The Disappearance of Gabby Petito

By Julia Fay

A cross-country road trip for one couple turned deadly when Gabby Petito’s remains were discovered in a national forest in Wyoming on Sept. 19, a little more than a week after she was reported missing on the 11th. The case gained a significant following since Petito had been documenting the trip on social media, and the events leading up to her death appear to place something more than an accident at fault.

On Aug. 12, 2021 authorities in Utah interacted with Petito and her fiance, Brain Laundrie, after the couple’s van hit a bump on the side of the road. The officers reported that Petito was crying and Laundrie appeared to have scratches on his face, all of which are shown in bodycam footage from the responding officers. The couple explained they had just had an argument and nothing more came from the interaction. Throughout this entire trip, Petito had been keeping up with her mother as well as posting updates on social media. The last message she sent her mother was “No service in Yosemite,” but many believe this was not actually sent by Petito. Yosemite is two states away from where many thought Petito was located at the time she sent the message.

On Sept. 1, Laundrie returned to Florida without Petito, but both he and his family refused to speak to the Petito family about her whereabouts. Laundrie then left his family’s home on Sept. 14, and a warrant for his arrest was issued on Sept. 22 in hopes of finding Petito alive. Soon after, Petito’s body was found and identified, and a coroner ruled that she had been strangled about three to four weeks before her body was discovered on Sept. 19. This estimation led many to analyze her most recent Instagram posts from the weeks leading up to the discovery of her remains. Many theorized that these photos were not posted by her, pointing out differences in the captions, which appeared to be written by a different person, as well as pointing out the recently dyed state of her hair, implying that the photos were not taken near the date they were posted. Until more information comes from Laundrie himself, it will be hard to know what caused the death of Gaby Petito.