and her husband noticed the van, but "didn't think anything of it." She continued, "... the van had Florida plates, and we wanted to stop and say hi. But the van was very dark, closed up, looked like no activity, so we ended up just keeping driving." Bethune revealed that she got to call Petito's mother after realizing she had seen the van. "It was beautiful, we got to share some moments together on FaceTime," she said. "Just two moms, really just have a great cry." She added, "I am so sad that we couldn't bring her back alive. To be able to bring her home to her family, or help with that, is everything."
Brian Laundrie allegedly had 'jealousy issues'
Brian Laundrie's whereabouts are still unknown, but police are looking into a photo taken on September 17 of a man who "sure as heck" looks like Laundrie just two blocks from his parents' home in Florida, reports the New York Post. The man who took the photo, Zachary Randazzo, said he did a double-take when he saw the bald man who matches Laundrie's build, claiming the man "looks just like his clone."
Josh Taylor, a spokesman for the North Port Police Department noted, though, that the man in the photo appears to have a tattoo on his left arm, which Laundrie does not. "We're not 100% sure," Randazzo said, "but it looks so close I don't know how it couldn't be him."
Laundrie became a person of interest in the case after refusing to cooperate with authorities and immediately hiring a lawyer, per the New York Post. Gabby Petito's friend Rose Davis told the Daily Mail that Laundrie was a jealous and controlling partner who once even stole her ID to prevent her from going out. "He's got these jealousy issues and he struggles from what Gabby called these 'episodes,' where he would hear things and hear voices and wouldn't sleep," she said. "Gabby had to stay at my house a bunch of times because she just needed a breather and didn't want to go home to him."
What a horrific unfolding situation, yet proof of the power of the internet.