What happened to Gabby Petito?
In June 2021, 22-year-old Gabby Petito set off on a wanderlust adventure with her financé Brian Laundrie.
The two began a cross-country road trip across America with Gabby documenting stages of their journey on social media.
Their dream vacation rapidly turned into a nightmare for Petito’s parents who reported her missing in September that same year.
The Disappearance of Gabby Petito tracks the heartbreaking investigation into the death of Gabby, whose travel vlogging aspirations were cut short.
The initial mystery surrounding her disappearance and Brian's possible involvement drew lots of attention on Tiktok with true-crime aficionados attempting to help find clues.
They somewhat succeeded, tracking the pair's kitted-out travel van through other people's vlogs, picking apart footage and putting pressure on Brian to make a statement about what happened, uncovering information along the way.
Ultimately this would lead to an unsettling discovery.
Here's everything you need to know about the disappearance of Gabby Petito.
Here's everything you need to know about the disappearance of Gabby Petito.
What happened to Gabby Petito?
On September 11, 2021, Gabby Petito’s parents reported her missing.
Gabby was last seen in Utah with Brian weeks before, a month and a half into their dream trip in the back of a white van they had tricked out into a camper.
The couple had been dating for two years, but had gone to high school together, and had got engaged in June 2020.
Her parents last heard from her on August 25th, when she spoke of plans to move from Utah to Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming.
Gabby's mother said not hearing from her for periods of time wasn't massively uncommon due to uneven internet availability in her van.
On August 27th, her mother received a puzzling text which read: "Can you help Stan? I just keep getting his voicemails and missed calls."
While Stan was Gabby's grandfather's name, she never referred to him as such.
Oddly, Brian returned to his family home in North Port, Florida on September 1st, 2020 without Gabby, and never spoke to anyone about where she was.
On September 11th, she officially became a missing person, with her social-media presence sparking interest on TikTok as the mystery surrounding her disappearance continued. His continued silence meant Brian became the prime suspect to both police and sofa sleuths, and his parents hired an attorney immediately.
Shortly after, videocam footage of the couple being tended to by Moab, Utah police during a domestic dispute on the road, started circulating. It was filmed on August 12th, but no arrests were made even though the tape showed a distressed-looking Gabby while Laundrie had remained calm. They were separated for the night before being allowed to continue on their journey.
In the following weeks, Gabby's online presence on YouTube and Instagram became less frequent, despite her desire to be an influencer.
Her final Instagram photos, of her standing in front of a butterfly mural in Utah, were posted on August 25th. This raised red flags as they were captioned 'Happy Halloween' despite it being August. To many this appeared out of character.
The interest online led to an invested community picking apart the bodycam footage, her vlogs and anything else that could lead to answers.
Eventually, a family of vloggers called 'Red, White & Bethune' realised they had passed her van parked on the side of the road at the time she went missing. This provided those investigating the case with a date, time and a rough location of her last-known whereabouts.
On September 19th, her body was found at the Spread Creek Dispersed Camping area in Wyoming. An autopsy determined the cause of death to be strangulation.
What happened to Brian Laundrie?
On September 15th, Brian was named a person of interest in the murder of Gabby Petito.
By September 17th Brian was reported missing by his family, which baffled those who had round the clock surveillance on their home. This, at times, included police officers, picketers, news crews and online sleuths going IRL to demand answers.
The police later issued an arrest warrant for him after it was determined that he had taken out more than $1,000 on Gabby's debit card, and a search was initiated.
His body was found on October 20th in Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park in Florida. By that point it was so decomposed he needed dental identification. A subsequent autopsy determined he had died by suicide from a gunshot wound to the head.
The FBI later revealed notes found alongside the body confirming he had killed Gabby. The notes saw him attempt to rationalise the death, saying she had severely injured herself and the killing was intended to be 'merciful'.
How is the Gabby Petito case proceeding now?
In August 2022, the parents of Gabby Petito launched a $50 million lawsuit against the police department in Moab, Utah, for their handling of an interaction with Gabby and Brian two weeks before her death.
According to CNN her parents argued that had the domestic dispute on August 12th been responded to more appropriately, Gabby might not have died. A witness had contacted the police after seeing Brian slap Petito during an argument on the roadside.
On locating the van, bodycam footage showed Gabby in hysterical tears and blaming herself for the incident, citing her OCD for cleaning the van as the catalyst for the row. Brian, however, was comparatively calm and jokey with the police. The officers eventually put Brian in a hotel while Gabby stayed in the van so they could cool off.
The Petitos' lawyers argue the department was negligent in its failings to train the officers for signs of domestic abuse, and it directly led to him being close enough to murder her two weeks later.
At a press conference, the family's lawyer said in a statement: "They [the police] did not have the training that they needed to recognize the clear signs that were evident that morning: that Gabby was a victim and that she was in serious need of immediate help."
Gabby’s parents also went on to sue Brian’s parents for emotional distress.
This was prompted by a letter, written to Brian from his mother, that was discovered during the investigation.
It was found in an envelope with instructions to burn it after reading. The letter read: “If you’re in jail, I will bake a cake and put a file in it. If you need to dispose of a body, I will show up with a shovel and garbage bags.”
The Petito’s claimed it proved that Ms Laundrie knew her son had killed their daughter.
The Laundrie’s attorneys argued that the letter was not relevant where the civil lawsuit was concerned, and an affidavit by Ms Laundrie stated that the letter was written before Brian and Gabby’s trip.
The case was settled in February 2024 however details have not been disclosed. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/settlement-reached-gabby-petito-laundrie-families-rcna139905
It has been confirmed that the Petitos successfully won a wrongful-death lawsuit filed against Brian Laundrie's estate and were awarded $3 million.
Any settlement money has been donated to the Gabby Petito Foundation which was founded to support missing persons and survivors of domestic violence.
The Disappearance of Gabby Petito is a three-part docuseries available to stream on ITVX on 9 May.
The Disappearance of Gabby Petito is available now on Paramount+, which is available for free with Sky Cinema.
If you've been affected by any of the issues raised in this story, organisations including Refuge (www.refuge.org.uk) and Women's Aid (www.womensaid.org.uk) can provide further support and information. The 24-hour, freephone National Domestic Abuse Helpline is 0808 2000 247. The US National Domestic Violence Hotline is 1-800-799-SAFE (7233), or text LOVEIS to 22522.
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